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What I Can Do: Pinterest And Failure

I am not a Pinterest mom.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t take an old dresser and used coffee filters, and turn them into 50 different time-saving objects. I can’t make my own paper out of leaf clippings, painting anything other than stick figures and flowers is out of the question and I certainly cannot use a hot glue gun without burning myself.

Despite that, I tried to reorganize my house yesterday, dear friends.

I sorted through all the papers, found little boxes to put the important ones in and threw out a whole bunch of others.

I took my kid’s toys, put them in little baskets and got rid of the single Barbie shoes, the broken crayons and more.

I got swept up in a desire to re-design my humble abode, and the best part was I believed I could.

I got on Pinterest and found the options were endless for me and my organizational desires.

In my newfound confidence, I decided to attach hooks to the wall, hang baskets on them and become extraordinarily tidy in the process.

That’s not what happened in the slightest.

What happened instead was a nightmare of chaos.

I’d get the stick-on hooks to stay on the wall, and the baskets hanging nicely on them just like the Pinterest picture, I’d admire them for a minute and go do something else.

As I was doing the dishes, I’d hear a loud crash and the scattering of hundreds of toys on the floor.

This happened about 20 times before I gave up.

Currently, the baskets are sitting in a rather fetching pile on the floor and the hooks are stuck to my coffee table, courtesy of my kiddo.

Often times, the attempts I make on my own to fix a situation end up this way – I get frustrated because the situation is going the way I want, the materials I have to do the job are subpar and I am defeated by circumstances I don’t want to accept.

It’s in these moments, I feel broken and have to admit that I just can’t get the job done by myself.

The problem is in these moments, I feel like no one else experiences failure.

I feel like everyone else has it all together, everyone else could get those hooks to stay on the wall and everyone else is perfect.

Their houses are clean and organized, their children are smiling rays of sunshine every day and they never eat macaroni and cheese for dinner.

In my imaginary utopia where everyone else lives, the Instagram moments, the Pinterest boards and the image of crystal-clear Christian living are all realities.

But, my friends, after my debacle with the hooks and baskets, I’ve realized that none of us are actually perfect.

We’re just people – we’ve got limitations, we’ve got doubts, we’ve got fears and we’ve got flaws.

Instead of agonizing over what I can’t do, my husband reminded me to focus on the things I can do.

When my husband got home from work, he saw that I had organized the house, and said “I like what you did with the house today.”

He smiled gently as I sullenly stared back.

“I didn’t really do anything,” I mumbled, still annoyed about the failed hook experience.

“Oh? Then did little elves come in and organize the house today?” he asked, his eyes glimmering.

I can’t be what God did not design me to be, but I can be what he has called me to be.

I can teach my child to love music by playing records. I can read her stories until she falls asleep.

I can love my little family to the moon and back each and every day I’m alive.

I can write little stories in the newspaper to let other people know they’re not alone.

I can accept my imperfections, follow the Lord to the best of my abilities and realize that for all the things I cannot do, there is always something I can do.

Dear friends, we all have a purpose in this life – it may take some trial and error to get there, but God has designed the path laid before you.

As the Lord said in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

God did not create you to be without a cause – rather, he created you on purpose.

Do not be discouraged when circumstances are frustrating, or life isn’t going the way you think it should.

It’s not what we can’t do that makes us who we are – it’s what we can do.

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