I'll admit it- I'm very guilty of putting myself down sometimes. I can be a bit of a perfectionist, and if anything feels even remotely half-hearted, I shame myself for not doing better. There's been more than a couple occasions where I've felt like "almost enough" or like I "could've done so much better" in my life. One day, however, I realized that no matter how much I strive for perfection, I would never be perfect. None of us will ever be perfect people. We are human, and we'll always make mistakes. There comes a point where you can see so clearly that it's okay to not be perfect, and that really, no one ever asked us to be. I saw that I needed to lean on God and not on myself. You have to let go of the doubts and let God do His work. We all need to be reminded to trust Him sometimes.

One of my favorite praise songs says, "I lean not on my own understanding; my life is in the hands of the Maker of Heaven," which is based on Proverbs 3:5-6, and the lyrics later say, "I give it all to You, God, trusting that "You'll make something beautiful out of me." I always listen to this to remind myself that God has the steering wheel in my life, and that I cannot do it alone. We have to fully trust Him in all that we do, and He'll lead us in the right direction. It all ties into having strong faith, and believing in something we cannot see, but that we can feel in our hearts. We do struggle with this sometimes, but God's love never wavers. We must jump into God's love with full faith in His plan for us, not simply wade at the shore. He will walk with us through storms and strengthen our hearts and our relationship with Him. God is there, all the time.

Time seems to be something we all wrestle with, too: busy schedules, running all over the place, planning. We are constantly looking for ways to fill our time and keep moving faster and faster. We expect everything to go our way when we have time to let it, and if it doesn't, we act so disappointed. But it's really not about our time at all- it's on God. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." I probably have 20-30 pages in my bible journal about Ecclesiastes 3 alone, because the whole chapter is so powerful. It helps us to understand that God has set His plan into motion and that things will happen when God wants them to happen. It isn't about us, it's about Him, and knowing that His plan is what's best for your life. God has a time for everything, and everything will work out on His time. You can plan and plan all you want, but at the end of the day, God's plan is all that matters and you have to believe in the life He has prepared for you.

My favorite song of all time is "In Christ Alone." It has the ability to render me speechless and bring me to tears because it speaks to my heart in so many ways. I love the whole song, but some lines specifically stand out to me, like "As He stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me," "From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny," and "Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand." It's all reassurance to stand firm in the Lord and love Him with all of your heart. What an incomprehensible love we are a part of; I don't think we recognize it and realize it enough. I am full of hope because God has provided me with a path on which to walk with Him.

It's also so important to love God with your whole heart and see that he knows that we are imperfect, yet He still forgives us for what we've done, and all that we may do. I know that I have never been able to comprehend how deep His love is for us, and that I can never repay him fully for the gift He has given me. I also know that by giving my life to Him, I never have to face any storm alone. It's about more than giving Him a minute of your time during the day; it's about letting your whole life be in His hands and spending your life doing His will in everything. We're not perfect, but we are most certainly loved. In all of this, I know that I can let go and let God do His work in my life, and that fills my heart with joy.