Come As You Are
Just about the time I notice that everyone is more put together than I am, I’m either tripping on a step or spilling my coffee or breaking a shoe or making some other ungraceful move. I try to be that feminine, lovely, soft-spoken, elegant, flawless woman, but I’m the woman with the melted chocolate all over her white linen pants. I’m a mess. That’s just me, and I now embrace the fact that the harder I try to hold it all together, the more God shows me that I can laugh at myself. I can use my klutzy sense of humor, eat a piece of humble pie, and not take myself or my life too seriously. Every. Single. Day.
We are, every single one of us, a mess! God clearly has a sense of humor, and I am gently reminded daily what a mess I am without Him. I can’t take credit for anything. (I can’t even be cool if I try!) We are a never-ending work in progress called to an ongoing daily surrender. God looks at us, and what does He see? He sees His children. God, Himself, is the one completing us and perfecting us. So here I stand, ready to say, “I’m all in, God! Since you say come as you are, then I’m here just as I am.” I want to be the one who sits down with friends (new and old) and says, “My house is a mess, my closet is in shambles, my marriage is a challenge, my body hurts, my plans are confused, I’m flawed, and I’m tired. But I am loved, and so are you!
Yes, I am forgiven, and you can be too.” We’re all being perfected not by our own efforts, but by God Almighty … in His perfect timing … and for His perfect reasons. Each time we fall, we can courageously get back up — because God is shining through our flaws and weaknesses. 
PHOTOS: stockphotosecrets.com
GOD HAS A PLAN
Best recognized from her starring roles in Mom’s Night Out and Do You Believe?, Andrea Logan Wright understands that God can use anyone for His purpose. In Perfectly Unfinished, Andrea details her experiences with dating the rich and famous, attending wild parties at the Playboy Mansion, accepting compromising jobs to pay her bills, and hiding her eating disorder. But one afternoon, at a Hollywood stoplight, Andrea realized she couldn’t continue living for herself and turned her life over to God.
