When Spray Foam and Perfection Collide

Maxine Perron Caissy/Freeimages

I lost it.

I was completely and immediately frustrated. I couldn’t get it to work. For no good reason at all. My wife had to come and do it for me, because I was irate.

Who would have thought that something as simple as spraying spray foam insulation around a window would drive a relatively calm man to this point?

As I fumed downstairs and my wife quickly did what I couldn’t, I tried to figure out what my problem was. Sure, I’d never done spray foam insulation before, but it was as easy as point and click. Really, it shouldn’t have frustrated me so much.

It wasn’t until I came across this line in Jim Daly’s latest book, When Parenting Isn’t Perfect, that I understood my meltdown. And not just with the spray foam. But also the frustration that comes over me when I don’t quite cut it as a father.

Re: Who God Can Use

“If God only used perfect people, nothing would get done. God will use anybody if you’re available.”

Rick Warren

What I Relearned about Working Too Hard

I’m sure that most people are busy.

Everyone seems to be these days.

You have kids you have to get off to school.

You might have a job that requires you to commute and you have to spend hours in traffic.

You may have laundry piled up to the sky, and dishes overflowing the sinks.

You may been bombarded with homework from evil teachers that have no idea how they are crimping your social life.

You may be running back and forth, day in and day out for longer than you can remember.

There seems to be no stopping it either. Once you are busy, you keep being busy. There are always things that need to be done.

The lawn has to be cut before the fall frost, and the leaves need to be raked and bagged as well.

Some people are already making lists for Christmas presents long before there is even snow on the ground.

The do to list just keeps growing and growing.

And no matter what you do, you can’t seem to get ahead.

That’s where I found and continue to find myself.

I work a full time job.

I’m co-pastoring a church.

I’m co-leading a youth group with my wife.

I’m part of the worship team at church.

I’m part of the leadership/prayer group.

And I want to be writing and reading a whole lot more than I am now.

All these things, and then silly things like eating and sleeping, take up my time and my energy.

I find myself exhausted and not sleeping well all the time.

Then my wife reminded me of two things I had learned years before, things that I needed to relearn.