Doing Everything Wrong- the Right Way.... Wait, what?

 Still being at home, Indiana home, my memory always circles backs around to the growing up days.  Most days I still feel like I'm in the process of growing up. (Let's be honest though, I stopped growing in 6th grade.  Too bad the tall kid go the lower locker in high school. He would bash me in the head at least once a week.  Northridge kids will know the lockers I'm talkin' about!)

Despite the fact that I am technically grown now, I am always in the process of learning, and relearning and giving it ago again.  A few years ago (four to be exact) I wrote a post, and I decided that I would re-post it.

 

*The Purple Pants and a Well Worn Sweater*

Oh yes, it was my favorite outfit through my freshman year in high school. The pants were purple. There was this faint black patterny design- so light that by the time I got rid of the pants, the black design was no longer visible. The sweater was red- yes red- with patterns of black, green and purple. The purple in the sweater is what tied the whole outfit together- well, in my mind at least. The beauty of those purple pants- they were very versatile. If I needed to dress down I had another shirt- horizontal stripes of gray, pink, blue and purple. In addition the versatility, these pants were extremely comfortable! Nothing like perfection!

How funny is it, that there are certain things we pick out in our mind as "perfect" and then later we realize that whatever it was, wasn't so perfect after all.  Because the Lord has always been gracious and kind to me, I have no pictures of myself in that particular outfit.  (And, if I find any, they will be destroyed. If anyone else has pictures, please do the same!)

I have decided that I am really good at perfecting imperfection. Oh, the glory of being human. The messes we make in our life on a daily basis; from ordering a burger instead of the Quesadilla Explosion Salad (I recently experienced this), to, of course, wearing the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing, thinking the wrong thing...I could go on and on. Point being, I have experienced the imperfection that comes with day to day living.  It never quite fails that at the same time that I'm working so hard to do whatever is right, I am perfecting all that is wrong.

In thinking about my desire to be perfect. It is difficult to say the least. (Okay, it's impossible.) I try though. I try to please everyone: my friends, my family, my coworkers, my boss. And then what's funny is sometimes I forget to look to please the one person who really counts- God. It's hard to please everyone at the same time. Especially, when you have people who have conflicting ideas and opinions. God, however, is always consistent in His direction.

Way back in 2008, my friend Jenilee also wrote about a similar topic. That week she talked about Galatians 6. In the last paragraph of that particular post, she wrote, "It isn't easy doing good. It isn't easy to examine every moment of the day to see if it is "keeping in step with the Spirit." But, it is worth it. It is what we, Spirit-filled followers of Christ, are called to do. We won't be perfect... we will continue to make mistakes... but we have to try..."

Tonight, my mom and I put together a shelf, which happened to be the first shelf I have ever done. Things were going well, until almost near the end, when we had to take apart and do over.  What we had done, we had done really well, but almost right, isn't.  The purple pants from high school, and the sweater, and the horizontal striped shirt are long gone. In their place I have found other substitutes. There are still days that I get home, (Illinois home, apartment with Blanche home) and I quick look in the mirror, and I realize my great outfit for the day was a miss. That is the great thing about tomorrow.  I have the opportunity to work at it again. It is my hope that as I continue living day to day, I will continue to learn more about God, and I will become more of who He wants me to be. If only being perfect was as easy as changing a wardrobe. Unfortunately it's not. The good side, being dressed in an attitude that comes from God is free!

Thankful for the days I do get it right, and for those days when my pants aren't inside out,