I Wish ...

... for Perfection. In other words: Pinterest.
If I were the woman I'd like to be, my house would be decorated always with things like this:

 And in my free time, I'd make jewelry like this:

In an always-clean kitchen as gorgeous as this:

My fairy-tale outdoors would offer this:

And all my pets would be this happy:

Meanwhile, with just a little effort, self-discipline and getting up at 4:30, I'd look just like this:

While still making and eating cakes like this:

And if you came to my door, you'd be greeted by my latest wreath:

Okay lady-friends, wasn't that funny? Haha.
No, Pinterest does not make me feel inadequate, but I think perhaps our constant exposure to the perfections of others' lives, leaves us dissatisfied with our own. We wish for the beautiful. Is that so bad? We long for better lives. In effect we're longing for heaven.
Two articles were posted on Facebook this morning on this very topic. The first one, "Your Children Want You!, prompted this blog post by me. I didn't really identify with the insecurities that she mentions, but think some women do. And although facebook/pinterest/blogland/twitter don't make me feel dissatisfied with myself, they often make me feel dissatisfied with my life. That's also bad.
And if there's one area of life where we all squirm and feel inadequate, it's parenting. Here's an article by Paul Tripp, "Parenting: The Joyful Impossibility," that eases the mind. Some of you are overwhelmed with an armload of little children. Some, like me, are overwhelmed with a sense of failure as we look at our older children whose lives seem messy and not likely to get better any time soon.

I'm not giving up Pinterest; it's too lovely. But I'm going to laugh each time I look longingly at some photo, as if its presence in my life would improve it significantly. It's like those peanut butter cookies -- the recipe did not live up to the hype! My 19 year-old former students can post pictures of perfect 14-year old bodies all they want, and I will feel free to ignore them.

I've had readers say, after reading a blog post here (usually food-related), "I wish I could live at your house." No, you don't. Bless you, you don't. We bloggers portray the beauty in our lives, not to make you envious, nor to trick you, but to give you something beautiful. Beauty lifts the spirits and reminds us of the life to come, yes? I try to keep that always in mind.