Curly

"Mom, if we get Jessie's hair wet, will it be straight?"  Sammi asked seriously while doing dishes.
"Well, it will be straighter for a couple of minutes, but when it dries it will be curlier than ever." I respond.
"Can we iron it?" "No, Jessie's hair is naturally curly."  Sammi bursts into tears, "Can we pray?  Can we pray that God makes it straight?"

Then I realized what happened.  Over the weekend we had  lot of comments about Jessie's hair.  As the humidity rose, her curls got tighter and tighter.  And the comments became more frequent.  "Where did the curls come from?"  "Wow, her hair sure is curly!"  And comments like that.  Innocent comments, but our sensitive child was hearing that curls were different, curls were bad and she wanted Jessie to be 'fixed'.  What a wonderful opportunity to talk about how God made each of us completely unique, and completely His, in all different ways!  How Jessie's curls are completely part of who she is, just like her feisty personality that potty-trained herself in a day :)  It made me really wonder how do I change my appearance, or struggle with portions of it.  And how do I, as a mom of daughters who are watching far more closely than I'm aware of, model and work through body image?  How do I teach that 'self image' is mostly reflecting our Maker?  And that dressing nicely, and enjoying pretty things is part of praising our God, but 'a gentle and quiet spirit' is a more beautiful adornment?  And what does a 'gentle and quiet spirit' look like when matched with different personalities and gifts?

Does anyone else feel like we're in over our heads with this mothering thing!??!  But as a great article reminded me:
"And somehow, in God’s mathematics of grace: Mom (never enough) + God (infinitely enough) = Mom enough."

And the following:

Is God “God enough” when my daughter falls from the roof and the nearest hospital is a two-hour drive and a four-hour flight away?

Is God “God enough” when a beloved friend and devoted mother is diagnosed with cancer?

Is God “God enough” when loneliness and culture shock creep in like a snake and squeeze my heart?

Is God “God enough” to take my best, stained efforts at childrearing and craft something that brings him pleasure?

Is God “God enough” to turn little hearts to him, and to hold them there?

Five loaves and two fish feed thousands. A shepherd boy takes out a giant. A king who commits adultery and murder is called “a man after God’s own heart.” A pagan prostitute bears the bloodlines of Jesus. A man dead and buried for days inhales fresh life. An outcast, stained with a continual flow of blood, is healed with the touch of a tunic. The wind and waves are stilled. The sting of death is vanquished, the curse removed forever.

God is, always has been, and always will be, God enough. The battle is over whether or not I will believe it, whether or not I will delight in God’s enough-ness.

This great article found here: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/are-you-mom-enough-mommy-wars

God is infinitely enough!  I feel like this should be a poster in my living room :)