Everyday Imperfect

These last few weeks, we ’ve been “breaking perfect”. I’ve been pretty honest about how much my striving for perfection has cost me in time, finances and especially my   peace. The validation I felt like I needed from other people, the fear of failure - and sometimes even the fear of success - all worked within me to cause a weird procrastination - some friends and I call it the “paralysis of analysis” - where I overthink and plan so much that what needs to happen just doesn’t get done. It wasn’t until some months ago, when I heard the phrase “Done is better than perfect” that I realized that as long as I’m making progress and getting things done, it’s MUCH, MUCH BETTER than trying to do things “perfectly” and have them wait on the proverbial shelf until I felt ready to make it perfect. It helped me to realize that as long as I’m doing things to the best of my ability, the success or validity or impact it has will be in God’s hands, because He is the only One perfect enough to hand...

  We are “breaking perfect” together this week. We’ve already tackled making idols of the opinion of others and even started to tackle the fear of failure . Last week, I mentioned learning that fear of failure is not from the Lord - and if we use what He has already given us, we can trust that HE will direct the outcome. There’s a little bit more about this fear that we need to dig into, however. Here’s a bit of hard truth to admit: I was afraid that MY EFFORTS would fail, because they wouldn’t be good enough. I WAS RIGHT. My efforts alone always failed. They were never good enough, and honestly, they never will be. The only way my efforts, “perfect” or not, would be enough would be when they are done in surrender to the Father. My “perfect” efforts would still always fall short. But HE never fails. 2nd Corinthians 12:9-11 (Amplified Bible): 9  but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardles...

  We are smack in the middle of tearing down the glass walls of perfectionism, first dealing with the realization that perfectionism can be an indication of putting too much emphasis on other people’s opinions of me and what I accomplish - in other words, seeking approval from man more than God. Today, we will be tackling another cause of perfectionism - FEAR. I would be lying if I told you that one of the biggest causes for my perfectionism wasn’t fear. Oh fear was definitely there. You probably are familiar with it, too… the fear of failure. This fear would cause great delay and paralysis with whatever I put my hands to - whether it was attempting a project for work or church, or even trying to build an extra income for my little family. I would look at it every which way, analyzing and projecting and planning… trying this or redefining that. Then, I would FINALLY actually start doing the work. It was slow going sometimes because I had to make sure every.single.aspect. was no les...

 Last week, we learned about how the enemy can come at you so much with little sideshows and distractions that you start to question and doubt and loose our focus.  Well, this week I have three big weapons to help you do what will be the most effective way to conquer those distractions! Replace your thoughts with the truth of WHO HE IS, which is what the busy-ness of those sideshows tries to distract us from:   YOU ARE THE CHRIST!! Now when I say "replace your thoughts", that's really a concept you'll find in the Bible.... the "renewing of your mind" concept!! (but that's full subject for another day) So how do we turn from the distraction so that we can start again to FOCUS ON THE TRUTH: God’s already given us 3 weapons to combat distraction : Weapon #1: THE WORD   Christ himself used this weapon when Satan came to tempt and distract him from his fasting & praying.  When you have these things coming against you -trying to distract you from your TRUT...

  You‘ve heard it’s the small foxes that spoil the vine - I’m here to tell you, it’s the small distractions that destroy the mind !    You see, we know what to do when we’re faced with something big - a fatal car wreck, a drug overdose of a loved one, the infidelity of a spouse, the hopeless diagnosis for your child…  We know what to do! We start a prayer chain ... we start fasting and seeking God ... we keep His word in us day in and day out to get through that.  But then the small things like laundry or dust bunnies or teenage kids happen, We have all these things pile up around us -  " Mom I need this"….." Mom, sign this for my teacher"… "Honey, did you make that appointment?"..."Sister, can you do this for me?"…."Mom, where’s my socks/backpack/belt?"… Oh, I need to get this posted...I need to call this person… This person isn’t doing her job....Can you believe what she said? … I need to do this...I need to... And we find ourse...