No one has it all together

The first chapter that we read in my online book club this week was all about comparisons.  We have a tendency to look at other people and think that they have themselves together and we don't.  The truth is that we don't know what is going on behind closed doors or in someone else's heart.  I have a very good example of this.  I have a good friend of mine and we have been running in the same circles for years, but we were never really friends.  I always thought that she had it all together and honestly I was jealous.  I don't know if it was the jealousy or if God just led us to each other when we needed it most; but once we really became friends I realized that her life is just as crazy as mine.  Sometimes we have to reveal to others the we are "fresh out of amazing" before they will share with us.  With women and with moms in particular we compare everything.  We do it with each other and society is terrible about it.  They (society) tried to convince me that I wasn't as fit of a mother because I chose not to breast feed my children.  Moms compare themselves all the time.  Why does she look so cute?  What trick does she know so that she has time for herself?  Why does her child behave better than mine.  And heaven forbid you are an anxious mom like I am, then there are so many thoughts coming through your head about how you didn't do it that way and what did I do wrong?  Eventually as far as the mom part I began to realize as I had to advocate for my sickly children that I really did know best after all I am there mother.  When we struggle like this its okay to tell people.  If we put up these walls all the time people start to think that we might have it all together and that maybe we need to also.  That is most certainly not true.  I never have it all together and feel "fresh out of amazing" more often than not and thats okay.  If I had not been willing to push myself out of my comfort zone and reveal the struggles that I have I may have missed out on a beautiful friendship that has been such a blessing to me over the last several months.  Sometimes even hard headed people like  me listen when God starts to nudge.  Jus like I heard them say to our students in FCA last week sometimes fear can cause us to miss out on something great and Im glad I didn't.