discouragement – The Oaxacaborn Blog

Battling Discouragement

September 6, 2011March 22, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Thoughtful Aveline in lavender

I am overwhelmed. I feel like it’s impossible to meet some of the deadlines looming this week. My mind keeps racing up and down my to-do list.

I panic over the fear of not doing something I should. I beat myself up over what there is left to do. I get discouraged by my weaknesses. I should have already done this, I should have been stronger, I should have done more, I should have… I focus on the undone, the unfinished, the incomplete.

I am a perfectionist.

This is a terrible way to live; this is not freedom.

I want, instead, to live life with open arms, accepting the endless grace God has for me. I want to receive the peace He is offering me. I want to trade in my turmoil for rest. I want to lay my stubbornness down at His feet and admit that no, I can’t do it all. No, I can’t do it perfectly.

But His grace is sufficient. His power is perfected in my weakness.

And if I feel like I’ve failed today, it’s okay. His mercies are new every single morning.

I'm Gina Munsey, a Jesus-lover and a sojourner; a weaver of words, anchored in hope. I am Mexico-born, Eastern Europe-raised missionary kid who ended up being a Californian by way of Florida outside of Nashville, Tennessee -- but we landed here before The Great Migration. I live my days full of coffee and adventures while my 12-year-old learns Mandarin Chinese and Greek, my 3-year-old uses all the markers, and my artist-husband creates worlds from pixels and light. I'm an editor, a magazine contributor, and a writer who has only completed four chapters of my languishing manuscript. On any given day, you can find me in the middle of [home]school surrounded by stacks and stacks of books. Oh, and the name of this blog? Oaxaca -- wuh-HA-kuh -- is in Southern Mexico, where I was born! (See full bio).