Maybe I'm NOT Super Woman after all

"I am Super Woman. Yes I am!! See me when I'm a mess still put on a vest with an "S" on my chest....I'm a Super Woman", Alicia Keys croons in her song "Super Woman". I relate to that song in more ways than I can express. I've always been that "Super Woman". I look like I have my life all together-from my finances down to my pretty, pretty shoes :) You'd almost never catch me without a smile on my face even while I juggle the myriad responsibilities that God has placed in my lap. You see, I canot take credit for any of my joy, though. God has sooooo filled my cup that it is impossible for me not to be joyful in the midst of it all. His strength is constantly made perfect in ALL of my many weakness (2 Cor. 12:9)

With me, though, that "see me when I'm a mess" part causes me to raise my eyebrows. Me? A mess? Never!!! I like to come off as perfect. Come on, I'm blessed beyond belief! My problems are mine to deal with alone and no one else is allowed to see my vulnerabilities. Maybe, if I live my life with this shield up, this facade of perfection, it will all work out. My shields and my walls became my protection. Unfortunately, more and more recently, they are beginning to look like my prison. The humanity-the raw and negative emotions that we all need to let out sometimes-have been so shut in that letting them out has become work. Yet, I refuse to give up. My challenge is to recognize that hey, I'M NOT GOD!!! He's not calling me to perfection-He's calling me to excellence.

Beating myself up because of mistakes I make, from little and trivial to so huge that they hurt the people I love the most, is useless. I am learning that I WILL FALL. Why should I be scared of something that's inevitable any way. A very very intelligent person said to me, "I'm not scared of falling......I just know that if I fall I'll get back up again." The same person told me, "You are so scared of falling that you are not climbing." Today, I listen and I want you all too. Women, let's keep our guard up, our hearts protected and our minds secure but let us not allow those things to become our prison.

Join me on this journey of climbing. Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me." He has done his part. It's time for me to begin mine :)