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S3E6: Part 2 – Overcoming Insecurities

February 24, 2020 by Jackie Ritz Leave a Comment

Unconventional Wellness Radio
Unconventional Wellness Radio
S3E6: Part 2 - Overcoming Insecurities
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Here is Part 2!

Hey y’all! This Podcast is a re-broadcast from my friends over at the Renewed People Podcast.

Those guys are a bunch of fun – and have a HUGE heart for loving on people. Please go check out their Podcast – it is amazing and will move you!

On this Podcast, I flay myself open and discuss my struggles with sexual sin and how I have been delivered. Through my insecurities, I struggled for years – even almost lost my marriage…3 times!

Please have a listen and watch Him move!

Tagged With: anxiety, family, health, insecurity, life, overcoming porn, people, porn, ptsd, wellness

My Rainbow Baby that God Gave Me After the Storm

July 21, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 18 Comments

I’m breaking my summer blogging sabbatical because I’m feeling very emotional tonight and feel like writing. My son turns 2 tomorrow and my emotions are a whirlwind because of that. I’m not sure why…well, I have a few ideas why. First, he is my baby and 2 marks the end of “babyhood”. Second, as we draw closer to his birthday, we draw closer to the anniversary of my sister’s death.

I asked God so many times why He would take my sister from me at the time I had a newborn baby. It was nearly impossible for me to care for my kids while grieving the loss of my sister and without my husband (who was incredible through it all), I’m pretty sure I would not have endured it.

A friend of mine who also went through a intensely tough storm said it perfectly when she said that she felt like she was living a life of parallels with her newborn. I, too, have felt plagued with the same feelings. It has been 2 years of parallels…2 years of life and 2 years of death. At many times I felt so confused as to how I was supposed to embrace this precious new life that God had given me, while being broken and hurt over the life that I had loss in my sister.

I felt God whisper to me many times that out of death comes life.

He knew before my son, Frankie, was even conceived that my beautiful sister would pass away from this earth around the same time as my son’s birth. There was a purpose to these parallels and what is so beautiful is that I am only beginning to see it.

Frankie brings me so much joy that it is almost unbearable. The first year of his life I dealt with guilt over so many things…our broken breastfeeding relationship…laughing at him when I should be grieving…and, most of all, feeling as if the beginning of his beautiful life was overshadowed by my sister’s tragic death.

Frankie is my rainbow baby. He was conceived shortly after a miscarriage that my husband and I had. He was my promise to God that followed a very difficult season of our lives.

Frankie is my rainbow baby that followed a very difficult storm…a storm that raged so hard that it shook the foundation of my faith and brought me to my knees in desperation. God knew I would need Frankie. God knew what exact moment I would need him. He was there with me and there was a reason for it all.

Frankie suckled at my breast 10 minutes after I found my sister. I held him and gave life to him when death was surrounding me. And in the darkest hours, in the blackness of the night, Frankie was there next to me, wrapped in my body and warmth, reminding me that out of death came a much needed significant life.

When I look at Frankie, I think of the promise God gave Noah. He will always calm the storm.

So, today, and always, I celebrate my Frankie!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

 

frankie17

 

Frankie, Jr. born beautifully into Mommy's arms.
Frankie, Jr. born beautifully into Mommy’s arms.

Big sister holding him for the first time <3
Big sister holding him for the first time <3

I think this was the first picture I took of Frankie after my sister died. I remember thinking, "how can I be sad when I have this little boy to look at."
I think this was the first picture I took of Frankie after my sister died. I remember thinking, “how can I be sad when I have this little boy to look at.”

frankie 2

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Filed Under: About Me, Thoughts Tagged With: 2 year olds, death, gluten-free, grief, life, paleo, primal, rainbow baby

I am Not Perfect but I am Enough

March 21, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 70 Comments

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I love being a public blogger and having an active Facebook page. I love interacting with all of you! However, I understand that it may come off like I’m perfect. It’s easy for me to hide the mess on social media. So, let me just get this off my chest…I AM NOT PERFECT. In fact, I am nowhere near perfect. Yes, I make delicious meals for my family and snap pictures of them for all of you to see. Yes, I snap pictures of me and my kids playing together. Yes, I profess my love for my husband. One big, happy family, huh?

I am not perfect…

I clean my house once a week. I mop once a month. My house is dirty and there is dog hair everywhere. There is dried snot on the couch from one of the kids wiping their nose on it and boogers on the wall next to my daughter’s bed. Let’s not even discuss my son’s high chair. I am not perfect.

I rarely fold my family’s clothes. I let it pile up over several weeks and, eventually, my husband folds them. I feel guilty watching him because that’s “my job” as a mother and wife.

I yell at my kids. I get frustrated and scream. My 4-year-old looks at me like I’m the devil. I feel so un-perfect.

I put the TV on in the morning so I can enjoy my morning coffee. I sit down on the couch to drink it and baby brother brings me a book. I set it down and tell him “later”. I want to be alone in my coffee. Then I look at him trying to read it by himself and I feel it again…GUILT. 

I drive-thru Chic-Fil-A, at least, once a week. ::GASP:: This is so not Paleo and I am such a bad mom for not having every, single meal planned out and perfected in health.

I set our family budget and then blow it. When I’m questioned about it I throw rapid fire because this is, once again, “my job” being questioned. “How dare you? Why don’t you try to make a budget and pay all the bills and then tell me how easy that is?!” I’m so defensive.

I have taken my kids to church just for the “free” childcare. This is so not perfect. God forgive me.

I let the kids run free in the house so that I can have “ME” time in the bathtub. When they ask to get in, I tell them it’s “mommy-time” and to let me have a few minutes by MYSELF. I get frustrated when they throw ponies and cars and choo-choos in the bathtub to get my attention.

I forget to feed my dogs some days.

I forget to feed myself.

I forget to feed my husband dinner when he get’s home from work late after the kids are already in bed. I’m sitting on the couch when he walks in…my “job” is over.

I forget to call my parents back.

I am too tired to have any kind of intimacy with my husband after “dealing” with my kids all day.

I need more “me-time”. I need more clothes. I need more fun with girlfriends. I need…I need…I need.

I need a life. I’m *just* a stay-at-home mom.

I feel overwhelmed with mommy guilt. I feel like a bad mom, a bad wife, a bad friend…a bad daughter.

But, you know what?

BUT I am enough…

I am enough for my kids. They don’t see the dirty floors. They won’t remember wearing clean or dirty clothes. They remember all the new places I took them in the mornings, instead of cleaning. I am enough. I clean enough.

I am not perfect. But I am more than enough for my kids. They adore me. They cling to me like hemorrhoids. They love me. They love me because I do read to them. And it’s ok for me to have my coffee in the morning, but it’s also ok for my son to sit on my lap while I drink my coffee. I am not perfect…but, boy, can I multi-task. I can drink my coffee, read a book, hold my son, and flip the pages without spilling my precious coffee. I am awesome.

I am enough for my family. I provide the healthiest food I can and I don’t always get it right. I fail…I fail A LOT. But, I am enough. They are healthy. I am healthy. We are blessed to have more than enough food at our fingertips. God is enough for us.

I am enough for my husband. I love him more than enough. I am defensive because I want to be perfect for him. I am jealous because I feel so un-perfect. But, my husband adores me. I am enough for him and he is enough for me.

I am enough for myself. I don’t have to live up to Pinterest. I don’t have to make cute napkins. I don’t have to have every holiday planned out with crafts and gifts and food and themes and new traditions. I am enough.

It’s not about me. It’s not about you.

YOU are enough. So, put down that mommy guilt and stop trying to live up to YOUR expectations. Being a mother is dirty…it’s gross…you catch vomit from your sick kids and poop from potty-training toddlers with your BARE hands. You cut 50 finger nails without cutting a one, and if you do, you know how to kiss it perfectly until the pain stops. You make cheap cake when you can’t afford to buy a “nice” one. You make forts out of pillows, fairy houses out of sticks. You decorate your walls with the writings of your kids…markings that remind you that these moments with them is short and fleeting. You know secret tickle spots and scars and dimples. You know how to tie your husbands tie and tie your little superhero’s cape. You can breastfeed your baby while walking through Target, pushing a cart, and trying on new clothes that may not fit like they used to. You can drive your car, hand your baby her binky, put on makeup, and sing songs with your kids ALL AT THE SAME TIME. You say words that heal…that smile…that bring a little bit more love into this changing world.

My Superhero!
My Superhero!

You make life happen!

You make everyday an adventure for your family. You are the glue.

You are beautiful to the bones. You are beautiful with your stretch marks, cellulite, and makeup-less face.

You make love happen.

YOU BIRTH LOVE and then feed it from your breasts.

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Source: https://amandagreavette.blogspot.ca/p/paintings.html

You nurture. You nourish. You give the best and provide the best you can.

You pour out your life for your children. You kiss them perfectly and know how to sooth the deepest of pains.

You are spectacular.

You are enough.

You are more than enough.

 

 

 

Filed Under: About Me, Thoughts Tagged With: family, life, love, mommy guilt, paleo

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Hi, I'm Jackie Ritz and welcome to The Paleo Mama! I'm a published author, certified herbalist, and voracious researcher of natural medicine and nutrition. I'm glad you're here and I hope you stick around for awhile!

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