Good Enough

I am a very good planner.  I love to make lists.  I’m even good at getting started on projects.  But, I am not always successful at finishing them.  Two things that come to mind in this area are my backyard and laundry.

Every spring, I see my backyard gardens (our landlady LOVES to garden) and I think, “This is the year.  I’m going to get all the weeds out and keep them out.”  I get started.  I’ve even made it around three of the four sides.  But without fail, the weeds come back before I can get all the way around and I feel defeated.  I give up.  August comes, and my backyard is overrun with morning glories and knee-high “volunteers”.  Bah.

Twice a week, I attempt to conquer the laundry in our house.  It’s my least favorite chore.  And so, when I’m done, I want to be all the way done.  (I’ve been known to tell my husband he has to put his clean pajamas on so I can wash the clothes he’s wearing.)  And yet, more often than not, the last load just doesn’t make it out of the dryer.  BAH!

Sometimes, these things make me feel like a failure.  And, truth be told, I am.  I fail miserably at all the tasks that I’m given.  I’ve never played the organ perfectly for church, I leave food on the counter over night, I forget to feed my kids (not for very long, as they are very good at whining when they’re hungry), and I don’t always respect my husband the way he deserves.

 I am thankful, though, that God helps me see my failures.  If I didn’t see them, I would start to think that I don’t need him.  God uses my failures to show me how much I need his perfections.  Here’s the stark contrast:  where I am all too often quite willing to say, “I give up!  That’s good enough,” God kept going until he could say, “It is finished.”

Last Wednesday, a miracle occurred in our house.  I got all of the laundry done in one day.  Of course, the next morning there was already more laundry to be done.  And don’t hold your breath for my backyard, either.  But, I know that for all my miserable failures, God came to my rescue!