Thanks to Katie Wassink, from Fruitful Vine Wife for guest blogging today.
I have a friend named Samantha who goes by the nickname of Sam.
We have been walking together through the same season of life for nearly 4 years now. Our first children were born hours apart, and we both welcomed our second babies two years later. There is literally nothing we’ve been unwilling to discuss together. We have unapologetically nursed our children while chitchatting together. We’ve talked openly about how mothering has impacted our marriages. And together, we’ve concluded that crazy is the new normal.
But there are a few ways that we differ.
Sam chose to use cloth diapers and cloth wipes with both kids until they were potty trained. I tried cloth and gave it up. Sam makes her own organic baby food. I choose to buy baby food. She hangs buckets from the maple trees in her front yard and makes her own maple syrup. She’s as crunchy as granola.
She sews. She makes her own lipsticks, lotions and bug spray. She has homemade freezer meals stocked in her fridge. And she works part-time outside of her home.
I stay at home full-time and I can’t find the time to do half of what she does.
Sam I am not.
I could leave my time with her feeling inadequate and unfit as a mother and wife. Instead, I am reminded that I am uniquely created in God’s image and given my own set of talents to show who God is. My uniqueness compliments God’s bigger picture – the body of Christ – of which there are many members with many different gifts.
I am neither less nor more important than Sam because my talents measure up just fine in God’s eyes. What freedom I have in this knowledge! I am set free from the bondage of mom comparisons and instead I am left amused and amazed at her many talents.
I am me and she is Sam. And I am good with that.
Katie writes about her flourishing and floundering moments as a wife and mother at www.fruitfulvinewife.com