Nobody’s perfect. Everyone knows it, but we all like to pretend.

It was a day just like this that I first noticed a very interesting behavior of mine.

In the midst of organized chaos, scattered thoughts and the sensation of feeling my head pound in unison with my heart beat, my wife Alicia had the audacity to stop by my workplace, enter the refuge of my office and ask, “How are you doing today?”. Slightly stunned and honestly, a little annoyed, I answered “Awesome. How are you?”.

What? “Awesome. How are you?”

Did I seriously just lie to my wife and myself in one short sentence of a response? I’m not doing awesome. I’m not even fine. My head hurts. I can’t focus. I‘m expected to be at eight meetings today and I really only need to be at one. Time is short. The pressure is high. Things are for sure not awesome. My  “Awesome” was nothing more than a generic response that slipped past my lips to answer a question I was asked. It’s like my “Fine.”, or “I’m doing great.” They are just my pretend answers so I don’t need to deal with the imperfections of the day. After all, I know I’m not perfect, but no one else, not even my wife, can find out.

God used this situation, and as usual, my wife to teach me something that day. Alicia took me at my word. My day, to her, was indeed awesome. Despite her ability to read the thought behind my every word and her wifely super powers that give her the ability to know something isn’t quite right with a given situation, she chose to believe the best. She accepted my band-aid answer of “awesome” so I didn’t have to deal with my imperfections. I love her for that.

Let me remind you of something very important that can change your life. There is no pressure to be perfect.

Have you ever felt pressure to travel back in time? Have you ever felt pressure to fly or become invisible? Of course not. Those are ridiculous and impossible, just like perfection. Everyone knows it, but we all like to pretend.

Moses knew his imperfections. Sometimes I think his conversation with the burning bush would have gone a lot smoother had Moses just replied by saying “awesome” instead of trying to convince God that he wasn’t the man for the job. In the end, God’s perfect plan far out weighed any imperfections that tried to paralyze Moses from delivering all of Israel from Egypt. I guess that worked out o.k. :)

Nobody’s perfect. Everyone knows it. But instead of being afraid of what we are not, I am encouraged to know that my areas of imperfection are the places were God is going to meet me most often. When my day isn’t going as planned, I believe God can make the most of it. When pressure mounts and deadlines are tight, I trust that I am in the right place at the right time with the right words to make the most of the situation. When I look in the mirror and see nothing but a pile of inadequacies, I know that God will trump all of my imperfections with His perfect plan for my day, my week, and my life.

That…is awesome.