Perfect Intentions

In my first Monday Message of 2018, I stated that I believe our primary job on earth is to “serve others”.  I then went on to say that I wasn’t sure what gifts God has given me, but I would try to figure out what those gifts are, and then find different ways to serve others using those gifts. Well, I thought about it and one of the gifts I have is that I know how to turn a screwdriver! I know that doesn’t sound like much of a gift, but I’ve always been mechanically inclined, and I enjoy fixing things, so over time I’ve developed quite a collection of cool tools. Surely somebody somewhere out there needs something fixed!

Then I received a sign! No, it wasn’t a heaven-sent sign… or maybe it was! I was dropping off some charity items to a thrift store in Laguna Hills that’s run by the South County Outreach. The store is called “Upscale Resale” and as I pulled up to the front of the store, I noticed that their sign was really faded and practically falling off the wall. It looked especially bad because the other businesses in that strip center all had nice new signs. I determined that this must be a sign… (get it!)…and decided right then and there to get a new sign made and install it for them for free.

I went to Fast Signs in Lake Forest and told them about the sign that the South County Outreach needed. It was finished within a week and when I picked it up, I was excited because it looked absolutely perfect. I immediately drove it over to the thrift store and as I pulled up, I realized I had made a stupid mistake. The new sign read, “South County Outreach” instead of “Upscale Resale”. What a dummy! My good intentions were definitely not backed up with good results!

Back to Fast Signs I went. I hate to say it, but I told the lady at Fast Signs a little white lie. When she asked why I came back, I told her that they loved the new sign so much they wanted to order another one, but this time with the name “Upscale Resale” on it. I guess I just didn’t want to admit that I made a mistake.

The new “Upscale Resale” sign was finished within three days. When I picked it up, it looked perfect for sure this time, so I grabbed a ladder and my tools and drove straight over to the thrift store. Wouldn’t you know it, when I took the old plastic sign down off the steel backboard, one of the screws broke off and I couldn’t get it out. That forced me to have to drill new holes but no matter what, I couldn’t hide the old holes and still get the sign perfectly straight. I fought with it for a while and ended up doing the best I could, but it still ended up being off about a 1/4 of an inch. It looked good, but it definitely wasn’t perfect.

And that got me thinking… It’s hard to admit it when we make mistakes. It’s even harder to accept that even when our intentions are perfect, we’re never going to be perfect. But then I realized that we don’t have to be perfect because somebody else already was perfect for us. And that makes perfect sense to me!

There are no perfect people in this world, only perfect intentions.

~ Pen Densham (Robin Hood)