Welcome to my weekly post where we take a break from money-related posts and I share about what I’m loving right now and give you a little peek into our life from the past week.
This week started out with a fun family excursion to Stillhouse Hollow Trail & Waterfall. You can read all about that in this post here.
On Thursday, I flew out to San Jose, CA to spend Friday and Saturday at the beach (near Watsonville) with a few friends to celebrate one of my friends’ 50th birthdays.
It was a true vacation for me filled with lots of relaxation, beach-walking, quiet, good conversations, seeing parts of CA I’d never seen before (we got to spend an evening in Monterey and see sea otters!), and good food. It was my first trip this year by myself and I missed my family a lot. It made me so grateful for how I’ve changed my lifestyle now that I rarely travel for business and that I get to spend so much more time with my husband and kids. I’m so grateful for how much we love to be together!
I wrote this Instagram post the day I left:
I woke up at 4:00 am this morning burdened for my kids. Each of them has their own set of struggles and I was reviewing them in my head.
The reviewing quickly turned to worrying which escalated to full out anxiety.
Am I spending enough time with them?
Are they eating healthfully enough?
Did I ask her the right questions in our conversation?
Does she feel loved enough?
Should I have responded to him like that?Pretty soon, I had spiraled to a place of beating myself up and feeling so much shame and guilt as a mom.
And it didn’t help that I was leaving for California this morning to be gone through Sunday.
I got on the plane still carrying the weight and burden with me. And then I opened up my Bible reading and read this: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you REST.”
And I heard Him whisper to me, “You are free, Mama.”
“When I died on that Cross, it was for you. It was for your mistakes and your mess-ups.”
“It was so you don’t have to carry around the weight of guilt and shame and feelings of not doing enough.”
“Rest in me. Let me be adequate where feel inadequate. Trust Me in the messy, broken spaces.”
“Look to Me when you don’t know how to respond or what the next step is. Lean on Me when you feel overwhelmed with this job I’ve given you to raise these three humans.”
“Let me carry your burdens. Stop stressing and worrying and striving and trying so hard.”
“I came to give you life and hope and joy. Rest in me. You are free, Mama.”
What I’ve Been Learning
More and more, I’m noticing that I’ve stopped feeling the need to wear makeup everyday or spend a lot of time on my hair.
It’s not that I’m giving up makeup or fixing my hair, it’s just that I’m becoming more and more comfortable in my own skin.
I used to pretty much never step foot out of the house without full makeup on and my hair fixed. Now, I often leave the house or get on Instagram Stories with messy hair and no makeup.
It feels good. It feels freeing. And it’s evidence of the work that has happened in my heart in the past two years.
I still like being put together and try to spend a little time making myself presentable every day, but I stopped worrying so much about what other people think or say about how I look.
Some days, I have on a cute top, cute jeans, cute shoes, and full makeup. Other days, it’s a hat, 6-day hair, workout clothes, and little to no makeup. It doesn’t change who I am inside.
And I’m learning that the people who love you most don’t care about how pulled together you look or not. And that the people I want to attract online won’t care either.
There’s so much freedom in just showing up as YOU — on the great hair days and the messy bun days.
Links You Should Check Out:
- Struggling financially? This post might encourage you: When Your Bank Account is Almost Empty.
- If you find that you often have trouble focusing or you’re just curious how productive you are, you can take this Productivity assessment (which I found very interesting and insightful!)
- Missed my recent webinar on 3 Strategies to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed? I’m offering it again LIVE this week and it will be co-hosted by Jami Balmet from Young Wife’s Guide. Sign up for FREE here.
- Are your kids growing like weeds? Here are 27 Ways to Save on Kids’ Shoes.
- I was honored to be a guest on the Publishing Profits Podcast where I talked about How to Make Money Blogging.
Pamela Moreno says
I hope you enjoyed Watsonville and the Central Coast ! I happen to live in Watsonville and had guests from Charleston SC here last week so I was able to play tourist in my own backyard. Our guests enjoyed the weather ( scorching hot for us), Rio del mar beaches, Glaum egg ranch, Gizdich Ranch for pie and a beautiful coastal drive that included the Boardwalk, Steamer’s Lane, Lighthouse Point, Pleasure Point and Watsonville farmlands. We also saw floats from the Begonia Parade. Our area has a lot to offer and I sincerely hope you enjoyed the down time.
Crystal Paine says
I did! It was so fun to go to a new part of the country!
Kris says
Meeting a friend this morning and got up early to “get ready”. Using the extra time for kid snuggles now instead:) Thanks for all of the honesty and inspiration, Crystal.
Crystal Paine says
Kid snuggles are the BEST!
Krystal @ Simple Finance Mom says
I love this! I’m learning to embrace the messy bun this year as well. I was totally the person who never left the house until I had showered, dressed, and done all my make-up. But I am loving the freedom that comes with minimal make-up and throwing my hair up real quick.
Crystal Paine says
I love a good messy bun!
Rosanna@ExtraordinaryEverydayMom says
I love watching the way you’re growing and changing, Crystal! You are very inspiring to me and I appreciate your openness and honesty.
Crystal Paine says
Aw, thank you so much for your kind encouragement!