perception....

So for a while now I have been thinking a lot about perception. How we perceive people to be compared to who they really are is an interesting thing. When my friend Jennifer came to visit we talked about this a lot. Maybe how we are seen on our blog is not who we really are or maybe how people perceive us is not how we really are. Lately I have found this to be true. How people see me isn't always really who I am. I was told 4 times in the last 2 weeks that we must eat super healthy because Tim is a doctor and I work out. Has anyone seen my cupboards full of goldfish crackers, Doritos, and other preservative filled foods? Yes we do try to eat healthy but we fail a lot and sometimes I resort to whatever is eaiest.

I have been thinking a lot about how people (including me) just assume things about others that either are or aren't true. We think, "oh they have a nice car they must have money", "they only eat things that grow in the ground they must be super healthy", "there kids are always perfect, they must be the perfect parents"..... how do you perceive others by the "material" things?

Here are some things to think about:

So how do we become more transparent? Do we need to be more transparent? Do we parent different if people are watching? How do we speak to our husbands? Do we make it seem as if we have it all together when we don't? Is perception a bad thing? Does it really matter how people perceive us.... or does it all matter about our hearts?

So who are you really? Does God see the same thing as other's see?

Some thoughts.....

So as I was sitting on the couch with the kids this morning I started thinking about how I thought our "family" life would be before we got married and before we had kids. I thought I had the whole "mom" thing figured out.

Here was my vision then:

1. They would listen the 1st time.

2. They would NEVER talk back.

3. They would eat WHATEVER they were given and never eat MacDonald's.

4. I would stay home with the kids and make homemade jam all day, do crafts, and sew. Well may be not sew but you know be a "Susie homemaker."

5. We would live in a BIG house with a HUGE backyard where our kids could run and enjoy the outdoors all day.

6. I would always be super patient and never yell.

7. The kids would adore and love their siblings ALL the time.

8. Our life will always be peaceful without any bumps in the road.

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Now.... how our life "really" is.....

1. I have to repeat myself many times to get them to listen & sometimes threats are the only thing that works.

2. I feel lucky if they don't have a remark for everything I say.

3. We feed them fast food and preservative filled food WAY more ofter than fruits and veggies. We are working on this area and they have gone without fast food for a couple of weeks now.

4. I work outside of the home, I have NEVER made homemade jam, and we do crafts around holidays.

5. We live in a great house that we love. We do have a backyard with a pool but our kids spend way more time in the house rather than outside.

6. I try to be patient but it goes out the window in the mornings when we are all getting out of the house by 7:45. I forget to be patient and sometimes resort to yelling, "GET IN YOUR CAR SEAT..... NOW!"

7. Our kids get along "pretty good" but they have their "moments" especially the boys with wrestling.... they can't keep off of each other.

8. Our life is definitely not "peaceful" always. God draws us to our knees many times a week and sometimes many times a day.