I am what you would call a perfectionist. I like things done a certain way, and if I'm going to accomplish a task, I will put my all into it. That's just the way I am. I always have been. I was the student in school who took the extra time to type out the report and put it in a binder instead of just handing in stapled notebook pages with a hand-written report. I'm not bragging, mind you, because sometimes being a perfectionist can get me into a lot of trouble. Sometimes, I demand more of myself than what I'm capable of doing.

For example, in my spiritual walk, I expect excellence. What I receive, however, is very short of that. Instead of humility, I get pride. In place of kindness, I spy a mean spirit. In lieu of forgiveness, I find bitterness. And then . . . I get mad. Mad at myself. Mad at my weakness. Mad at my lack of discipline. Once the anger wears off, I find myself encased in discouragement and disappointment. "Let's try this again," I mumble to myself, when what I really want to do is sit there and throw a pity party.

I need to be more like Wile E. Coyote. Remember him from the Roadrunner cartoons? How many plans did he try and fail at? How many cliffs did he fall from? How many explosions did he survive? And yet, after every failure, what do we see of Wile E. Coyote? He's trying again. He's determined, and no setbacks will stand in his way. Sounds like a good role model to me!

What about you? Are you a perfectionist like me, always setting goals far higher than you could ever reach? Perhaps you're the kind of person that does just enough to get by in life. Neither type is likely to get us through. No, from this day forward, when asked what kind of Christians we are, we need to proudly proclaim, "I'm a Wile E. Coyote Christian. I'll keep trying until the job is done, and I won't waste any time on anger or self-pity."

Now, if you could just point me to the nearest ACME factory. . .