by the grace of God

A while back I had a wonderful gal leave me a voicemail about my blog. She blessed me with her words of encouragement and praised me for the job I was doing as a woman of God. She told me that as she read my blogs, she believed that I was more than surviving, I was thriving by the grace of God.

She's right, in one sense. I would be drowning in this whole wife/mom/woman thing if it weren't for God. But here I am, walking upright, striving to be who God wants me to be. I get laundry done and feed the people in this house who always seem to need to eat. I maintain a clean-ish house 😜 and my kids are decent at their math facts and reading skills. I've got amazing friends. And we live in the most wonderful neighborhood. And my truck still runs and most of my clothes don't have holes in them. So I get from one perspective, I'm thriving!

But that's not how it feels. Maybe it's just me, but usually I feel like I'm floundering. I could be doing everything a whole lot better than I do. I could be disappointing a lot less people. I could be a better wife and mom who knows how to get every stain out of all articles of clothing and who can cook healthy things and make them taste amazing so my while family will love every meal. I could be better at responding to emails and texts and messages. I could take more time to send out birthday cards and to make more phone calls to friends. I could be making better choices on how to spend our money or on how to educate our kids. I could...I should...😕

Mental picture time:

I am not sitting in a beautiful sail boat with a giant smile on my face and the wind blowing through my hair as the sun shines down on my skin.

Nope. I'm in a life preserver, bobbing along with the waves, exhausted and wet with sunburned cheeks and dried out lips. 

I'm surviving. 

But let me tell you what surviving means to me. 

A survivor is someone who has made it through difficult times and has come out stronger on the other side. A survivor is someone who lives in gratitude because of what they have been through. A survivor doesn't give up. A survivor can face the next trial with determination and confidence because they can look back and see what they already lived through. 

Yes, because of God, I am alive and thriving.

But because of God, I am also a survivor.

I know I'm in good company when I say I'm surviving by the grace of God.

Can I get a Hallelujah?!

KC