It's not quite a quiver full, but it's a start!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Imperfect is the NEW Perfect

When I look at the women I surround myself with I am filled with awe, and sometimes a little bit of jealousy. I am so excited when they accomplish something new, then it makes me feel like maybe I'm not doing enough myself. How crazy is that! But we all do it. And it's time that we stop. It's time that we realize that we may be "imperfect" but since when is that a bad thing? How exciting would the world be if everyone was exactly the same? How great would our accomplishments truly be if everyone was doing the same thing?

At our Christmas party while we were bragging over my friends amazing athletic skills, she said, "but I'm not crafty..." We all laughed a little. We all know how that feels. I am making a handmade braided rug for my daughter, something everyone keeps fawning over, but all I think about is my friends who wake up at 5 every morning to go running. How they have completed marathons, triathlons, and have gym memberships. My husband and I build our own furniture, but I wish I had a sewing machine (and the desire to actually use it) when I see the beautiful clothes my friends make for their children. I can speak or sing in front of a room full of people without thinking twice, but I can't get past feeling like a bad mom when I give my kids fish sticks while my friends feed their children grass-fed beef with a side of organic fruits and veggies. I can't coupon, I can't crochet, and I get super cranky if I don't get 5 meals a day and at least 9 hours of sleep. I live my life to glorify God, to live according to His purpose for me, but sometimes I can't help but wonder "What if?" when I look through my friends' photos of their travel abroad. I can't help but wonder if my "ministry" is actually important when I have friends providing medical assistance to hundreds of hurting people all over the world. My life, when I compare these "failures" to my friends accomplishments, is pretty much going nowhere fast. At least, that's how it feels.

The problem with these comparisons are, they aren't comparisons at all. In fact, when my friends succeed it does not mean that I have failed just because I haven't done these things. Just because other moms do things a different way, it doesn't mean that I am doing it incorrectly. In fact, the way they do things really has nothing to do with me at all. I should be encouraging them to live up to their potential while realizing that it is completely separate from mine. I should not feel insignificant because of the significance in their lives. In fact, it should be encouraging to me, that my friends have done such great and wonderful things. Encouraging because it can be done, encouraging because they are doing it, encouraging because there is so much that I can learn from them. But I should never feel like these "imperfections" about me make me anything less than perfect. I should never feel like I have to be anything different than who I am just because they are not like me. We all have the power to do it, and that is enough! All of the other accomplishments along the way, are simply ways that God reminds us of our individual talents. Ways that God uses to further His Kingdom, to show off His  powers, to keep life interesting. He will show off just as much through a crafty stay-at-home mom as He will in a marathon runner. He will use the CEO the same as He will use the mom who has never held a corporate position a day in her life. He will use us all to change the world...but He can't use us if we're so caught up in what we "can't" do that we forget to do what we can. He can only use us when we realize that it is our imperfections that make us perfect to Him!

4 comments:

  1. Isn't that the way we think about things? In terms of what we can't do or comparing ourselves to everyone around us? When all God really wants from us is, well, us. Our praise, our love, our willingness to submit to Him and serve Him with all the gifts He's given us. Thank you for this reminder. I think women in particular need to read messages such as this one every day! Thanks for linking up with NOBH. Smiles -

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  2. Beautiful post! He has given us all specific talents for us to use for His Glory... These are not OUR talents, but his talents that he has lent to us. We should not be so caught up in the talents others have, that we do not see what talents we were blessed with! Thank you for this reminder!

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  3. Thanks for the encouragement & reminder. Its great that you are putting God's talent he's given you to good use through this blog. Its funny b/c I am not a competitive person (which I figured out is part of the reason I like running marathons b/c everyone who finishes gets a medal even if 700 people finished before me, im still a winner too, haha!) Anyway, I still compare myself to others all the time, but I dont really dwell on it or stress about it much though b/c I know there will always be someone better at something than I am & always be someone who has a harder lot in life than I do, so I may as well find joy & satisfaction in who I am, where I am right now. We all have different strengths & weaknesses, so we should just recognize them & make the most of them. I just find sometimes, for me at least, there is a thin line between finding joy in just being comfortable being me w/ all my imperfections & being complacent. Like "I am perfect just the way I am b/c God made me this way" mindset vs. "we should always be striving to be better, more like God" mindset. Anyway, I may not have made any clear point; just jotting down what your blog got me to thinking about...

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  4. Great thoughts! I guess I never think of it in terms of becoming complacent since I'm always striving to learn and do new things. But you are so right! Being happy with who we are as an individual is not about lowering our standards or convincing ourselves that we "can't" do something. Thanks for providing a different perspective!

    That's one reason I love surrounding myself with people who are different than I am...so I can learn from them. I just have to be careful not to start feeling like I "have" to do the same things just because they are doing it. But if Gos is calling me to do something and putting these people in my life for me to learn from and instead I hide behind the "I'm fine the way I am" excuse you are right I'm not living the way I should be either!

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Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you found encouragement and joy from my posts. I would love to hear what you have to say! It is my responsibility to make sure all of the content is uplifting, respectful, and true. Any comments that are viewed as personal attacks, false accusations, and any use of profanity will not be tolerated. Thank you, and please leave a comment that I will be able to post so others can be encouraged through your words as well!