Need a Kick in the Pants??

Need a kick in the pants?? Don't worry... I did too. LISTEN UP, MAMA. And listen HARD. Because I TRULY believe this stuff matters.

YOU are going to be their GREATEST example.

Did you know that, no matter what you do, no matter how involved you are in our kids' lives... in most cases, you will ALWAYS be their greatest, most influential example? What a humbling thought, huh?

When I became a single widowed mom of a 9 month old, a stark reality smacked me in the face. As far as I knew, I would be the ONLY parent example for my daughter. What kind of life did I want her to see me living? What kind of life did I want her to emulate?

"Do what I say, not what I do" doesn't work. And I knew that. Yet I was living a life I wouldn't have wished on my worst enemy, let alone my sweet daughter. I was pushing God away, pushing people away, & I felt negatively about everything. I was full of a million reasons and a million excuses as to why I couldn't be happy or healthy or whole.

Until one day... I put my foot down and told myself that ENOUGH was FREAKING ENOUGH. I refused to live a life full of excuses. I refused to let my daughter see me give up. Even if I NEVER succeeded in getting healthy, beating my grief, or building a strong foundation of faith... I would make DANG sure that she would see me die still TRYING.

One of the worst things you can be in life, in my opinion, is apathetic toward our children's futures. We can act like we don't care. We can pretend like what we do doesn't matter in the big scheme of things. That kids are just kids and that they won't mirror our bad choices. But, as much as we might like to pretend. It doesn't change the reality. What you do, matters. BIG TIME.

They see you. They look up to you. And, you can't even run away from it. Stay away from your kids so your bad example doesn't rub off & believe me, it will in some way find its way back to them.

OF COURSE they will have a choice. Just like you do. But, why not give them better chances at... well, everything. You might be scared to start a journey toward getting rid of negative self talk, toxic relationships or horribly destructive habits because you think you might fail. But, REAL TALK: friend, if you don't even TRY... you AUTOMATICALLY fail.

Our kids do NOT need us to be perfect. Not at all. But, I hope to God, they see us TRYING to be BETTER.