I Have a Confession: We're Really Far From Perfect

The other day I met a dear friend for coffee. We hugged and she greeted me with a sweet (or possibly for courtesy purposes, either way I appreciate the gesture), "You look so cute! I am all scrubby, I just got back from a [workout] class." This is funny, because during our embrace I was hoping she wasn't closing in too far as to smell my inevitable B.O. I laughed and answered her with a, "Thanks! But I don't remember the last time I showered, so you're doing better than me." This is also funny because the same day, my sister greeted me after she got home from work with a, "Have you been wearing that shirt for 2 days now?" I will neither confirm nor deny. Now don't watch as I sulk away in shame. See, if you're a momma of small babies or if your babies were once small, you know it's nothing unusual to forfeit a shower in serving the greater need. Mornings start quick and the days are long. And let's face it, a shower is so much more enjoyable without the impending threat of a waking baby- or worse- an awake baby opening the shower curtain, tossing your shampoos, and crying when the water sprays in their face. Sometimes its best to wait until dad gets home from work so he can have some, ahem, "bonding time", as I sneak away for a few minutes of peace. I'm practically doing him a favor. He should be thanking me, right? Right. Well here's the thing: My hard working, selfless husb has been doing double-time on his workload lately, adding a head coaching position on top of his already busy work schedule. Add on our couple-nights-a-week obligations, church activities and GASP some fun time, and you've got yourself a full plate. Enter, stinky me. Don't worry, I've been doubling up on the deodorant and dry shampoo. 

I was told a couple weeks ago that my house and my life look so cute and perfect on Instagram. Well for the sake of being an avid myth-buster, let me just give you a peak into reality: my house is a disaster. All. The. Time. Currently my floor-to-laundry ratio in my living room is decreasing by the moment. I know that it all came out of the dryer, ready to be folded at some point, but now, I'm not completely confident which clothing articles are clean or dirty. Im not bothered; like I said, I'll probably pick a shirt and wear it for three days anyway, so whether or not it start off clean kind of becomes a moot point. While I try to keep my house nice and pretty, I fail miserably. Often. I do love my home and am proud of it when it's put together, which is usually the only time I advertise the condition of my house on Instagram. From now on, I'll try to display a more accurate version on my social media outlets. You'll thank me later. 

Another day this past week I had some girlfriends over working on some craft projects. We were working and laughing and drinking cocoa, and started talking about our lives BC (that's cool people slang for before Christ, I've heard), and how our lives have changed. I told her that while yes, Will and I were both saved trying to live accordingly when we got married, our first year was really hard. We dealt with a lot of big things and, I imagine as many newlyweds do, had our struggles in learning to live together in unity. My sweet friend expressed how surprised she was because we "look so happy! You guy just seem so in love and perfect." We are indeed very in love. My husband brings me so much joy and is truly my greatest treasure in this life. However, I will never claim to have a perfect marriage. Honestly, I have no idea what that even means, because lets face it, there's no perfect people. If two imperfect people coexist in a two-become-one love-ship, how could we possibly expect perfection? My marriage, like I presume all others who are in a healthy relationship, is hard work. We disagree and argue and sometimes I cry. We make each other mad and hurt each other's feelings and sometimes aren't sorry. Occasionally its a mess and we need help from our friends to get our heads on straight again. Enter Jesus. We honestly don't have the capacity in and of ourselves to be loving enough, forgiving enough, selfless enough to have the happy marriage that we do. As our circumstances change and things get hard, it's only Jesus that takes us from falling apart to falling into each other. We play by simple rules: we don't call names, we don't put each other down, we forgive, we make up, we move on.  That's what its all about. Thats what makes any relationship worth while-- it's looking back at that first year and seeing how far you've come together. It's choosing day after day to love, even when we don't feel like it. WOAH JODI, getting a little preachy. Alright, I digress. All that to say, we are absolutely not perfect. We are crazy imperfect people who are madly in love. That's what we are. 

So thats it. I'm sorry if I burst your bubble or let the ugly cat out of the secret bag, but that's the truth. I am actually a stinky mess. My life is crazy and unkept. Sometimes I get it right, but often times I don't. It's fine though, I showered today.