An Imperfect Woman

The road to my home goes up the side of a mountain.

It curves back and forth, as it winds its way up the steep incline. As I was driving it the other day, I thought how it repeatedly takes us in the opposite direction of our house. The road to our house sometimes takes us away from our house.

The road to our dreams is a lot like the road up the mountain to my home.

When I began to pursue my dream of writing, I could see my goal clearly. And my vision of attaining it was a road that was straight up. But life. It apparently hadn’t been informed of my plans.

Illness, relational struggles, deaths, births, marriages, college, kids . . . life kept occurring in all its glorious and unpredictable chaos. And my road kept changing direction.

The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s “own”, or “real” life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life – the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls one’s ‘real life’ is a phantom of one’s own imagination. ~C.S. Lewis

What I failed to see at the start of my writing journey is fairly clear from the vantage point I have now. The well-tread path to the top of a mountain is rarely straight up. Sure, the occasional ambitious climber might make a straight trek. But the rest of us will zigzag our way, often going in what seems like the opposite direction of our dreams.

The path has a purpose. The “interruptions”—those things we didn’t plan for and would probably never choose—form us, and they inform our dreams. They add essential ingredients like humility, perspective, and wisdom.

Today, wherever you are on the journey toward your dream, remember your path isn’t random. It was designed carefully just for you, and you’re traveling it with the supreme guide. He knows the exact route necessary to prepare you for the summit.

I hope you’ll enjoy the journey.

 

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My new (and first) book An Imperfect Woman: Letting Go of the Need To Have It All Together, released February 6! The path to that day was steep and windy, and it didn’t come a day too soon! If I’d had my way, it would have been written and released years ago. Thank God it wasn’t. He knew there were more trials to navigate, perspectives to gain, and lessons to learn before I offered my words to you.

I hope you’ll check it out at www.animperfectwoman.com. And I’d love for you to join me and other beautiful, imperfect woman in a four-week study on Facebook.

About the book: Women are bombarded with ideas of perfection–and tips for how to achieve it–every day. From her work to her looks to her parenting, today’s modern woman is expected to strive to be picture perfect in every way. As a result, calls for authenticity and imperfection are on the rise. Yet, deep down, most of us still want to achieve perfection. Why?

The desire to be perfect, says Kim Hyland, is actually a God-given urge. After all, we were made for Eden. But there is a difference between perfection and perfectionism, which is our attempt to achieve perfection on our own, by our own strength, and for our own purposes–the original temptation in the Garden. In this freeing book, Hyland offers women a stirring manifesto for acknowledging their limitations and embracing the perfection of God through his grace. This is a book for every woman who gives 110% and yet feels shame when one little thing goes wrong.

Shared by: Kim Hyland