Keeping It Real

Our pastor has been talking a lot lately about being transparent. As a Christian I too often present the world with a false squeaky clean image that gives the appearance that I think am perfect. Of course, everyone knows that no one is perfect so, when they see me ACTING perfect they know it is a false charade. What kind of credibility does that bring? No, I am far from perfect. I fall short of God's standard every day and it is only by God's grace that the consequences for those shortcomings have been paid by someone else - Jesus. Grace is a gift and no charade of perfection will do anything to justify this gift. As a Christian I do strive for holiness but I do it as a way of saying thank you to the God who loves me. NOT in an attempt to earn his love.

Why do I say all this now? Because this blog (and particularly this post) is a way in which I try to keep things very real and transparent. Far from perfect, I could never even achieve the worldly standard of the ideal homemaker. Don't get me wrong, I like a clean house and I truly wish my house was cleaner then it is. But stuff happens, kids don't nap as long as I think they will, friends invite us over for an impromptu cookout, sometime I just feel lazy. In the end, those good intentions so often fall to the way side. I want people to feel comfortable enough around me, an imperfect mom, that they can be themselves. I love the kind of friends that you can invite over and not stress all day about cleaning every last corner of the house first.

When Jessica announced a "keeping it real" carnival on her blog I knew right away that I wanted to play along. She has posted a list of things to take pictures of around our house AS IS, no primping or touching it up first, she wants Real Life.

So, here's are the pictures from her list... This is the real me.

My fridge

Closet

I decided to keep it REAL, real and show you my baby's closet. It's been on my to do list for quite a few weeks now, but as you can see it keeps getting pushed off...

My Kitchen Sink

Toilet

Lid up, can you tell my son went potty last? He also left behind his pants and his teddy... nice, huh? (The list did not stipulate that we had to show the inside of the toilet and I just couldn't bring myself to be that real. Let's just say that my son does not always flush so there is a bit of a ring)

Favorite Shoes

Ok, I really don't have that many shoes... running sneakers, high heels (not even close to my favorite), clogs for winter, and my crocs for summer. I desperately need to go shoe shopping and find some cute sandals. For now, these are the most comfortable and the ones you are most likely to see me wearing, so I guess you can call them my favorite.

Favorite Room

My favorite room in our house is our guest room. We have it decorated with pictures we've taken on our National Park trips. The pack-n-play is set up because my 2 year old naps here every day.

What your kids are doing

OK, technically right now while I am typing this, they are all asleep because I write my blog posts after they go to bed at night, but when I was running around the house taking pictures for this post, this is what they were doing.

And just one more of that... do they have a cool Daddy or what? And don't you love how my little super hero is protecting himself instead of his baby sister? Yea, Daddy had a talk with him about chivalry after this incident.

Laundry

If you're a faithful reader, then you know laundry is not my high point. But I was so excited to take this picture, because I just have one basket waiting to be folded (ok and one batch in the dryer and one basket waiting to be washed) But still, it is MUCH better than this day.

Here's my self portrait

(I followed the rules and took it as is, didn't even look in the mirror first)

So, there you have it, my real life.

I sometimes wonder why it is easier for me to "keep it real" with the whole blogosphere, but when it comes to people I know it is a lot harder. I've posted some pics of my sink and fridge that I'd never show face to face to someone, but in the "anonymity" of the blogosphere, it somehow feels safer. The ironic thing about that is that my extended family on both sides all read the blog pretty regularly and a few weeks ago I had a man come up to me at church saying, "I've been reading your blog..." so much for that anonymos blogoshphere.