Motherhood, Pressure, and Grace.
As I am confronted with motherhood just around the corner, I have been bombarded with a serious of choices. A natural birth vs. an epidural or c-section, breast feeding vs. formula, vaccinate or don't vaccinate, spank or don't spank, sleep train or let her lead...and the list goes on. Being faced with these choices leaves no small pressure on a person, but it made me wonder how much of it really matters.
Of course, I could give you specific answers as to why a natural birth, breast feeding, having certain vaccinations, not spanking, and sleep training can benefit a child and actually do matter, but that's not the point. The point is when it's all said and done how much of it really does matter? If I had a c-section would that impact my child in the long run? If I had a strict regiment and let her cry it out from week 3 on would that shape who she becomes? Or do some of these things come out in the wash? What actually matters when it comes to the choices we make in our lives?
I really believe that our choices very deeply have to do with many of our life circumstances. Our health can be linked to the foods we eat, the amount of activity we have, and the ways we choose to deal with stress. Our relationships can be directly affected by the way we choose to communicate or interact with others. And often times our financial status is molded not by how much we make, but rather by how we spend or don't spend it. Our choices do affect the way our lives shape up, but at what point do we simply let go and let come what may?
It's a hard line to see. Sometimes we try with all our might to obtain a certain outcome, but it simply won't submit to our efforts. Sometimes good things fall into our laps that we neither deserve or knew we could have. That's the beauty of grace. That sometimes it intercedes, and we had nothing to do with it. Life's pain means that sometimes our efforts simply aren't good enough, and our parade is rained upon (but that scenario is for another day).
When grace gets poured out onto our lives it neutralizes us; it makes those decisions in which we struggled to make not all that important. Because when grace covers us, it covers us completely. In those moments, we are overwhelmed and overcome and all of sudden it doesn't matter if we run every morning or eat organic or floss our teeth. All that seems to pale in comparison to something bigger than ourselves. When I begin to feel the pull or pressure of being an adult, I need a dose of grace. I need to allow it pour out over me and release me from the undo scrutiny of my choices. I need to sit in it awhile and let it soak into my pores when I feel frozen for fear of the results of my decisions.
As I step closer to parenthood I need grace. I know other people will form opinions about how we choose to raise this child, and I know that we will make mistakes over and over. But my money's on grace. I'm all in that grace will overcome my idiosyncrasies. And hopefully that's enough. One day at a time, it's enough.
Of course, I could give you specific answers as to why a natural birth, breast feeding, having certain vaccinations, not spanking, and sleep training can benefit a child and actually do matter, but that's not the point. The point is when it's all said and done how much of it really does matter? If I had a c-section would that impact my child in the long run? If I had a strict regiment and let her cry it out from week 3 on would that shape who she becomes? Or do some of these things come out in the wash? What actually matters when it comes to the choices we make in our lives?
I really believe that our choices very deeply have to do with many of our life circumstances. Our health can be linked to the foods we eat, the amount of activity we have, and the ways we choose to deal with stress. Our relationships can be directly affected by the way we choose to communicate or interact with others. And often times our financial status is molded not by how much we make, but rather by how we spend or don't spend it. Our choices do affect the way our lives shape up, but at what point do we simply let go and let come what may?
It's a hard line to see. Sometimes we try with all our might to obtain a certain outcome, but it simply won't submit to our efforts. Sometimes good things fall into our laps that we neither deserve or knew we could have. That's the beauty of grace. That sometimes it intercedes, and we had nothing to do with it. Life's pain means that sometimes our efforts simply aren't good enough, and our parade is rained upon (but that scenario is for another day).
When grace gets poured out onto our lives it neutralizes us; it makes those decisions in which we struggled to make not all that important. Because when grace covers us, it covers us completely. In those moments, we are overwhelmed and overcome and all of sudden it doesn't matter if we run every morning or eat organic or floss our teeth. All that seems to pale in comparison to something bigger than ourselves. When I begin to feel the pull or pressure of being an adult, I need a dose of grace. I need to allow it pour out over me and release me from the undo scrutiny of my choices. I need to sit in it awhile and let it soak into my pores when I feel frozen for fear of the results of my decisions.
As I step closer to parenthood I need grace. I know other people will form opinions about how we choose to raise this child, and I know that we will make mistakes over and over. But my money's on grace. I'm all in that grace will overcome my idiosyncrasies. And hopefully that's enough. One day at a time, it's enough.
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