Painful Truth of the Mirror

STOP SCREAMING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
(Picture me screaming.)

It was one of those days. Everyone was moody and tired and defiant. The four-year-old was whining . . . again. The one-year-old was shrieking and throwing himself on the floor. I couldn’t hear myself think. The volume of the TV was a tad too loud. There were dishes piled up and laundry to fold and emails to respond to and a pair of socks on the floor NEXT to the laundry hamper in my bedroom and I just lost it.

EVERYBODY JUST STOP PLEASE. I CANNOT HANDLE THIS.

(Picture me still screaming.)

I stomped to my bedroom and slammed the door. Then tore into my bathroom and slammed that door, too, for good measure. My blood was pounding in my ears. I felt flushed and hot.

I went to splash my face with water and that’s when I got a good look at myself in the mirror. I didn’t recognize myself. This blotchy, red mess in the mirror, hair askew, and manic in the eyes.

There is nothing like a giant looking glass to offer perspective. And truthfully, I looked ill.

But it was not just my outward appearance that indicated my sickness; it was my heart. I wasn’t approaching my family with humility, gentleness, nor patience. I have been called out of my sickness to follow Christ and be a disciple to His mercy.

In my own heart and home, I stumble and fall. I lose my temper. But in the looking glass of Christ’s mercy, I see my true broken and redeemed self. I see what the One True Physician sees. (Matthew 9:12) A sinner, but a sinner striving towards unity with Him.

In the looking glass of Christ’s mercy, I see my true broken and redeemed self.Click to tweet

Take a breath and a moment to re-center today. Ask Him for the healing you need.

Dr. Samantha Aguinaldo-Wetterholm is a wife to Paul, mom to two little ones, and practices dentistry at a public health community center for low income families in the Bay Area, California. She (unashamedly) thinks ice cream is its own food group, loves anything Harry Potter, does not leave the house without wearing sparkly earrings, and is an enthusiastic proponent of the Oxford comma. Find out more about her here.