Wanting to Be Gracious

   If you have a perfect husband, please don't bother to read any further, and um, good for you.
   My husband is not perfect, and it pains me to say so.  I am all about "perfection".  My name even means, "Perfection."  Ironic, isn't it?
   This morning Phil made a mistake.  It wasn't a big mistake, and in the big scheme of life, it really means nothing.  But it annoyed me.
   I sputtered around the house for a while.  I called him at work, with the "annoyed" tone.  It was not pretty.
   Then it hit me - hard, "What is my problem? What are my expectations?  Perfection?"
   In all reality, who has the better deal in our relationship anyway? - I do!
   The funny thing is that I had just been chatting with a teen from our church about relationships, and encouraging her because God uses those people to refine us.  Suddenly I was living the "chat", and I wasn't enjoying it.
   The verse that God has seemed to hard-wire into my brain for times such as this is, Proverbs 11:16a - "A gracious woman gains respect," (NLT) or "retains honor", or "attains honor" depending on which version you choose.
   How I long to be a "gracious woman".  I want that because of my husband, and home, and children, and ministry, and every other area of my life.  It's just very difficult.  It seems that the more I want it, them more opportunities I have to demonstrate it.  And so the process continues.  I pray that I am growing with each opportunity.  Oh, for an "easy button"!