Dare to NOT Compare!

There I was, sitting in my daughter's preschool classroom. Enjoying watching her carefully color her picture. Then is happened.. Her teacher noticed she was not holding her crayon correctly. The teacher helped her fix her finger placement,  then again, and again and again. I glanced over to the girl sitting next to my daughter and the thoughts flooded in, "She wasn't having to get her finger placement corrected!" "She can almost write whole words with very little help!" "What am I doing wrong?"  Should this have been a big deal to me?  No way! This is my sweet daughter's first year at school. She is still learning all the basics and is doing super well.

It hit me on the drive home what was going on in my head and heart in that preschool room. Sinful comparisons. I had gone from taking joy in watching my daughter work to comparing her with others.

Sinfully comparing myself (or in this case, my daughter) to others is not where I would have liked to go in this scenario. But alas, I am a sinner. And yet again, God used this as a chance to reveal my dependence on Him.

I will never be the "perfect" mother. But that's OK because that is not who God has called me to be. He knew when He gave me this great task that I wouldn't be perfect, that I would fall short. But He chose me as the one to mother my daughter. What an honor!

Sinful comparisons not only cause me to lose focus on what I am called to do. It also robs me of joy. How quickly my attitude changed while watching my daughter that day. I was truly having a great time  seeing which colors she picked and watching as she stuck her tongue out while she colored (an adorable thing she does when she is really focused). Then I let the sin of comparing enter in and, with that, the joy was gone and my focus was on myself.

I am so thankful for God's loving care for me on that drive home. He graciously showed me my sin. And the freedom and joy that followed was amazing. Will I ever sinfully compare again? Sadly, I know the answer is yes. But my hope and prayer is that the moments of sinful comparison will be shorter and less often as I grow in God's grace.