Tom Lake

 “I look at my girls, my brilliant young women. I want them to think I was better than I was, and I want to tell them the truth in case the truth will be useful. Those two desires do not neatly coexist, but this is where we are in the story.”

This week I curled up in my favorite chair, complete with my favorite snack and favorite dog, and dove into the book club book selection - Tom Lake.

I was thinking this week, as I marked my favorite quotes, noted the things that spoke to me, how much of a book (or movie for that matter) is what you bring to the table.

Tom Lake is the story of a mother quarantined at home during COVID with her 3 children (college/young adult age). In response to their curiosity, she begins to tell them the story of what led her to their father.

Throughout the story, you see her wrestle with how much do you tell them? What do you include? What do you leave out?

These young adults are surprised to find out their mother wasn't always the woman they know now.

It's a slow moving book that is really just getting to know the main character.

As I read, I wrestled with Lara.

You see, where Lara is now is never where Lara wanted to be. It wasn't the big dream.

How do you tell your children that while now they are the big dream, they weren't the big dream originally? How one day you wake up and realize the carnival isn't what you wanted but it's really the slow farm life?

Do you tell them the bumps along the rode? The poor choices?

If you don't, then how do they see you as a person who had bumps? Who made poor choices?

Somewhere between the high light real and reality is where I think I've landed.

Dispersing information to the young adults as the topics come up. Sharing tid bits, here and there.

Mama Warriors, I think all relationships live somewhere between the highlight real and reality.

I share enough of the hard in my home, in my heart so that others know I have space for the hard.

My house, heart, home - it's a mess too.

If you need someone to stand in the gap because marriage, parenting, existing is hard - I'm your gal.

There's no prize for the influencer worthy life.

I think we show people Jesus best in the midst of the mess.

We say - hey, I found Him in my mess, so I know He's in yours.