I love hats. Just plain love them. I especially love larger-than-life British hats that sit proudly upon those beautiful English women’s heads whenever they go to a special event. I mean, come on, don’t tell me that you wouldn’t love to wear one of these monstrous things on your head at least one time in your life:

Sometimes as women, I feel like our responsibilities, along with the expectation of how well we think we need to do them, are like hats. Each has it’s own list of tasks and unwritten rules about how we are supposed to carry them out and live our lives. The thing about hats is that they are meant to be worn one at a time. But so often in life, we find ourselves stacking our hats, one on top of each other, trying to see if our hats measure up to everyone else’s and before we know it, we are walking around town, looking like idiots, trying to keep all of our hats perfectly balanced on our little heads. We just try so desperately hard to have it all together. This is what I’m talking about:

The House Hat: Our homes are supposed to be the heart of our families. They are supposed to be warm and inviting, safe and relaxing. And they are designed to be the place where Jesus is honored and present. But in the view of society, they are supposed to be bigger and better than your neighbors. The decorations are supposed to be perfect and the floor is always to be perfectly swept with out a speck of dust. The laundry is supposed to always be done and neatly folded away and your lawn should be a well manicured masterpiece. We often worry about when company is coming over and want everything to be so perfect when they do, that the joy of entertaining friends and family is sucked right out of you because your so worried about how good your Mom’s famous meatloaf recipe is going to turn out. In the midst of all the commotion, where did welcoming our guests into our homes with the love of Jesus go to? Is this how my home should feel?

The Crafty Hat: There is nothing more that I love than a good crafternoon. God gave me a creative heart and crafty hands, but I have to admit, I have had many a DIY project go array. You find yourself desperately trying to last-minute sew together your daughter’s Halloween costume, and her barely pieced together clown costume looks more like a sewing machine blew up. But what makes matters worse, that other mom down the street made a clown costume that looks like it could be on the cover of Vogue. Where did the joy from these special projects go to? Is this what being creative looks like? And failing at it?!?

The Body Hat: God gave us our bodies to honor and glorify Him, and it’s our responsibility to take care of ourselves. But how many times a day do we look at ourselves in the mirror and do nothing but criticize our temples? We look at that other mom at the park or that celebrity on the magazine cover and think to ourselves, “Why didn’t God make me look like that?” After we have our babies, our body’s jiggle in places we didn’t know they could and oh, if only our complexions would just be blemish free all the time! And how many times has thought rang through your head, “If only I had enough money to buy that A-DORABLE outfit from J. Crew…then I know, I just know, I would feel better about myself.”  Is this how I am supposed to feel about my body?

The Mommy Hat: As moms, we truly want only the best for our kiddos. But between teething, diapers, middle of the night feedings, fighting nap time and temper tantrums, it can get a little sketchy. We find ourselves struggling to keep our heads about water some days, maybe even think that we are drowning by the time we lay our head on the pillow at night. The days are long, but the years are fast. And before we know it, it’s their first birthday, we are dropping them off at kindergarten, they are graduating high school and then they are off and getting married. And in that short time it’s our God given blessing to teach them about Him and His Word. At the end of the day, have we really taken the time to show them Jesus’s Great Love for them? Is this what being a Mommy is supposed to be like?

The Wife Hat: Even Miss Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy had a rough start to their relationship. As wives, we have the privilege of loving, affirming and honoring our husbands, “for as long as we both shall live.” The honeymoon stage is wonderful, but then real life set in: paying bills, finding a church home, meeting friends, learning how to fight fair, making and raising babies and carving out quality time for each other. In the midst of everyday life, sometimes it can get scary. We try so hard to have a loving marriage on the outside, while we are crying out for help on the inside. God didn’t design marriage to be a battle against each other, but FOR each other. When did we lose sight of that?

Let’s face it, we aren’t strong enough to carry those burdensome hats on our own. We find ourselves sitting with our head in our hands wondering how we are going to get it all done. What’s even worse, how many times are we looking at other mom’s out there and wishing that we could do it as well as them? We fear that others look at us and think that we don’t have a clue how to be a good enough woman for the job. And isn’t fear the worst feeling ever?

So where in the midst of all of this is the Jesus hat? Well friends, there isn’t one. But there is a Jesus filled heart. As Christians, we know that from the moment we claim Christ as our Savior that He LIVES in our hearts. And when we have the Holy Spirit living in us friends, that’s something powerful. So why aren’t we using that power? Why aren’t we choosing to be consumed by God’s heart? He is full of what we need and He has put it right at our fingertips.

Isn’t all that we want for our families is for them to be good, full of grace and patience? When things seem to be going right for us, we always say, “God is so good.” But have you really “tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:3)? Are you really experiencing it deep in your soul? So deep, so that when you find yourself on your knees with exhaustion and frustration from all of the things that your supposed to do, that you can honestly look up and say, “God you are so good.” As a woman who has a lot on your plate, have you taken the time to sit back and turn off all of the worries of the world and drink in God’s grace and mercy? We know that we can boldly “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16). When you are hanging by your last nerve and you realize it’s only 11AM, do you automatically shut down to your kids or do you open your soul to being “completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 2:4).

You see, these promises are right in front of us, friends! And God is giving them away for free, if we would only choose to listen to and follow hard after Him. Let us take those promises and allow them to infiltrate every part of our being and fill us with the joy and hope that only He can give. Let us welcome God’s joy into our homes as we fold laundry, as we teach our children how to share, as we write the bills, as we pray for and encourage our husbands, even as we are scrubbing our toilets… Let’s give God every part of our day together. Take this a step further and encourage other women to do the same. There is nothing more empowering than knowing that your Godly girlfriends have your back and are praying for the same things you are.

So the next time your trying to do a balancing hat act, just remember that God’s promises are right there waiting for you. Allow Him to fill you up and take charge of smallest parts of your day and soon you will find that the joy He is giving you in the small things will start spilling over into the big ones. And all of the sudden, those hats your wearing aren’t going to be a burden anymore, but a blessing.