This past Sunday, my kids and I participated in a family gingerbread-house-making competition our church hosted. I was super excited to have this time with them and just knew we’d have a blast.

Until I discovered about two minutes into the event that each family would be making their gingerbread house “from scratch” — no kits, no instructions, just…our own crafting abilities. Which, for me, are pretty much non-existent.

I can come up with stories like nobody’s business. I can think of ideas for decorating my house. I can turn boring technical writing into a magical piece of content.

But I canNOT craft. Nope, wasn’t born with that gene. Don’t get me wrong; I can craft with instructions. But that’s about the extent of it.

So, that night at our church, I immediately started to panic. I just knew I was gonna let my kids down. There was no way we’d win any awards. Heck, I didn’t even think I’d be able to construct a basic gingerbread house that would actually stand up.

And for the first 30 minutes or so, my anxiety won. The roof’s what got us. We tried about five different ways of making a roof for our house, but each time, it collapsed.

Y’all, I have never wanted to throw the towel in on something so bad in my entire life. I was literally plotting a way out, an excuse that would let us leave without anybody questioning me. I, a grown woman, was near the point of tears over this dang gingerbread house.

As embarrassed as I am to admit that, I think it’s important because maybe you’ve been there too. And it wasn’t just about the gingerbread house. It was about my need for perfection.

I had dreamed of what this evening would be like. I wanted to create a perfect memory for my kids. And that just wouldn’t happen if we couldn’t even get the roof on the gingerbread house, right?

Well, to my surprise, it could. No, it wasn’t the perfect night. But it ended up being a lot of fun. What changed my attitude?

I noticed my eight-year-old daughter starting to sulk. My stress had rubbed off on her. And I knew if I continued to let that happen, then it really would ruin the fun. So, I sucked it up, said “to heck with the roof!”, and made do with what we had.

Here’s the end result:

As you can see, it’s definitely NOT perfect. And it has a cone for a roof.

But, ya know what? The kids ended up having fun decorating it and were super excited to show their daddy when we got home.

So what’s the moral of my somewhat embarrassing story? That if we would just LET GO of the idea of everything in our lives being perfect all the time, then maybe we could relax a little and actually enjoy them.

Friend, you don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to be perfect. It’s completely, 100% possible to have a good, imperfect life.

This Christmas season, let go of all the pressure to have the perfect house, the best casseroles, the biggest gifts for your kids, the most party invites, the prettiest hair, and the most stylish clothes. Remember why we go through all of this every year — to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, to make memories with the ones we love, and to give back to those in need.

And I’ll try to do the same.

But He [Jesus] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

-2 Corinthians 12:9