Permission

One might think that being a person who wears a collar would allow me to be gentler with myself some how, yet I have had to learn yet again that I must give myself permission to quit striving to reach perfection.  I find myself forgetting that:

• perfection is something that only one man who walked this earth ever reached;

• I am a work in progress;

• I do not need to work to please God;

• I am loved, in spite of myself sometimes;

• I do not have to do those things which I truly do not want to do unless they are required of me because of my role as a priest, wife, mother, grandmother, child of God, or citizen of this world.

These seem like basic things to learn again, yet it took floating around a friend's pool and sharing stories about life, love, children, mistakes, and God to remind me of these simple truths.  It gave me permission to let go of a very little thing causing great anxiety.  

The result of this time was realizing this drawing did not need to meet a "challenge" to be found a work of art:

I thank God (again) for gentle reminders, friends, floating, lessons re-learned, and for the gentle way He reminds me I am loved.