Strengths and Weaknesses Part 2

Academics come easily for me. However, the bane of my existence since childhood has been organization! As an adult I was diagnosed with ADD. Most people I have encountered think ADD refers to children in school who are hyperactive and have trouble focusing. Oh how I wish ADD was that simple. In reality, it is a difficulty to maintain a focus on some things while being able to focus on other things with extreme focus. I can rarely finish a task in my home because I am always distracted by something else. I actually can completely forget about the initial task until something else reminds me. Housework takes me longer than it should because I am always distracted, or I forget what I am doing. I go upstairs to get something and I forget why I am there. Sometimes I realize I forget why I am there and I get really frustrated with myself. Other times, I actually get distracted by something else and don't remember the original reason for being upstairs. When I eventually get back downstairs I am reminded why I went upstairs in the first place, and the cycle repeats itself.

The worst example of ADD in my life came a few years ago as I was trying to get out of the house to help volunteer at a Vacation Bible School. I was helping with photography. I got out to the car with my camera bag. The trunk was locked and I didn't have my keys, so I put my bag down. As I went to the house to get the keys, I realized I hadn't fed the ducks. So I took care of the ducks. When I got back, my son was already in the car with the keys. All I remembered by that point was that I needed the keys. The attention deficit of ADD meant I had lost what I was originally doing. In this case I remembered part of it. I got in the car and backed up. “CRUNCH!” I rolled over my camera bag!. My camera was damaged beyond repair! Please don't tell me that ADD is not real, or that it is not an excuse. This is just the most painful example, but every day there are many many examples of ADD messing up my day.

I have been judged in the past by many people because I cannot manage my housework, and my home is always cluttered. One friend a few years ago set me free from that. She gave me permission to not have a perfect house. It changed my life and released me from much of my depression. To me, my home always represented terrible failure. I was judged as a poor example to those I was trying to reach for Christ. However, since my friend set me free from that need to have a perfectly tidy home, I have had many people into my cluttered home. Many of them have also felt freedom, because their home is also a mess. I have had opportunities twice to have people off the streets into my home. One young girl had never had a religious person treat her with such respect and hospitality. My cluttered home didn't hurt my witness at all. I was able to send her off with a New Testament that she said she would read, because our 16 hours together had a real impact on her.

Please let us stop judging others for not being like ourselves. Please give one another the benefit of the doubt. Let us stop adding rules to the Bible that God did not put there. Jesus condemned those who required others to follow their own traditions and teachings which went beyond the Law of God. 

Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. (Luke 11:46)

When we require others to be like ourselves in ways that are not Scriptural, like demanding a certain perfection in housecleaning, we are being like the Pharisees -- especially if we do not offer any practical help on how to achieve that artificial standard. I am very grateful for those who are patiently trying to help me grow, without demanding an artificial standard!

I praise you Jesus for your great love! I praise you for loving us with patience and kindness, You are so humble that you left your throne in heaven to become a man and die on the cross for sinners like me. You honour us by adopting us into your family. We don't have to measure up to a standard that we cannot meet. You seek our affections, and died for us when you could have come down from the cross! You are not easily angered and when we come to you, you keep no record of our wrongs! You do not delight in evil, but rejoice when we see that You are the Truth. You always protect us. Because of that, we can always trust, hope and persevere! May we learn to love and accept others as you do, with unconditional love.