My husband and I typically do not exchange presents for Christmas. We are pretty practical you might say. We might buy something we need, like a camera, and say that is our gift to each other. There were two Christmases that were different, though, where there was a gift left under the tree after the kids were done opening their gifts. The first time this happened my husband bought me a machine to use for my scrapbooking projects. It was an amazing gift! The second time this happened, though, was a bit different. This time the gift was a gun. Now to give him credit, we had both talked through this subject and decided we would get a gun. I just didn’t expect that to be a gift I would open on Christmas morning!

Since that day my husband has practiced shooting and gotten specific licenses. I, on the other hand, have not been as diligent. I’ve only shot the gun on two different occasions. I thought I did pretty well the first time because it was my first time. The second time I shot the gun was this week on Thanksgiving. We were able to go in my in-law’s backyard and shoot at a target they already have set up. I only hit the mark once. My not-so-best shot? I hit the ground in front of the target. I think I did better the first time I was shooting. I was trying so hard this time to hit the mark by carefully aiming that I didn’t relax and just shoot. I guess it didn’t help much that I closed my eyes half the time as I shot!

This experience is so much like my personality. I try so hard to get everything just right and perfect that I miss out on the enjoyment of the experience. I can’t relax enough to allow myself to mess up or have any type of mistake in the process. This leads to frustrations and “missing the mark”. I’m learning more frequently these days that the ending point of any journey is not the only accomplishment. There are so many roads, twists, and turns along any path that are equally important to my outcome. As I was doing my devotions last night, I remembered I cannot only focus on heaven and what awaits me, but I must live every day in the present so I don’t ultimately miss the mark of what God desires for my life. The following question then came to my mind, “If I don’t fully live each day as God intended, who else might miss the mark?”

Are you hitting your mark today? Or, are you closing your eyes and hoping you get there?

© 2012 Susan M. Sims

Image courtesy of sakhorn38 at freedigitalphotos.net

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook.