Life is not perfect.  Only God is perfect!
      But that is not the way I have lived.  I have looked at every circumstance, every event, every decision I make, and every one of my actions as necessitating perfection.  Or it couldn’t possibly be the right one~or the one from God.
     My way of thinking has bound me up in knots, stifled my ability to make decisions, helped me procrastinate, and attempted to put me in control instead of surrendering control to God.  It has also kept me at the center of attention.  And God does not share His glory.
     Ironically, the harder I tried to make situations perfect, for numerous reasons, the worse they became.  Situations, events, meals, decisions, raising kids had a way of backfiring on me–not always, just sometimes.  It frustrated me, and I only tried harder.
     I’m sure my way of thinking was the cause of my unraveling.  People told me, and I read, that I had to change my way of thinking.  Once you change your thinking, then your attitudes change, and your actions follow suit.  All those sweet idealisms and cute characters, like Holly Hobby, that I tried to live up to were not real.
     I got the idea–in my head.  But that is where it stayed.  In my thoughts.

   
     But today, it trickled into my heart. I’m a little embarrassed to say that this great moment came while reading the end of a Christian novel.  Realizing, what I read was fiction, the idea still held truth.  God’s love supersedes our plans, our strivings, our thoughts and accomplishes something far greater than what we could hope for when life unravels.  Yes, His thoughts are above our thoughts, and His ways above our ways (Isaiah 55:8 ).  Yes, He has a plan for our lives.  And we may not always see how He is going to weave it into our lives. But God alone is perfect.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,” plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Lord, I pray that what You have revealed to my heart will take root there and give me the confidence to surrender more to You each day.