Living Authentically

I believe as Christians we are called to live authentic lives before the world. We should be willing to be ourselves and to be open about the things that challenge us on a daily basis, no matter how it might make others see us...This has been a hard lesson for me over the last few years. I have a hard time letting people see my "weaknesses". I mean thats how I will show the world Jesus, right? I will show others how perfect my house is and how cute my kid dresses and how successful my career is, I will always be positive even when I really want to cry. People will see my perfect world and they will want to know Jesus. Wait, is that not how it works? Since having a baby and going back to work things have been less than picture perfect around here. I feel like I am constantly making apologies for being late, nor texting, calling or emailing friends or not getting to everything on my to do list. I quite honestly feel like a bad wife, employee, mom, friend and Christian. Oh yes, somehow I have always tied my performance to my faith. I talk often about wanting to live authentically and I try to be honest about past struggles. But how am a being honest about today's struggles? Oh sure I whine but do I admit that my life is challenging right now? Recently I was singing a beloved children's song to my daughter at naptime. The words stopped me as I let them sink in, "I am weak yet he is strong" This is why we are called to live authentically. Because in my weaknesses his strength is shown. So next time you ask me how things are going, be prepared to hear about the struggles and what right now looks like for me and hopefully in my words, you can see Him.