Real talk.
The truth is, I fail on a daily basis. I fail myself. I fail my friends. I fail my God. BUT, it's what I do in those moments that make me who I am. There is a choice to be made when we fail, do we let our failures define and discourage us or do we let them build us back up, teach us and encourage us to do better next time.
I have to get better at choosing the latter.
I used to get this feeling when I would go on retreats or missions with my youth group in high school. I would get this extended time of being reinvigorated in the Lord, and then I would return to "real life." For a few days, I would do great, reading scripture every day, choosing my words and actions carefully, being consistent in prayer, and then something would throw me off. Somehow, I never got fully back on the train, I held on as best as I could, but at some point I'd just fall off and never give it another thought until the next retreat.
I'm done with that.
Making Things Happen changed me. Scratch that. I changed at Making Things Happen. I saw my big dreams. I saw what it would be like to live them. I gave myself to them fully, and I committed to stop letting fear stand in my way. What I didn't realize until this week was that I needed to commit to stop letting moments of discouragement after small failures stand in my way. I need to make peace with the fact that I am not perfect, I will fail, I will never stop failing, but it is a standard of progress, not perfection that I must aim for.
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| Graphic by Emily Ley |
Emily shared this beautiful graphic with the world a while back. She holds herself to the "Standard of Grace, not Perfection." I love it. My progress is not my own. ("For it is by Grace I have been saved, through faith. It is a gift from God, not from works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10) Therefore I must also remember that if I let my failures deter me from progress, I am turning my back on His Grace -- and HIS power is made perfect in my weakness. (I love this saying I saw on Pinterest: "When the world knocks you to your knees, you are in the perfect position to pray.")
So here it is... I'd like to acknowlege my moments of progress (and His grace given to me) in the past week...
- I shared 18 graduation announcements on the Sarah Anne Watson Design facebook page, and I am sharing them on The Blog as the graduations pass. (Congratulations Graduates! Major accomplishments deserve major kudos...)
- I reached the 25 paid jobs mark! (PTL)
- I painted and "gilded" my very own desk, and tonight my sister helped me move it into my room to establish a quiet and comfortable workspace that is NOT in front of the TV.
- I started two phenomenal daily devotionals: Promises for Your Everyday Life and The Confident Woman, both by Joyce Meyer. And, I'm using the YouVersion Holy Bible app for the iPhone... (Take up your Sword.)
- I have been on time to work EVERY day this week! WAHOOO.
- I crossed a handful of things off my 101 in 1,001 list (though they weren't all accomplished this week, I crossed them off and posted them this week!)
- I have stayed in communication with the MTH ATL crew, cut back on the time I've spent on social media, watching TV and otherwise wasting my precious time.
- I started reading The Happiness Project
When I mess up, I have to always remind myself that there is always tomorrow. And there is also always right now. So I have a habit of finding something small to do that is the "right" thing to do, even if it's something seemingly insignificant like putting away my laundry or writing half a page in that book I keep forgetting to write or whatever. Five minutes of progress so that I can say, well, that was good! And I'm glad that you're recognizing your accomplishments and progress! That is an important step in progress that too often gets left out.
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