Yes, that is my trash can... full of toilet paper. You see, I've taught Courtney to choose three squares of TP when she goes potty. Until recently I've been there to supervise, but as we've welcomed our son into the world I've been a little, well, detained. Nursing has kept me parked on the couch during many of Courtney's potty runs. She has been left to choose three squares on her own. Unfortunately, she's somewhat obsessive about it; in a cutesie-three-year-old kind of way:)
I secretly watched her one day as she set out to choose the three best squares. First, she counted "One, two three!", but accidently tore off four squares. So, she neatly folded them and placed them in the trash can. Let's try that again: "One, two, three!" This time the second piece tore (just a smidge), so again, into the trash they went. She did this again and again, each time doing her best to choose three perfect squares... and then she got it! Three squares that were all perfect in size with no tears or rough edges! So she carefully and slowly folded the squares. Oops, not quite right. Okay. In the trash. Let's start all over: "One, two, three!" I finally stopped her for fear that we'd run through the whole roll before she was satisfied.
I read a chapter recently on striving for excellence instead of perfection, since true perfection cannot be reached until we get to heaven. It makes me wonder how often I've worked on something in my life, meticulously trying to get it just right, while God watched with a smile thinking, "I'm not looking for perfection here- just do the best you can." How many squares of time, energy and other resources have I thrown into the trash trying to get it perfect?
Hmmm, I'm going to have to think about that all weekend...
My prayer today is that God would give me the grace to be content with my very best instead of wallering in frustration and self-pity at my imperfections.
