Flawed Mom Wears Lipstick

“You are looking at a flawed mother . . .” is how I often begin my book talks when I have moms in the audience. I want to start on the right foot, lowering (or totally erasing) their expectations of an author who writes mostly on family values.

Having been a working mom all the years my children were growing up, I have no authority to preach on good parenting.

“Aside from being flawed, I also wear lipstick,” I say, alluding to my book, “No Lipstick for Mother,” which is a story about a mother who stops wearing lipstick because she has better things to do—earning a living for her daughter. I use lipstick to symbolize people's definition of beauty—that which one can see with his eyes.

These usually put the audience in good humor and the interchange after the talk takes on a new, energized spirit. “Despite being a flawed mom who wears lipstick, my children turned out wonderfully well—only by God’s wonderful grace.”

That elicits laughter, like a collective sigh of relief. When mistakes or misadventures happen in parenting, our heavenly Father comes to the rescue. He promised in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness . . ." It never failed when I did. It was there when I wasn't.

Having said that, I think you will understand that when I receive letters from mom-readers such as the one below, I get misty-eyed. Let me summarize what she wrote:

Dear Grace,

My children love reading . . . I purchased your book, “No Lipstick for Mother” . . . Would you believe that I have read that book for, I think, 60 times? Every night, my son will not sleep until I read it. I hope you can have many more stories like this. Thank you for helping me become a good MOM through your stories.

Moi?! Helping one mom become a good mom?!

I am humbled, and encouraged to write the stories I should have read to my children but couldn't.