Perfecting the Art of Imperfection

Well, that was easy.

I’ve already accomplished my New Year’s resolution.

A week ago, I declared that 2011 would be the Year of Imperfect. And I testified that I would wear that badge boldly. And I wouldn’t stress out too much if I did less-than-the-unattainable-best, and I would maybe even laugh at myself a little bit more.

Yes, I would be boldly imperfect!

Mission accomplished…

(My mama always said I was an overachiever.)

It’s been an imperfect week all right. Since I said goodbye to perfection a week ago, I:

— Invited a vocalist to sing at an upcoming Christian retreat, but left the wrong phone number on his answering machine. Instead of leaving my number, I gave him the number for my parents’ home. I haven’t lived with my parents for 21 years.

— Have a half-dismantled Christmas tree in my living room, that I can’t find the time to put away.

— Have a plunger sitting in front of one of our toilets. A few weeks ago, I accidentally flushed a Mastercard down the toilet. We’re waiting for the plumber to show up. This adds a whole new dimension to the hazards of credit-card use.

— Received an email from the kindergarten teacher, letting me know that I’d forgotten to send Anna’s snowboots. Before her recess, I jumped in the car to deliver the boots. Trouble was: I forgot to put the boots in the car.

But I can laugh. And I can thank the Father whose power is made perfect in my weakness.

“The thing that is really hard,
and really amazing,
is giving up on being perfect
and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”
— Anna Quindlen

Photo: Cross in snow. My backyard. Just because … He is here.

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A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Pardon today’s disjointed post and all the dust that you might find around here over the next few days. I’m in the midst of a blog redesign.

Today, I’m also spending some time at BibleDude’s place, where we’ve been journeying through “The Story of God, The Story of Us” by Sean Gladding. I’m writing today about the deep sense of gratitude that this ordinary girl has for her King.

Also today, I link up with Ann Voskamp’s “Walk With Him” Wednesday series. She asks us this week: How are you making new habits this year? I want to adopt Ann’s habit of Scripture memorization again this year. She has a doable plan for memorizing Colossians in one year. Her plan includes a “commitment booklet” that we can download and print. Shall we do this? We can!