What a Relief!!!

Our pastor, Dr. Ross, said something very profound, and humbling, the other day: 'To Try to be good at everything is idolatry.' Think about that for a moment. We are groomed from birth to try to better perfect the things we are not good at through practice and patience. But what does God tell us? We have gifts! We have natural proficiencies and God given talents. And so often we ignore them to try to pursue being better at other things, and why? To be more like others? To pursue our dreams? What about God's dreams for us? Wouldn't it be all the more satisfying to follow the God intended path for our lives? And why do we have that innate feeling that we have to be 'successful' at everything? I thought of this and how it pertains to my daily life. I'm a stay at home mother and a wife. I constantly see how put together some of my friends lives are in ways that mine is not, and I often feel like a failure for not being like them. But many times there are things that I excel at, without striving, that others would have a harder time with.Why not pour my energy into the direction that God is showing me is uniquely mine? I'm very creative. It manifests in different ways all the time. Whether through art, food, story telling, crafts... it's always there. My children love it! We connect through it. But I don't always have my laundry caught up, or my dishes all clean and put away. My house is not perfectly decorated, and I don't always have a meal on the table at 6pm. I don't even get to shower every day! And I'm blessed to be in a household where they don't mind. My kids would rather have me, and all my creative energies, to them right now. My husband, more than anything, loves to see me happy and fulfilled. They do not complain about my 'inadequacies'. It is all taken care of eventually, so why so hard on myself? I struggle to continue to maintain friendships and relationships with people even after it's proven to be damaging, or exhausting, and all because I feel like I can't let anyone down. But I let myself and my family down by spreading myself to thin, and constantly biting off more than I can chew. So where and how does one stop the madness? I guess it begins with knowing no one of us has it all. No one of us can do it all. So now I'm looking everyday to rediscover who I am, and work to be the best me I can be; nothing more! :)