When You're Not Enough.

As a singer, pressure is always present.  Every weekend, I grab a microphone and smile into the crowd.  I reach for the high notes, dig for the deep notes, and pray for smooth sailing in between.  It's so easy to believe that I'll be more loved and accepted if I perform well.  I aim for perfection because anything less simply isn't acceptable.  When a note is sour or a word is forgotten, I cringe on the inside.

And it's not just in the pulpit where my pursuit of perfection strangles me.  In my friendships, in my relationships, in my everyday life, I consistently feel the pressure to achieve perfection.

But God has never expected perfection from me.  He has never needed it and He has certainly never asked for it.  It is a requirement I've created for myself.  

Can we just give that time to settle in our hearts today? 

Unless I'm reading the Bible wrong, I can't find the commandment that says, "Thou shalt be perfect."  So why do we feel this way?  Why do we feel the desire to be all the right things to all of the right people all of the time?  Why do we feel that being wrong, being imperfect, being human is a crime for which we can never be forgiven?

Oh, friend.  I wish I could sit across from you and look you in the eye and tell you over and over and over again that you are enough.  Just as you are.  

Whether you're a Mary who sits at the feet of Jesus with abandon or you're a Martha who needs to finish the dishes first.  Whether you're the most talented gospel singer in the world or just hiding in the back of the choir each Sunday.  Whether you can blog about all of your homeschooling adventures with your children or you can barely get all of your children out of bed for school each morning.  

You don't have to be all things to everyone ever.  Just be you.  He'll take care of the rest.*  

You are not perfect.

But you are you.

And to God, that is perfect.


* I may have borrowed the underlined words from Moms' Night Out, which is one of my favorite movies.  Seriously, go check it out especially if you struggle with feeling like you're not enough.  I go between cracking up and ugly crying with conviction every single time I watch it.  
  

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Day Twenty Six.

You can find the rest of the series here.