My husband had knee replacement surgery in early August. Since we live in the mid-south, this meant yard work was far from over for the year. And, since I enjoy mowing, (we have a relatively small yard and a self-propelled lawnmower) it wasn’t a big deal for me to mow a few times.
Now keep in mind, when my husband mows (and when our son mowed for us a few times during this time) the rows are extremely straight. I could probably take a yard stick and level out there and find each swath perfectly plumb.
However, when I finished and looked out over my work, I had to laugh! My rows were anything but straight! In those moments, I was reminded of my dad’s crooked planting-field rows. I can still see the infant crops rising out of the soil, ever so gently creating a slight wave down each one. But apparently, it was prized in those days to have perfectly straight rows of crops because my mother was always commenting about how he never could plant a straight row. Perhaps it’s not that he couldn’t, perhaps it wasn’t that important to him that his rows were perfect. He loved what he did and even though he never made much money, I think he kept the end result in mind more than toiling over perfection.
As I stood and looked at my dad-inspired swaths, I told myself that it was okay if it didn’t look perfect. The job was complete and so what if the rows weren’t straight? There was progress in the process…wasn’t that the goal?
For anyone who knows me well, hearing me say I could settle for something less than perfection is huge! To not beat myself up over something as stupid as, yes, straight mowing rows, is huge!
The point to this story is this; in the same moment I looked at my work that day and thought of my dad, the Holy Spirit spoke to me saying, the journey isn’t about perfection, it’s about the journey—crooked rows and all.
I believe we should pray for straight paths, but I don’t believe we should be too quick to scorn the crooked ones if we are making progress in the process.
…in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:6 (NIV)
C. Deni Johnson
Right Hand Ministries 