The Reynolds Nation

     This post has been churning in me for months and knew that I wanted to write it and post it one day. I have been very open and honest about where I have been at the last few years, so some of what I write today may not be a surprise to anyone. Either way, I hope it brings help and healing and promise to some of you.      Two years and ten months ago my husband and I had just got into bed. It wasn't very late...maybe around 10pm. Life had been busy...he had just flown in that morning. He was long distance commuting between Florida and North Carolina with his job. I had picked him up that morning in the Greenville, South Carolina airport and then we headed to a swim meet in the same town for our daughter, Esther. We were there most of the day...stopping at some stores before we headed back to our home in North Carolina. I hadn't talked to my mom in a few days, which was rare. I was super busy and she hadn't called me either. I called her, and she didn't answer.

The other day I was heading down the road and I heard something on the radio from a woman talking about being a "hot mess." We hear that concept all the time in today's culture. I think that something that started out as a funny has now become an acceptable and cultural norm. It actually almost has a badge of honor on it...if you are a hot mess, then everything is just okay. Because that's the way we are supposed to be as women in today's age. And why would we want to change it... "Everybody is doing it!" Right? So, I sat and pondered this thought for a bit. And it actually made me a little mad inside. It lit a fire in me. Why? Who said this was okay? And why do we have to be like this? Then I started to think about what God must think of this. His beautiful creation...created to be the helper...created to be "born responders"...he has great purpose for us. And somehow I don't think it's supposed to be a strung-out, overbooked, exh