Happy Thanksgiving!!!
The creative person's greatest adversary is......
My most difficult problem to overcome in a creative pursuit.....
My biggest design flaw is.........
ME
Yes indeedy, I am my own worst enemy, bar none. I keep myself from the things that I know I'm created to do. I sabotage my own efforts on a fairly regular basis. I doubt my own abilities far too often.
Guess why?
PERFECTION
I expect me to be perfect at everything I do, the first time.
Completely unrealistic I know.
But it is the truth and I am in the process of overcoming it...slowly!!
Perfection will whisper in my ear all kinds of horrid lies and half-truths.
* you are not good enough
* you are not as talented as she is
* no one wants what you are offering
* you are wasting time, money and effort
and the list goes on and if I give ear to these things I stop, I give up, I agree with the liar and then I'm done.
I am positive that I am not alone in my travail. Perfectionism is a crippling force. Yes, it is good to be the best you can possibly be. Yes, we need to be realistic about our skills and abilities. Yes, there will always be someone who is better, smarter, faster, stronger than you.
Some truth to chew on...
Remember last week when I told you that God made you in His image and breathed His DNA into you? It's still true. You and I are His gift to this world. He has planned something for us to accomplish and no one else can do it...
So you are good enough, you are talented, someone doesn't just want what you have to offer, but needs it. You are not wasting time, money or effort when you are listening to your Lord and doing what He's asked you to do. Don't give up. Keep writing that manuscript. Keep painting those pictures. Keep designing clothes, purses, beds or floorplans. Keep dancing, singing and playing. Keep mothering or fathering or speaking or whatever it is you do to externalize the gifts that God has given you. Don't let the fear of failure or success stop you from doing what you were created to do. You are going to fail, someone will probably reject you, but God won't. He can't reject himself and you are a reflection of him. So give the perfection piece to him, let him have it, he knows what to do with it.
Can I encourage us to give up on perfection today?
For me that means I am going to celebrate Thanksgiving with my messy family in a messy living room, a kitchen with half-painted cupboards and windows with no curtains. I am going to cook dinner on my countertops that desperately need changing and ignore the mountain of laundry that needs to be done (well, I might run a load or two considering that at least one son claims to have no clean clothes). I would like to have a perfect day.
Unfortunately I have built up a little ideal in my head that looks very warm and fuzzy for tomorrow. All 8 of us playing games, eating chips and dip, telling each other the things we're thankful for about one another, hanging out and having a great time, stuffing ourselves with turkey and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, laughing and feeling the love! For most families that might seem like a fairly easily achievable goal...I'm aiming pretty low. However, most families don't have a kid that suffers from RAD. Any amount of harmonious existence is quite a long shot for us, especially, if for some reason, he's uptight about something. So if you happen to read this today would you pray for us, we could sure use it?! I would love to have a relaxed, fun day with my family. It doesn't happen often...
But even if we don't have a fabulous day tomorrow, our attempt will matter. We will find something to be thankful for. It won't be perfect. We will enter His courts with thanksgiving on our lips and hopefully the knot that's already forming in my stomach will unclench. I love idyllic. Even this, this trying matters. It's one more drop in his love bank. What you do matters, every little bit of it when we're doing it because He said it was a good idea.
Let this song encourage you today! What you do matters...Everything you do, no matter how imperfect you are!
This post is one in an ongoing series called {31 days of Uncommon Creativity}. If you'd like to start back at the beginning you can do so by clicking here! You can find a lot of other 31 day-ers over at Nesting Place. go check it out you may find some great stuff there that is just begging for you to read it!
*eucharisteo*
Grace * Thanksgiving * Joy
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