Keepin It Real

Many of you may think I am crazy for doing this but I feel like this is such an important post that I am going to sacrifice my pride to share with you what I'm about to share with you.  This post was inspired by a conversation that I had with my cousin's wife last Friday night.  We were talking about how moms are basically each other's worst enemies.  We judge, brag, alienate, gossip, and put on facades to make others around us think that we have it all together and are better than others.  Why do we do this?  I suspect it's because of our own insecurities.  We like people to tell us how great we are.  We like the assurance that we are doing something good.  Reality is, most of us, if we're honest are pretty much just like everyone else, barely holding it together day by day.  I mean the Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23.  Working moms, stay at home moms, military wife moms, single moms, you name it, we all have our share of struggles that we deal with on a daily basis. 

I have a friend that was recently attacked by a woman online whom she has never met because this woman felt undervalued because her job as a military wife/mother was much harder than a "regular" person.  Why the need to attack a stranger over it tells me that this woman is probably feeling inadequate and makes herself feel better by telling others how easy they have it. 

With all of my rambling this may seem like I don't have a real point.  I do; I promise!  Hang with me.  After all of these conversations I've had with these women, I started thinking about my own life.  Have I ever purposefully tried to put on a facade and make myself out to be this perfect person that I am not?  If I'm honest with myself, the answer is probably yes.  I often put on a facade at church and I hate it.  My husband is an associate pastor of youth and family at our church.  I often feel the pressure to act a certain way, look a certain way, and do certain things.  There are many times that I am a total crab on Sunday morning not even in the mood to step outside my house, rushing around like a crazy person trying to get there on time but then as soon as we walk in the door, the smile goes on and I feel like I have to be "Perfect Pastor's Wife."  There have been times when I have walked around burdened with such serious burdens but felt like I couldn't share them with others because of our position in the church.  It's sad really. 

But then, I have this blog and you see pictures and posts that make it look like I possibly have it all together.  It looks like my kids are always clean, happy, healthy and we live in happy magical crafty fairy food land.  lol  Ok maybe not exactly that but an altered reality for sure.  This post is to share with you that what you see on the screen is only a small piece of our puzzle.  It's the highlights of the day in the middle of the mess. 


Yes I may have cooked a delicious and healthy meal  but it has left our kitchen looking like this.

 Sadly there's a good chance it may look like this for several days before I get it back together.  Sorry Mom and Grandma!  haha

 Our junk pile on our island.

We may do cute crafts...

 But it ends up looking like this on my kitchen table and usually doesn't get picked up in time for us to eat dinner at the table.

 Living room:  Yes that's a dirty diaper on the floor.

 Yes there's a couch in my hallway piled with stuff.  It's meant for a yardsale or Goodwill but here it sits...a week later.

I may dress my kids and myself fairly well, but my kids wear mostly hand-me-downs

 and my bedroom often looks like it vomited my laundry.

 Another shot by the bed

And there's more behind the door.  WOAH!

Don't even get me started on the playroom.  I forgot to take a picture out there but you get the idea.  It pretty much looks like the other places.  hehe  I'd like to tell you that I've staged these pictures, but nope, I haven't.  This was just a normal Monday.  Does my house always look like this?  No.  You may be thinking, "Ewww that woman's a slob!  Doesn't she know how to clean?"  Sure I do.  I clean a lot but life happens and sometimes you have to make a choice between a clean house and dinner on the table and time with my kids.  I often choose the quality time and food.  :)  So there you have it.  Keepin it real in the Buss house.  This was really on my heart because I don't want anyone to think this blog is a way for me to brag or make it seem like my life is something that it's not.  I blog to show you a few things that we do to keep life fun and hope that it helps inspire you to use the life that God has given you and do something beautiful with it.  Now don't go telling everyone how big of a slob I am ok?  lol  What we can do though is to stop putting on facades and be ourselves.  Stop playing the mom competition game and start being there for one another, carrying each other's burdens and building each other up.