{"id":19556,"date":"2011-12-07T05:00:59","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T12:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.churchvolunteercentral.com\/?post_type=cvdaily&p=19556"},"modified":"2011-12-07T05:00:59","modified_gmt":"2011-12-07T12:00:59","slug":"no-such-thing-as-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/no-such-thing-as-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"No Such Thing As Perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s no such thing as perfect.<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you agree with this statement? Or did you bristle at the thought?<\/p>\n

Perhaps, as a leader who strives for perfection, you believe that it\u2019s the definition of giving your best to\/for God? If so, you may be living in a self-imposed cycle of continual frustration and discouragement. I\u2019ve learned that striving for excellence and demanding perfection are entirely different animals\u2026<\/p>\n

Here are two quick examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am a quilter.<\/strong> It\u2019s a craft that requires precision. The basic process entails cutting large pieces of fabric into smaller shapes, sewing them together with a quarter-inch seam into a quilt block, arranging several quilt blocks into a pleasing design and sewing them together with, again, a quarter-inch seam. Next, long strips of fabric are sewn around the edges to form a border to make a quilt top.\u00a0 That\u2019s the end of the sewing lesson, so hang with me\u2026<\/p>\n

If I am not accurate in my initial cutting, my quilt will not<\/strong> be perfect.<\/p>\n

If my seam is not exact, my quilt will not<\/strong> be perfect.<\/p>\n

If I err in the least on any of the first three steps, the borders will not fit and my quilt will not<\/strong> be perfect.<\/p>\n

One of the first quilts is not<\/strong> perfect\u2026 but it is beautiful!<\/p>\n

I’ve come to admire Amish quilters not only for the beautiful quilts they create, but because they will intentionally make a mistake in an otherwise perfect quilt, reminding themselves and others that only God is perfect.<\/p>\n

My church recently held its first-ever volunteer ministry training day<\/strong>. We wanted every member of our team to attend. It took persistence to get some of our volunteer ministers to RSVP; others just didn’t show up. As we drew closer to the event date, I kept finding things I should have done\u2014or done differently\u2014and I became frustrated. Rather than insist on perfection, my senior pastor suggested that we strive for excellence with what we had done and trust the Lord to bless our efforts. How freeing that was!<\/p>\n

Our training event was not perfect\u2026 but every evaluation was positive and encouraging. Our volunteer ministers had fun, learned about themselves and each other, and left better equipped to serve.<\/p>\n

Things to remember:<\/p>\n