It’s hard to believe that it was only 9 months ago when my graphic designer and I were standing at the bindery proofing the 2016 planner. When your proofing at the bindery, you are strictly making sure the pages are in order, you are NOT proofing what is actually printed on the pages. So one by one we are turning pages and that’s when we land on the June calendar spread. And that’s when we notice that the month of June didn’t start on the 1st . . . it started on the 2nd! Uh-oh! What happened to the 1?

Our calendar spreads are actually two separate files because half of the calendar is a tab page so I missed it in the final proofing. I remember thinking in the moment that it was unacceptable and that the calendar spreads had to be perfect. We would have to reprint the entirety of the calendar spreads (which included the costly tab pages). But then this wave of peace came over me. Why does this have to be perfect? People know I am not perfect. Our sweet Jesus is perfect. And it’s His grace that freed me from my need for perfection in that very stressful moment. The only alternative was to print the 1 over the shaded box, so our wonderful printer put all of the spreads back on the press and made it happen for all of you!

I’m not sharing this with you to give excuses for the mistake. I’m sharing this with you so you understand that the beauty of imperfection is when God meets you in the middle of it. Perfect isn’t possible, but God showing up when you need to be rescued is a perfectly beautiful thing.

God cares more about purpose, than perfect. I couldn’t lose sight of the purpose of the Anchored Press Devotional Planner. The purpose for creating this planner had nothing to do with perfect, but everything to do with giving you a place to meet with God everyday. And the second purpose, of helping you stay organized, was not being jeopardized just because you had to write your June 1st details in a blue box. Settling on these truths put it all into perspective as God whispered to me, “let it go.” And in that moment I realized He wasn’t only asking me to let go of the mistake, He was asking me to let go of my need for perfection. And, above all He was asking me to focus on His purpose for my life.

Do you struggle with perfectionism? Is God asking you to let go of something in your life? Let me know below and I would be honored to lift you up in prayer!

“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” Ecclesiastes 11:4 LB