I had a dream the other day that I was paddle boarding. Or I think I saw someone doing it. Or maybe I just really want to go paddle boarding and I’m making all this up?
It’s a loose operation in my world, clearly.
As I thought about it more, I thought about the speech I’d probably receive before heading out on the water.
Start on your knees, there’s no shame if you fall down, don’t try and go too far out, and please watch out for the teenager on the jet-ski.
As I thought about it more, there’s a good chance I’d be twenty or thirty yards out before the speech was even finished being given to me.
The instructor would probably freak out and rush to me and ask if I needed help getting back in.
I’d respond with “Standing up is easy…but I can’t get stable, coach. And I can’t paddle back in till I get stable.”
“I totally get it”, the coach would say.
And here’s the thing, I’d hope he would tell me that it’s the paddling that makes me stable, not the other way around. And that I’ll never stay up unless I start paddling.
Why am I thinking of this now? In Malawi. In the middle of my second stint as a squad leader?
Because it’s still a lesson that I’m having to repeat to myself daily. Especially when it comes to this hiatus that I’ve been on in blogging.
But here’s the thing…sometimes you just have to start doing it.
You have to act.
It’s the paddling that keeps us on the board. It’s the forward motion that gives us the stability we need. Sometimes we just have to pick a direction and start pulling that paddle through the water, and along the way we’ll get the stability and confidence we’re looking for. But you’ll never find it at the beginning, standing there, waiting for the waves to stop shaking the board.
The waves never stop shaking the board.
As I’ve tried to write something for a while now, I keep coming back to Voltaire’s words: Perfect is the enemy of the good.
I’m never going to feel totally ready. The plan will never be perfectly formed. I’ll never have the money I think I need or the support I wish I had. I’ll never feel as strong and prepared as everyone else seems. (By the way: I’ve learned they are not that strong and prepared, either. No one is.)
I just have to paddle, because that’s what gives me what I to stay afloat. Paddle, because forward motion allows me to steer, to turn, to head into a wave, or away from one. Paddling is what puts me in charge of the situation, instead of being at the mercy of the waves, waiting for stability that will never come.
I’ll never have every last thing I need. But what I’ve realized more and more over these last several months is that those who change their lives, the people who make beautiful things, the people who make a difference in our world—they are the people who paddle, who are willing to do it badly, who give up perfect in favor of good.
Another gem: anything worth doing is worth doing badly.
So with that, what do you need to start doing badly, instead of pretending that there will be some magic moment when you are able to do it perfectly?
It’s time to paddle.
So what does it look like for you to just start paddling today?
What have you been over-thinking, wiggling like a loose tooth? Are you hiding, planning, and information gathering, because you’re scared to plunge into something new?
Are you letting your desire to do it flawlessly keep you from doing it at all?
Here’s to paddling imperfectly—badly, even.
It’s what keeps us afloat.
For the past six months, I’ve had the honor of going back on the field with the World Race and being able to serve as a squad leader. In this role, I’m able to pour into and invest in World Racers as my main form of ministry. I was blessed to be able to walk alongside one squad for 5 months and now I’m doing the same with some more sweet lovers of Jesus for the next 5 months.
As was the case with my own World Race, fundraising and support plays a huge part in what I’m able to do and be a part of. To stay on the field as long as I’m needed and to be able to go fly back and check in with the squads a time or two after my commitment, I’m needing to raise around $6500.
If you’re interested in helping me out as I keep loving on this group of Kingdom builders, feel free to hit the Support Me! tab on the left hand side. Any and all donations go a long way and are greatly appreciated. But more than just the finance side of things, I’d love your prayer.
Feel free to contact me if you’d like more info.
Thanks and much love.
