Poor Grandma, Part 3

If you missed Part 1 or Part 2, you might want to read them first.

My head spins with all that is in it.  So many contradictions, so many opinions. So much pull to things other than Him.  The devil is a cunning and crafty adversary and has lured an entire gender of this and every other industrialized nation into an ages old game of compare-and-contrast and hyper-exaggerated it.  Do the duos Rachel & Leah or Martha & Mary ring any bells?

One friend refuses to serve her children any soda other than diet, another searches out soda without high fructose corn syrup and yet another thinks it's child abuse for any parent to serve their children soda of any sort.  Which one loves their children more?


One friend is gluten-free, another feeds her children Paleo, and a yet another is a regular at the McDonald's drive-thru.  Which one is the better mother?


One friend will only buy fair-trade clothes, another says her new necklace that she bought on Etsy was "only" $60, and another friend cries as she can't find jeans at the thrift store that fit her children.  How do you know which one is a better steward of their money?

One friend says she has no time to be on Facebook and the other friend's feelings are hurt because she can be found on Facebook quite often so what does that mean about the way she spends her time?  And yet another friend apologizes about being on Facebook all the time and must explain her new fangled phone.  Which one uses her time wisely?

Only God can see the heart of each of these women.  I'm certain they are all wonderful mothers, doing the best they can.  We each make decisions for our family based on the information we have available.  Would it be edifying to say "Please tell me you don't feed your child aspartame?"  Would it be encouraging to say "I really hope you don't buy clothes made in a sweat-shop!" 

If we stop and think, do we feel judged and belittled by our friends or do the voices in our own head scream more than loud enough to make up for it all?  Did my friend *really* imply that if I am on Facebook I must be sitting around lollygagging all day long or do I feel guilty and therefore interpret what she said incorrectly?

Can we just give it all up?  Stop judging?  Stop comparing?  Stop looking at other peoples muscle mass, flower beds, children's birthday parties, SAT scores, marriages, residential square footage, on and on ad nauseum....and just live the life God wrote for me and me alone?  Love God, love your neighbor, serve others, die to self?