For When you Don’t Know it All…

I’ve been in a season of paralysis these last few months.

A season staying stuck.

Knowing what I want to do…Knowing what I need to do…yet being unwilling to actually DO it.

I’ve struggled with knowing what to teach, what to write, how to lead, even how to continue serving and loving well. The Lord revealed the reason behind much of this and today I want to share with you the first half (the rest coming next week!).

Here’s what happened:

I became so consumed with what I DON’T know, that I let it stop me from sharing what I DO.
I believed the lie that because I don’t know EVERYTHING, I’m not able to share ANYTHING.

And that, my friends, is a lie.

This struggle for perfection and doing it right all the time has plagued me for years. I kind of think the same may be true for many of you. In fact, after doing coaching call after coaching call about this same topic, I realized it may very well be something we ALL struggle with.

We believe that since we can’t do something exactly right, we just shouldn’t do anything.

And do you know what that leads to?

A whole lot of goodness that the Lord has poured into us not getting poured out into the lives of anyone else.

It leads to the power of our testimonies being limited because we aren’t willing to share what we’ve learned.

It leads to struggling, performing, striving,  and trying to keep up the image that we have it all figured out, all the time.

I’m here to tell you today- I don’t. 
Not even close.

But, I’m learning to be okay with that.

Two words that have resonated so deeply with me in this season are GOOD ENOUGH. 

I have been speaking them over my heart when I feel frustrated that I’m not able to do things more efficiently.
I’m declaring them over my meager home management attempts.
I’m whispering them to myself when I realize that once again I’ve let someone down that I love because I was unable to meet their expectations.
I’m calling them out when I am unable to perfectly vocalize or write out what I want to say.

It’s GOOD ENOUGH.

Not in a flippant, lazy way.
No, I’m going to offer my best. I’m going to give tasks all that I can. But my best won’t be perfect and I AM OKAY WITH THAT.

If you’ve followed me for long, you know that I try to be transparent when I’m struggling and I try to share when I’m finding freedom.

And friends, I’ve been struggling. I got so paralyzed by comparison that I stopped using the gifts the Lord had given me. I was looking so hard at the women running their races to my left and to my right that I stopped running mine altogether.
Analysis Paralysis had all but suffocated me.

See, I forgot that the main thing I have been called to do is to love and serve well.
And good news: loving and serving well isn’t the same as loving and serving PERFECTLY.
Only Christ did that. 

So, today, I offer up what I have. 
I give it my best and allow the Lord to make up the difference.

But staying stuck and refusing to do anything just because I don’t know it all? Those days are behind me.

Will I sometimes get it wrong? Yep.
Did that yesterday. I was confronted about a statement I made that led to me stopping and doubting my calling once again. Doubting that I knew enough to be leading anyone else. I reached out to several friends, and the feedback I got from all of them? You’re doing the best you can. KEEP GOING.

So those are my words for YOU today, friend. KEEP GOING.

Share what you DO know.
Give what you have learned up until this point.
Lead with what you know now, and keep learning as you go.

It’s GOOD ENOUGH and there’s a weary world out there that needs to hear it.

You’re doing a good job.

That project you’ve been putting off…
The post you feel led to write but keep avoiding…
The dream the Lord placed in your heart but that scares you to death…

You’re ready. Your words/thoughts/work is GOOD ENOUGH.
Stop letting fear and striving hold you back and GET GOING, friend.

Praying for you and cheering you on!