Dating and job hunting

Is their anything more demoralizing that dating and job hunting??? Putting yourself out there screaming, "Judge me and find me worthy!"

Am I articulate enough?

Am I pretty enough?

Am I qualified enough?

Is my personality right?

Is my smile right?

Is my experience right?

Oy vay!!! What a chore both things are! I've done all I want to of both things in the last 11 months!

But I've learned a few things. 

I am what I am.

I can be nothing else.  

Sometimes I say the right thing.

Sometimes I don't.

 Sometimes I'm funny.

Sometimes I'm not.

Sometimes I make wise decisions.

Sometimes I don't.

Sometimes I'm pretty enough.

Sometimes I'm not.

Sometimes I'm smart enough.

Sometimes I'm not.

Sometimes I want what's good for me.

Sometimes I don't.

And you know what? None of it matters. Tonight, the sun will still set. Tomorrow, it will rise again. And life will go on. Even when you'd rather it didn't.

Life is full of inconsistencies. We ourselves are inconsistent. But God, He is consistent! He always knows and wants what is best for us! Even when we can't see it.

When my girls were little, sometimes I allowed, even caused, things to happen to them that they didn't like. One bit. Because I knew it was the way it had to be for them to learn. Or what they needed. Like a shot when they were sick. Or falling when they were learning to walk. Or letting them spend their birthday money on something they insisted they absolutely, positively wanted the MOST of anything in the entire world - knowing that they would get it home and be disappointed.

God is the same with His children. Except our learning seems to come more as adults than as children. Or it has for me. 

As my girls grew, they began to see and accept that I was smarter than they thought. That I was very, very often right when I warned them of impending disappointment or pain. They learned that if they listened to me, they could sometimes avoid bad things. And sometimes, when the bad thing couldn't be avoided for their own sakes, if they would listen, the pain was lessened, shortened.

I pray I will remember that when my Heavenly Father allows or causes hurt in my life. May I listen. May I learn. May I trust in Him to know what is best for me.

"...and he has showered down upon us the richness of his grace—for how well he understands us and knows what is best for us at all times." Ephesians 1:8 TLB