Get started and keep moving!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’m not a naturally neat person. I truly have to work at keeping our home clean and organized. Even with the work, I am inconsistently successful. While reading yet another book to help me with this battle, I encountered an interesting thought.

“Wanting to do things perfectly, or at least very well, is good. Sometimes. When the desire for perfection becomes a requirement, that’s extremism. And that can be a significant hindrance …” *

The author was speaking specifically about getting and staying organized, but I see possibilities for a much broader application. Being obsessed about perfection can hinder us in life and ministry. It can dampen our fellowship with others and with Christ.

There are two specific points I want to make here. First, perfectionism can prevent us from getting started. Secondly, it can prevent us from moving on.

Growing up, my siblings and I were taught a kind of “all or nothing” attitude. This came as direct application of the verse I shared with you last time (1 Corinthians 10:31). After all, everything we do is to be to the glory of God, so we must give 110% to everything. I love the encouragement and discipline received from my mother’s example! In ministry I do not dare give less than my all. Going only half-way is not good enough. You’ve got to persevere. You’ve got to finish strong. You’ve got to give your very best because God is so worthy.

The flipside of this instruction is the problem; it is the defeatist attitude of not even trying if you know you can’t do it perfectly. “If we’re going to be late, we might as well not go at all!” It is this thinking that holds us back from helping, from volunteering, from getting involved in ministry. There has to be someone else who can do it better than I, so why bother? Thinking like this is an extreme hindrance not only to us, but also to the body of Christ. We are not giving and they are not receiving. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Perhaps God is asking you to do something, but you feel less than qualified. You don’t think you have the time or skills to do it perfectly. Well, I’ve got news for you – no one else will do it perfectly either. We are imperfect people! If God is telling you to do it, then you are the perfect person for the job. He doesn’t make mistakes and He chose you. Be brave. Step out of your shelter of perfectionism and obey His calling. You will be rewarded.

Once we get started on something, we encounter another hindrance. We dove in and now want everything to be perfect and perfectly completed. We become trapped by our perfectionism and refuse to move onto the next thing.

Last week my mother-in-law and I painted my kitchen. It is a beautiful red called “rapture”. I love it! The problem with this color is defining lines. Our house is old and the walls are not smooth like you find in a new construction. This makes creating a straight edge with paint nearly impossible. And the contrast between this vibrant red and my stark white cabinets and trim makes every bump and curve noticeable. Mom and I struggled for hours trying to get those lines perfect. At the end of the second day, we forced ourselves to quit. We made a rule not to nit-pick anymore. The lines still are not straight, and they are still driving me a little crazy, but if I were to continue working on them, all of my other responsibilities would be neglected. The laundry would not be done; the shopping would not be finished – probably not even started. Rick and the kids would be fending for themselves for food, baths and survival. On top of all that, I would be ready for a straight-jacket. My family and my sanity needed me to settle for imperfection in order to move on to more important tasks.

Sometimes we need to just let go in order to grow. You have done all you can do, so let it be. Move on. It may be a relationship worked to death or a ministry detail that truly is good enough. It may not be perfect, but it is as good as it needs to be for now. Perhaps you can return to it another time or remember lessons for the next opportunity. In a couple weeks I may go back and work on those lines some more, but I’m not going to let them hold me back from doing what is verifiably more important.

What about you? How is perfectionism hindering you from glorifying God? Think about the opportunities in your life. Perhaps there is a ministry or relationship you need to dive into. Maybe you need to let go of something and move toward a new task or service. I encourage you to seek God on this. Ask Him where you might be stuck and how you can get out. Imagine serving Him unencumbered by our own expectations … Let's get started and keep moving!

* Quoted from Organizing Magic: 40 Days to a Well-Orderd Home and Life by Sandra Felton, Revell, c. 2006

To Survive or Glorify?

Does life ever pile up on you? It does me. On those days all my energies are focused on survival. Heavenly purposes are nowhere in sight. Tomorrow is a new day with new beginnings. My only goal is to make it there as soon as possible; preferably with few or no casualties.

Today is one of those days. My to-do list is a mile long and the kids are in a mood. I’ve handed out ten spankings and it’s only 9am. An appointment has slipped my mind until the last moment. I shower, dress, pack the diaper bag and get the kids in the car in fifteen minutes flat. Not bad – right? Except now I’m harried and rushed and simply cannot find a moment to regroup. All I can think about is how my socks don’t match. I remember the luxury of make-up. Ahh … those were the days! Back to normal life: There is nothing like lunch with over-tired toddlers and picky eaters. My white T-shirt (my last resort, worn only on laundry day) now has red jello marks all over the shoulder, and my lap smells like urine (not mine). I finally get the kids down for a nap; then, discover they have locked me out of the bathroom. This is my day.

Now, you’re probably expecting me to say something profound about God giving us rest and all the strength we need to survive each day. I will not refute that – He most certainly does! But today a different verse is on my mind: 1 Corinthians 10:31.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (NAS)

We do a lot of singing in our house. We have a song for just about every occasion. We sing the hymn “Stand Up for Jesus” nearly every day when prompting the kids to stand up to get dressed, get out of the bath, get off the floor in a store … We have a good morning song (compliments of VeggieTales). We sing a ton of choruses and kid songs all throughout the day. We even have a clean-up song (thanks to Laurie Berkner) that we sing whenever putting toys away.

The other night, as we were straightening the living room before bed, Isabel took the initiative to start our song. She sang loudly: “Clean up! Clean up for Jesus!” She had combined two of our usuals to make a whole new song.

This is what is on my mind today. She was cleaning up for Jesus. She was thinking (and singing!) of Him as she did her little mundane task of putting away her toys.

God doesn’t want us to simply survive our days here on Earth. He wants us to glorify Him through every moment of our lives. He is longing for us to drive to appointments for Him; to change diapers for Him; to go to work and stare at a computer for 9 hours … all with the purpose of glorifying Him. This life must be survived, there is no doubt. But there is much more to it than just survival.

Let me encourage you today: Clean your house for Jesus. Wash your car for Christ. Be nice to your boss for God. In all that you do, be it at home or elsewhere, do it all for the glory of God. Don’t live today just to survive; live it to glorify.

Website issues & a lack of posts

Hello. I've got a couple housekeeping announcements for the site.

First, you may have noticed a different look! This is a direct result of some issues I encountered while attempting to upgrade my site. Hopefully, we can get it straightened out before too long. In the meantime, please be patient with me and my appearance.

Secondly, we are leaving for Kentucky tomorrow. I'll be away for about a week and, therefore, will not be posting anything new. Don't worry -- I'll be taking notes! You can anticipate some new entries when I get back.

Until then ...

It's not too late.

First-time obedience doesn’t come naturally to anyone, especially two-year-olds. Isabel loves to wait until the last possible second to follow instructions. I may ask her to do something two or three times, all the while she smiles and politely ignores my instruction. But the moment I move toward her, her tune changes: “I do it! I do it!”

In an act of grace, I will sometimes let it go at that, if she is really doing it. On other occasions, in the midst of an already long and trying day, consequences for her delayed obedience (translation: disobedience) are required. My response is simple: “It’s too late.”

At that, Isabel begins crying frantically, “It’s not too late! Mama, it’s not too late. I do it now!”

Does that sound like you and me? It is human nature to push the limits -- perhaps that is an unfair statement. There may be some people somewhere who find being good the easiest course of action. I, however, am not one of them. I love trying new things and I love getting into trouble. Most of us want to get as close to danger as possible without having to pay any consequences. We want to touch the fire without getting burnt.

Too often, we don’t recognize the true danger until it is too late. We stand there, clothes singed and smoking, proclaiming “It’s not too late! I’m okay. I can handle the heat.”

Truth is: God knows us better than we do. He knows what we can handle and what we can’t. With this knowledge, He instructs us.

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” – 1 Timothy 6:11 (NIV)

God doesn’t encourage us to test the limits. Instead, He tells us to “flee”; to run in the opposite direction. He tells us what to avoid and what to run toward: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. That’s a mighty list! It should keep us busy; busy enough to forget about the fires tempting us.

Sometimes, though, the temptations are so great, the sin so deep, we feel like it is too late. It never truly is. Our God is bigger and stronger than anything we have or may ever encounter. He is the Creator! The mountains bow down to Him and so shall anything that encumbers us.

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

God will never give us anything we cannot handle with His help. Now, when you recognize that nothing is impossible for God, then you realize that we may have to face quite a lot! But He will always provide an escape. What comes shall pass and all is for our good. Let us pray that we will not fall into temptation. If we do fall, let us pray for the courage and strength to flee from it quickly; to escape through the way God provides.

It is not too late to seek God. It is not too late to be freed from whatever entangles us. May we today run in the opposite direction of what tempts us; toward what makes us right with God.