I was heading to my car the other day carrying way too much stuff.  You know how it is… we load ourselves down so we only have to make one trip!  It was a little windy and a paper broke loose from my heavy load and took off in the wind across the yard.

I needed that paper!  So off I went, arms loaded down, in my heels, across the lawn to catch that paper.  It seemed to be laughing as it continued its wind-blown pursuit against me!  I would get really close to it and go to stomp my foot on top of it and a gust of wind would pick it up and blow it another couple of feet away.

I kept chasing that paper, playing that game of “catch me if you can”, while people drove by probably laughing at my unflattering wobbling.  Finally I got close enough and stomped that paper with my foot.  I leaned down to pick it up and it was wet with splatters of mud and now dawning a spiked-heel hole in the middle of it.

At least I caught it.  At least I could read it.  At least I had that paper.

What was on that paper?  My to-do list.  Yes, it was my can’t-live-without, pat-myself-on-the-back, strive-for-perfection to-do list for the day.  But it was wrinkled, torn, dirty and wind-blown.  But by golly I got it.  And I was determined to mark everything off that list.  Well… once it dried and I could read it.

Are you chasing perfection today?  Are you working so hard to make sure everything is done exactly as you had planned?  Are you striving to make your life, your family, your friends, yourself  be that picture of perfection that you have drawn up in your mind?

Let it go!  Stop chasing perfection.  Give it all to Jesus and let Him take away the stress, the running, the chasing, the striving, the wrinkles, the tears, the dirt and the wind-blown pursuit.  He’s the only perfect One.

Chase Him…not perfection.  Because the wind-blown look isn’t flattering at all!