I talked about this subject briefly yesterday, but I went into deeper thought and asked myself the question:
Where does our striving for perfection start? This is just my opinion; however, I believe we start trying to be perfect in our childhood. We try to be the perfect child, the perfect student, the perfect sibling, etc. We want to please our parents, teachers, ministers, friends, siblings, etc. Then most times we marry and try to be the perfect spouse or we have children and try to be the perfect mother or we get our jobs and try to be the perfect employee or we give our life to Christ and try to be the perfect Christian or we make friends and try to be the perfect best friend. And it keeps going on and on and on…the perfect aunt, the perfect career, the perfect business…I know you are probably saying enough already I get it!!!! If you are striving to be all this perfection you should be more tired of that than reading my tireless list. So, if you are striving for perfection, give it up! It’s a lost cause! You’ll die an old lonely woman trying to be perfect in this life. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we shouldn’t strive for better lives—there is always room for improvement, but striving to be perfect takes you to a whole different dimension. Ecclesiastes 3:13 NIV says, “That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God.” Receive God’s gift today—quit trying to be perfect and find some sense of satisfaction in your life today. Ask God to help you enjoy life, even with all of your imperfections. I suggest doing your best in whatever task you are given today and call it a day! Enjoy the good of your labor…it is a gift from God as a woman, wife, mother, sister, aunt, employee, supervisor, whatever role you have in this life. Enjoy the good in life! Enjoy the good in whatever you do! We miss so much focusing on what is wrong in us and around us until we miss all the good things life has to offer! I’m learning to live “my best” life and not a “perfect life!” Come on and join me today! As a writer, there have been times that I have been distraught when I have released a publication and discovered a misspelled word or a grammatical error. I wanted everything to be perfect. Yet, I have discovered that I am always going to miss something in my writing. Even with the extra pair of eyes from an editor, something can still be overlooked and there goes my chance to release the most perfect book on earth. (And, it’s not only in my writing! Imagine that, huh?) I spent so many of my years trying to be perfect and I’m still nowhere close. I still say the wrong things at the wrong time, I still misspell words, I still forget things or overlook things, I still offend people I love, I still procrastinate, etc. My “still” list goes on and on. Let’s face it, we are going to say something we shouldn’t say or do something we shouldn’t do. It’s a given, or should I say, a guarantee, we ALL are prone to make mistakes or we are unintentionally going to overlook some things in our daily lives. Our snapshot isn’t going to perfect, but it’s going to be real! Sometimes we will feel like we’ve hit our target head on and other times like we are miles away from our target. And we have to learn not to be so hard on ourselves and rely on God’s strength and guidance. God is not asking us to do anything in our own strength (and some things He’s not asking us to do at all!). He is asking us to trust Him and rely on Him. Remember this passage of scripture--I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, take that to heart—do what you can do and leave the rest to Him! You don’t have to strive for perfection today or any other day! Photo taken by Linder Hunn [The Way of Love] If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. *Take the Love Test: ð Love never gives up. ð Love cares more for others than for self. ð Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. ð Love doesn't strut, ð Doesn't have a swelled head, ð Doesn't force itself on others,
ð Doesn't fly off the handle,
ð Doesn't revel when others grovel, ð Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, ð Puts up with anything… ð Trusts God always, ð Always looks for the best, ð Never looks back, but keeps going to the end…
How did you do on the Love Test? Don’t feel bad if you couldn't check everything off on the list, I couldn't either! It just means we are human and still have room to grow in our love life. Now we are conscious of the areas in our love life that need tweaking and we can get to work! From what I heard, there are over 6 billion people in the world, so we have a lot of people to practice on…isn't that good news? And for even better news, we can begin at home! Have a great love week! Photo taken by Linder Hunn THOUGHTS TO LIVE BY Author unknown You shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities. You shall not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass. You shall not carry grudges, for they are the heaviest of all life's burdens. You shall face each problem as it comes. You can only handle one at a time anyway. You shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows. You shall not borrow other people's problems. They can better care for them than you. You shall not try to relive yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now! You shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. You shall not become "bogged down" by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action. You shall count your blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one. "God specializes in things fresh and firsthand. His plans for you this year may outshine those of the past. He's prepared to fill your days with reasons to give Him praise."
Joni Eareckson Tada Ladies,
Never allow yourself to waste away in your pain. Pain is the number one "dream killer" for most women. So, let it go...free yourself. I know it's easier said than done. But, just think of the cost of holding on to pain. Is it worth it? You don't want to watch life pass you by, let it go!!! No matter how hard you try, there are two things you can't: You can't run from God and you can't run from yourself! One day you eventually have to face both! God and yourself!
I found a snapshot of myself taken last year. Let's just say I wasn't loving it when I found it. I desperately want to lose more weight. But as you see in my snapshot, I am sitting there smiling with my dessert in hand. How can I lose weight if I keep eating the sweets I so love? I keep looking at my snapshot but nothing is changing!!!
It's all about choices!!! I have a choice to make. Will I continue to let "the sweets" rule my life or will I rule the "the sweets"? If, "the sweets" rule, I can continue on the path I am on and stay upset with myself. Or, I can begin to make the right choices by adding a little willpower and discipline to my lifestyle of diet and exercise. Then, I can rule "the sweets" and get rid of those dreaded pounds that keep creeping up on me. Ladies, we have to quit acting like we don't have a choice. Deuteronomy 30:19 says, "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live" The children of Israel were presented with a choice and encouraged to choose life. Everything was set out before them and they had to decide what they wanted to have in life-good or bad, blessing or cursing, life or death, productivity or stagnation, etc. (You get the picture). We have to do the same! We have a choice for everything we do. We can't make an excuse, God has given this "freewill" to all mankind. Now, sometimes we may want to ignore it and not use it, but then we find ourselves never moving forward in life. For me, it's my weight, what is it for you? What areas in your life do you need to choice change. Remember, it's all about choices! This is my first attempt at blogging, so please be patient with me. I have so much on my heart to share but really don't know where to start. I guess as I continue writing, it will all begin to pour out.
I guess I am learning to keep up since we live in such a fast paced technological era. First, I was learning to use e-mail, then along came instant messaging, then texting on the cell phone, then I was on MySpace and Facebook (before many adults even knew what it was). Now I am learning to tweet on Twitter, do video calls on Skype and OOovOO. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the great YouTube (which I love by the way). So, now I will try my hand at blogging. I know I’m still missing something out because I just can't seem to keep up. I thank God that I have a husband who keeps our family fully equipped with the latest in technology and my two grown kids and two teenagers. Or, I would truly be lost. In this day and age, you either keep up or get left behind. On a more serious note, that it the way it is with our relationship with God--we are either going to keep up or get left behind. |
AuthorMy name is Linder A. Hunn. I am a wife, mother, grandmother, publisher and author. God is first in my life and all else is secondary. I love helping people. Archives
April 2018
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