But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.

John 1:13

Benji is getting much more into drawing and art these days. When he makes a mistake, he stops and throws the entire drawing away, no matter how much work he put into the drawing up until that point.

It reminds me of myself when I was younger: if it’s not perfect, it’s not good enough.

I think the hardest lesson for me to learn so far in life has been to let go of having to be perfect and accept my mistakes. Learning to embrace failure as an opportunity to improve and learn, instead of beat myself up, to “try my best to do my best,” as Benji’s preschool teachers always said.

That’s been part of my journey towards being more my child-of-God self. It’s a lesson internalized through long years of trying and failing, trying again, and again, and again – and being okay with it. I keep coming back to the phrase I read in Life of the Beloved, about a broken glass: “I never knew something broken could shine so brightly.”