Today’s post is all about grace. God gives us grace, yet sometimes we have a difficult time giving ourselves grace.

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It is so easy to get caught up in trying be the perfect something. The blank can be filled in with: the perfect christian, the perfect wife, the perfect mom, perfect at our jobs, etc.

But what happens when we fail? Because, we will fail at times. And that is okay! Do we give ourselves grace easily or is it difficult?

A glimpse at my life…

 I haven’t blogged much lately because I had some things going on in my personal life. I debated sharing this on my blog but I think it’s important to share our struggles sometimes.

I won’t go into too many details but long story short, about two months ago, I started experiencing random panic attacks. I would wake up in the middle of the night in total panic mode. If you’re familiar with panic attacks, you know the feeling. I had every. single. symptom. One Saturday morning while my husband was out of town, I woke up and my symptoms were so intense that it landed me in urgent care. A little scary but thank goodness for AnnaVee on this day!!

My panic attacks were not really provoked by one specific thing. For the most part, I was waking up in panic mode before I even had time to think of something to panic over. Panic attacks also kind of run in my family, therefore, I’m not surprised that it happened to me. After several trips to the doctor and some recommendations to lighten my schedule, I am feeling much better.

Trying to lighten my schedule however, was not easy for me. I always want to do anything and everything. I love being busy but I had to let go of some things and some roles that I played.

I had to learn to give myself grace because I can’t do everything, all the time. This was tough for me because I love pouring into other people but I learned something the hard way. You can’t pour into others when your own cup is empty.

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We all need rest, time to focus on ourselves and our health, and ways to refuel ourselves!

I really learned that you have to give yourself grace sometimes because we are all imperfect human beings and we can’t do everything.

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There are so many examples in the Bible of ways that God showed grace!

The first example that comes to mind:

God provided hope of the coming of Jesus when he gave Adam and Eve the consequence for their sin. (Genesis 3:15 and Romans 16:20)

We are also saved by God’s grace. We sin and fail on a daily basis but God still chooses to save and restore. If God can do this for us, we need to learn to give ourselves some grace, as well as others.

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I think it is important to always strive to do our best each day, at work, at home, in our extracurricular activities but it’s also important to know your limits and give yourself some grace.

If you don’t accomplish everything on your to- do list in one day, give yourself some grace, if you didn’t have a chance to make it to the gym this week, give yourself some grace, if your dishes are piled high from a long day at work, give yourself some grace.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Grace frees us from striving for unattainable goals.

Give. yourself. some. grace!