{No More Perfect Moms} Imperfection on the inside

I wear an insulin pump because my pancreas decided to stop producing insulin nine years ago.

My neck and shoulders have been tense, carrying the physical impact of motherhood right into little knots that the massage therapist once described as "layers of issues."

I've started running this year and a 2-mile run makes me think my ankles and shins and thighs are going to give out. Yet I managed to finish a 5K and plan to run another, even though the cold weather has kept me from running for a few weeks now.

I wear contacts because my vision is terrible otherwise. I wore braces twice and my teeth still don't line up perfectly. I've lost count of the number of fillings in the back and certainly don't know how many have had to be repaired because my teeth have weak enamel.

I {mostly} don't bite my nails like I used to, but don't study the skin around them.

And I haven't even touched on the infertility issues that mentally exhausted me when we spent almost two years trying to conceive. I took medicine, had surgery, took more medicine, had blood drawn more times than I care to count, met with a specialist who wanted to in-vitro fertilization. My imperfect body led us to adopt, which turned out to be a perfect decision.

Even among all the imperfections, taking care of myself is important so I can take care of my family, serve others and live this life God has called me. Truth is, God wants us to tend to our hearts first. Yes, he wants us to care for our bodies {First Corinthians 6:19-20} so we can serve him, our families, our friends, our neighbors, our community, and wherever else he takes us. But, more importantly, God  wants to shape our hearts before our waistlines so our lives can attract people to Jesus.

"When you look at yourself in the mirror, what filter do you see yourself through? Do you compare what you see in the mirror to what you see in magazine and television articles? Or do you see yourself through God's eyes? His eyes care more about the condition of your heart than the condition of your skin."

{From "No More Perfect Moms" by Jill Savage}

Our bodies are God's creation. We should care for them. Move them. Exercise them. Use them. Nourish them. Rest them. Clean them. But we shouldn't compare them and allow ourselves to be stricken with the Perfect Infection. That's certainly a diagnosis our bodies don't need. 

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I'm linking up with Jill Savage's Hearts at Home Blog Hop. This is another post in an ongoing series about how God's teaching me to embrace imperfection. I received a free PDF copy of Jill Savage's "No More Perfect Moms" as part of the book's launch team, but I truly want to embrace this message and the opinions and experiences are mine. You can buy the book at Amazon, where it's on sale for $7.19. 

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