Real good time

Two Saturdays ago my brother and I went to a leader's retreat weekend where I was invited to speak. The students in my office were the ones who were hosting it, so it wasn't like it was the chance of a lifetime, but I was still honored that they asked me to speak at it. Especially after the last time I spoke. It just didn't go well. But they still asked me back.

I was nervous about it, mostly because I had spent a lot of time thinking about it and getting resources ready and just worrying about it. And I prayed for it too. I really wanted to be relevant. And by that, I mean I wanted God to use me. It's rare that that happens for me, but when it does, it's a real treat. Not in the generic sense of the word treat, like a treat for a dog. Like it's a real pleasure to be used like that .

Anyway, I spoke about the church's lackadaisical approach to perfection, saying we should settle for excellence instead. I don't think that's right. God says to be perfect as he is perfect. Which is impossible, so we rely on grace. But once we accept that we are not perfect, we can accept that others are not perfect either, which forces us to forgive. And then, community, which is by nature made of imperfect people, can be messy. It's designed that way.

It went really well. It was probably the best I have ever done. And I know God can use me even if I don't think it went well, but I got the praises of man this time, and that was what I needed. Oddly enough, I think God used this chance to not only be glorified for His purposes, He built up my ego a little and gave me confidence to continue speaking in public. Which is nice.

All that to say, God is God. I am not. I am eternally grateful that those things are true. And since God is God, life has meaning.