Okay, so some flavor of that. There’s many different flavors, but perfectionism is usually rooted in a wound where we don’t feel good enough and we don’t feel safe. And by trying to achieve a high bar in many areas of our lives, we are attempting to just feel okay.

But the whole purpose of Lent right, is to strip away our worldliness so that we rely on the Lord. We want to take off all of the things that we’re carrying of this world and walk into the desert with the Lord and let him be the only thing that comforts us.

Right? And that’s what Jesus has experienced too. And that’s why the devil tempted him with food. And you know, pridefulness, I’ll give you all of this. And he went, no, I don’t need anything else. The only thing I need is the Lord. The only thing I need is the word of the Lord.

And so, listen, we don’t need to dismantle childhood wounds and all of our tendencies around perfectionism right now. We don’t need to do that. But you could be curious. You could be curious that, huh? I do seem to have a deep desire to perform, to perform well.

And it probably has something to do with feeling loved. And safe, but where else are we going to go for unconditional never ending love and perfect safety other than the Lord? It literally cannot be found anywhere else, right?

We are unconditionally, forever, completely, just the way you are, no matter how you perform in your regular life or in your Lenten endeavors. Totally loved by the Lord. Totally loved. Your husband can’t fill that hole. Your kids can’t fill that hole. Your boss can’t fill that hole. Winning an Olympic gold medal could not fill the Gods size hole in your heart for wanting to be completely loved.

And the reason we enter into Lent is to feel that love with him, where we realize if we have nothing in this world but him, if we are literally in the desert by ourselves with no food. It’s okay because he brings us that unconditional love.

And then our ultimate safety. And this is tricky for our little human brains to understand, right? But our ultimate safety comes from the Lord and it’s because of heaven. So I can’t promise you that you’re gonna be a hundred percent safe here on Earth. We know that’s not true. We know that there are, you know, natural disasters and war and crime and you know, humans that we live with that hurt our feelings.

So we know that we can’t have a painless life on Earth, but you are actually safe. Like your soul is safe right now with the Lord if we’re with him, and it will ultimately be safe for all eternity in heaven. And so when we’re chasing perfectionism, whether it’s inside of Lent or outside of Lent, because we want to feel safe, we’ve got to realize that that only comes from God.

And it’s eternal safety. It’s not even a worldly safety. I grew up without a lot of money, and so I had a real, like, I’m so poor and I will work so hard that I will never be poor. Right. I had a real wound around money thinking like, if I worked hard and I made enough money, then I would be safe.

And being financially stable does give you some sense of safety for sure, but it’s not enduring, it’s not complete. Right. The only complete safety comes from the Lord. So Lent, which is supposed to draw us closer to the Lord, the devil uses it as a way to divide us from the Lord by getting kind of caught up in, am I doing Lent right? Am I being a good girl? Am I hitting this bar?

Which is why we’re really extra hard on ourselves if we miss it. Like, let’s say, you’re trying to have low screen time and more prayer time, and you just like totally blow up for three days and you do not hit whatever goals you set. You can very easily use that against yourself and say, I’m such a bad Catholic, and God is so disappointed with me.

Especially if the wound that was created in you came from a military style hard on you, performance focused dad. If you had a dad like that, you’ll think, God the father is like that, but he’s not God. The father is like, girl, come here. Just come here. Let me give you a hug. I love you. Come hang out in the desert with me right now.

We don’t need to worry about any of the other days. It’s just you and me, kid right now. I love you so much, and you can sit in his love and you can sit in the security, the safety that he brings, knowing that he has your heart and your soul, and that you were meant to commune with him completely in heaven forever. Where there is complete safety.

So we might endure some pain here on Earth, but it is not permanent. It all passes. So I want you to take a deep breath. Realize that your intentions are good. You wanna love the Lord, and part of your brain probably thinks loving the Lord means performing well because you’ve just been trained to do that.

Of course, the world trains us, especially in America, to do that, to perform, but instead, what the Lord actually wants is for you to empty your hands. Set everything down, all the roles in your life, everything. And go into the desert and remember that all we need is him. That’s what the detachment of Lent is.

I think we think it has to like be painful and sometimes it is. Sometimes setting the things down is painful, but that’s not what’s required. What’s required is that we go into the desert and we realize that none of the things that the devil offers are what we want. What we really want is the Lord.

So if you liked this video and you’re hearing some truth in what I say, and you’re like, yes, this girl seems to understand me. I want you to go check out this video on being an overwhelmed mom. I have some really good tips for moms who feel overwhelmed, whether it’s during Lent or not. It’s pretty common that moms are kind of drowning and feeling very emotionally overwhelmed and stretched thin. I want you to go check out this video.

Alright, my friends, I’m praying for you. Please pray for me and have a blessed day.