The 80% Factor

I get my humor from my dad, my ability to over analyze any situation to the fullest from my mom, and my blue eyes from both of them. Also from the Wolfe side of the family comes an affinity for competitive sports (though none of us were gifted with speed), and the dreaded 80% factor. The 80% factor is the name I have bestowed upon my tendency to bail on projects once I am 80% complete. Thankfully for the churches I serve, this horrible trait has isolated itself to my personal life, and mostly centered around home improvement projects. I can begin any new project with gusto, pass the half way point with enthusiasm, push myself through the 3/4 mark without losing stride, but then - out of nowhere - I hit the 80% wall and my genetics kick in, and everything inside of me wants to stop. Frustrating huh?!? To be so close to the finish line that you can see it, but yet something makes you run out of steam, and throw in the towel. As a youngster, I was stopped in my tracks many a time by the 80% factor. Now that I am wise to the ways of the world, I still struggle with this reality of what it means to be me. Just this weekend I launched into a new project of refinishing a daybed/trundle bed that we purchased from the Church Wide Garage Sale. I sanded each piece of the bed diligently, making sure to go back and sand by hand what my sander couldn't reach. Then I painstakingly cleaned each section with cleanser, to make sure they were dirt and saw dust free. I then carefully began to prime each part, making sure to give it an even coat, and to watch for globs or drips. I had finished with 2 of the 3 sections, and stepped back inside to allow things to dry before beginning on my last piece. And then it happened...the 80% factor reared its ugly little head. It was hot outside, I was tired, I'd had a full day at the church that morning, I'm pregnant, my feet started to swell. About a million other justifications (okay - excuses) ran through my mind, but the reality is that it was just my 80% factor trying to hold me back once again. So close to the finish line, but yet so far away.
One of my favorite bible verses comes from 2 Timothy, chpt 4 verse 7 which reads, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." The author of 2nd Timothy is honoring the struggle that he had overcome and yet still held fast to his faith in Jesus Christ. Some two thousand years later, these words still ring true as a challenge for each of us as we struggle through our daily faith journey. The Christian journey is not an easy one. It is a road paved with challenges and growth, and path designed to lead us closer to God, and closer to being the people that God has called us to be.
My prayer today is that we would all over come our own roadblocks, our own inadequacies, our own self doubts and push onward to the prize that is a full life lived in Jesus Christ.

Elyse's new daybed - completed 8/31/09