Perfection is a harsh task master.

Dishes, laundry, floors to do AGAIN. These maintenance-mode, never ending tasks never end. Get the laundry done one day, only to wake up to more the next. All because we LIVED another day. That is a good thing, right?!

With our new addition to the family this perfection thing and I have come to blows. I never had a perfect house, but I always strived for the perfect house. I was always looking for the perfect list, routine, habits to form. But I give up. I surrender. I cannot do it. This, never able to accomplish all that I expect myself to accomplish, is eating me alive and taking my peace!

The new expectation I am placing on myself is Peace. Not Perfection. This means that I approach every day thinking about what tasks and activity will give the family the most peace. I will admit that I am at the very top of that list because we all know that when "Mama ain't happy, nobody's happy!" If I get to the end of the day and am at Peace, it was a good day.

I have limited time to devote to much besides the needs of my children, so when I have a moment without a babe at my breast or a backpack to be gone through, I attack with this one concept in mind. Sometimes the kitchen sink will give me the most peace. Or I'll spend some undivided time on laundry. Sometimes it means I abandon everything and sew something new for my baby girl or order take out instead of cooking.

I am finding that I am actually getting the same, if not more done! You know why? I am pursuing Peace aka Jesus. There really is no peace without him and no way to rest in my lack of perfection either. So my master has changed. And He is the ONLY PERFECT ONE. That gives me Peace.