Month: November 2015

Categories
Reflection

Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong – by Darcia Kunkel

Being wrong can be okay even for a perfectionist.

(This blog is reposted from Darcia’s blog site, Perfectionism Prism)

“For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”
Psalm 139:13 ESV

According to legend, my mother got a call from my Kindergarten teacher indicating that there was a “situation.”  Apparently, when I had finished all of my homework (first one of course), I proceeded to go around and correct everyone else because they were doing it WRONG!   To say that I became a perfectionist early in life is an understatement.

Pyramid to successI was referred to as the:  overachieving, type-A, strong-willed, teacher’s pet, know-it-all, kind of crazy girl.  I happened to have passed those traits on to my children. Well-meaning adults will often tell me that channeling and re-directing perfectionism will produce all kinds of miraculous results. Perfectionism can push individuals to excel, but usually only to a point…then it will drive them a little bat#@$% crazy!

While I have tempered some of my tendencies, I struggle daily as a micromanaging idealist.  I want everyone to be educated on the best way to do everything, but it is usually my way or the highway. Most of my behavior was modeled after the long line of narcissistic perfectionists that came before me…. on both sides of the family.

My comfort (and hope for reform) stems from the fact that the good Lord created me, and knows how best to “channel” my inner perfectionist for His greater good.  In the meantime, I will continue to fight the good fight to be little miss CAN be wrong….occasionally.

“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.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Copyright Dacia Kunkel

Please visit Darcia’s blog sites: Darcia’s Delectables, Household 6 (for military spouse transitions), and Perfectionism Prism

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Darcia KunkelDarcia Kunkel is a former military spouse, mother of three (and a Golden Retriever), writer, editor and consultant.  She has a heart for military families, and writes on a variety of topics including military spouse transition, cooking, and the struggles of perfectionism.

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

The Power to Stand Up

Glen Eyrie, Colorado Springs, Colorado

The Good News of God’s love for us is our power to stand tall in life.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Romans 1:16 English Standard Version

This rock reaching into the sky is a Lyons Formation fin consisting of beautiful sandstone formed when the Rocky Mountains pushed upwards. When a person stands at the edge of one of these fins it’s easy to see that at one time they laid flat. The jagged edges reveal layer upon layer of sandstone.

Glen Eyrie, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Glen Eyrie, Colorado Springs, Colorado

The fact that these fins stand at a perfect 90 degree angle to the earth is proof of the power that formed the Rocky Mountains.

The power that formed these sandstone fins is like the power that is at work in you; the power of the gospel

What is the gospel?

It is the good news of God’s love for you.

It is the good news that God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you.

It is the good news that Jesus lives for you.

It is the good news, which empowers change in your life.

This good news is the power that causes you and me to stand up in this broken and decaying world with the news that God isn’t dead. He is still the power of change in our lives.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

A Better Way to Deal with Conflict

Fountain Creek Regional Park, Fountain, Colorado

God’s grace empowers us to work through conflicts.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”
Proverbs 27:17 New Living Translation

This is a picture of partnered geese at the moment of their reunion. The male goose had just splashed down and reunited with his bride. It appears that their heads are touching. Looks nice doesn’t it? What you don’t know is that things didn’t go all that smoothly when he first splashed down.

Fountain Creek Regional Park, Fountain, Colorado
Fountain Creek Regional Park, Fountain, Colorado

There was plenty of squawking when he arrived. Was it that he promised to return earlier? I mean it could have been his turn to sit on the nest. She probably needed a break. She needed time for herself. How could he be so insensitive?

Relationships are difficult.

We live in a time when everyone has to be right, so much so, that we don’t know how to disagree with each other and remain friends. Following the lead of radio and television personalities, we call make fun of people who disagree with us so that our point looks like the only point worth believing. Then we post it on Facebook and declare our victory.

And in the end, we have lost the ability to sharpen each other as we pick up our marbles and go home and not work through a problem.

These two geese got it right. They worked through their momentary problem and found common ground.

The grace of God at work in our lives is the power to work through problems and maybe find common ground and in the end find that we have been sharpened. not destroyed, in the process.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner