Recovering Perfectionist

I could name this blog category many things. Over the last year, it has become about far more than just recovering from perfectionism, although that’s still a huge aspect. These posts also chronicle my journey away from legalism, self-guilt, self-doubt, lack of boundaries, and hardcore “fundamental” Christianity. I’m a work in progress and recovery has not been easy.

Order in the Mess: Bearing God’s Image as a Type-A Homemaker

Leave a Comment

I am made in the image of God, and that is beautiful. Every person has within him or her the image of God. It is our role…our job as His creation to bear that image well and show that image to those around us. Order is part of God’s personality. When I lean in to those parts of myself that He created, I am demonstrating that part of Him in my life. Whether you are a “type A mama” or disorganized, beautiful mess, I pray that you feel God’s love upon your life and find ways to bear His beautiful image in your personality. 

Healed Wounds {Grandma’s Funeral & My Trip to My Ohio Hometown}

2 Comments

This is the moment everything up til this moment formed into this realization of healing. Because not once during the last few days had I been triggered. Not one hymn. Not one shudder induced by a smell or a sight. No anger. No pain. No regret. Just genuine gratitude and bittersweet joy for my family, for my grandma’s prayers, for the good old hymns, for each and every last memory.

A raw look at my never-ending war on perfectionism

1 Comment
A Little Princess movie snow perfectionism

A week ago we sat on the counselor’s couch. I was perturbed because even after declaring to my husband, “We’re here for you,” somehow the conversation kept coming around to me and my issues with perfectionism. *sigh* I say, “I just don’t know why God made me this way.” I’ve made significant strides in combating … [Read more…]

Christian, you can read your Bible and still be falling apart

1 Comment

I was cleaning my bedroom last week when this quote popped into my head. I had cleaned off my night stand, including my new(ish) journaling Bible that had been resting there. While I have been using it (more on this to come), it’s not falling apart by any means. It’s condition might even be called … [Read more…]

Dear Facebook: an open letter on our ten year anniversary

Leave a Comment

Dear Facebook: we’ve made it ten years. Can you believe it? At the beginning, you were a means to an end, you know? I wanted to talk to my new best friend, who lived in Australia at the time. She recommended you, and we hit it off well. Remember those early days of character limits … [Read more…]

Obsession, Regret, Anger, Projection: My Latest Breakthrough

11 Comments

Hot angry tears were rolling down my face as we went back and forth, round and round. It was one of those conversations that needed to happen but was hard for both of us. We were both hurt – although, I probably more than she. We were both struggling to understand each other. The tears … [Read more…]

Introversion: I’m in turtle mode and that’s okay

4 Comments

I saw my counselor today. We met for an hour. I was exhausted before we even got going. When I got out, all I wanted to do was take a nap. That, my friends, is severe introversion at its best and finest. I long-ago made peace with the fact that I’m an introvert. (Thank you, … [Read more…]

Boundaries, being settled, and growing

6 Comments

This past Sunday night, after a long battle with my digital TV antennae, I settled myself down in the basement couch to watch the USA Women’s Gymnastics Olympic Trials. I found myself a little overcome with emotion. Four years ago, I watched the Fierce Five win gold from the same couch set in our little … [Read more…]

What my dying plants taught me about self care

2 Comments

I grew up in a house full of plants. My mom has a real knack for tending for houseplants, and it showed in the Fika trees, ivy, African violets, and spider plants that reproduced like bunnies at Easter time that always graced our household decor. When I got married, our house had plants. It wasn’t … [Read more…]

What I learned from a month-long Facebook break

6 Comments

It’s that time of year when posts pop up all over the internet about Lent. I personally have never been an observer of Lent, but I can relate to the depth of what it means to people. And here’s why: In the spring of 2012 – after a very difficult few months trying to mother a challenging toddler … [Read more…]