Five Minute Friday~ Real

It's Friday!! And I'm blogging along with The Gypsy Mama again this week. I have found that I love doing these posts... no pressure, just writing for five minutes on the topic given... no editing or backtracking. After a crazy week, it's nice just to dump thoughts on the page. 'Hope you've had a blessed week!

Real.

Lots of things come to mind when I think of real. The very first thing I thought of was butter. I know, I'm a little more like Paula Deen than a girl should be, but I adore real butter. I won't cook with anything else. And along those lines, I really prefer to serve my family things that are real vs. processed or full of preservatives. We do have a few vices~ I know that neon cheese does not exist in the natural world, but we do love our from-the-blue-box mac & cheese and Cheetos!

The other thing I thought of when I read the word 'real' was how nice it has been in the last year or two that I've let my real self show through. I finally gave up the notion that I had to appear to be someone else... perfect wife, perfect mom, perfect homemaker... Lord knows I'm not perfect in any of these areas, and it was exhausting trying to make things look like it. And that was just it~ I was trying so hard to make the outside of things look perfect that I was neglecting what was really on my insides. My heart was wearing out from all the striving. And finally I took to heart when I read 'Be Still.'. When I listened to this command (it's not a suggestion!) and told God I would listen to His truths about me, it was so much easier to grow on the inside and my life on the outside suddenly started to become something with meaning. Something true. And something that could be honoring to God, even in it's lack of perfection.

Real.