Perfection or Excellence

Perfection or Excellence? I'm really posty today, but I've been reading a book by Tony Evans called Kingdom Woman. It's co-authored by Crystal Evans Hurst (Priscilla Shirer's sister). She is a stay at home, homeschooling mom to five children. So far, it's been a GREAT book. Crystal is very real in her struggles, even saying about homeschooling/homemaking, and I quote, "MONDAY IS THE WORST!" (I knew I wasn't the only one and it was nice to hear it from TONY EVANS' daughter...LOL!). Anyway, one of the chapters really hit me this week. I used to be a perfectionist. But I was not excellent. The chapter talks about excellence. Perfection isn't excellence. Excellence isn't perfection. In my own words and from experience, I can tell you that perfection is tyranny. You are a tyrant and perfection is a tyrant to you. Perfection isn't home-life and it isn't fun. :(. None of this was mentioned in the book. I'm just telling you what I thought about as I digested the chapter. A few years ago I finally let the Tupperware cabinet go. Tammy laughed and Sherri laughed and James still laughs but at the time it wasn't funny to me (though it's hilarious now). Now there's another cabinet that I've really let go (the casserole dish cabinet). This doesn't mean I'm not excellent. Excellence calls into play the motivation behind why you do things. What is your attitude when you do the million things that no one will ever see or even know about, except Christ? When you fold laundry or do dishes, or make a meal for your family, do you have excellence in mind? Are you doing your best, with the best attitude possible? Are you not so prideful that you'll ask for help when you need it? Are you doing whatever it is you are doing, to glorify God, or to please man? I was a "people-pleaser" for so long and still struggle with it sometimes. There's stuff I'm not good at (decorating, sewing, arts and crafts, etc---that's just not me). Pinterest and Facebook are your enemy. Just because I love to cook (and sometimes I'm not even that great at it) doesn't mean I'm an excellent wife, and if you're not a very good cook, that you aren't an excellent wife. It comes down to, are you doing your best with the strengths God has given you? Are you trying to improve in areas that are lacking without being overly critical of yourself? Are you trying to please God or man? These are the differences between perfection and excellence. <3