: Good points! Amen to that!

: In building two Pygmy kit s&g boats, I strove to do the best job I could, yet
: I know I fell short of perfection. On the first boat, I was nearly
: paralyzed when it came to gluing seams by the ominous line in the
: instruction book, "this is your last chance to make adjustments in
: the shape of the boat." I checked and checked and checked for three
: days before I finally took a deep breath and continued.

: Since then, I've relaxed... and have been able to work according to the 'do
: the best I can, but don't worry about making it absolutely perfect'
: philosophy. I reasoned that I was building a boat-- designed to go into
: the water where it would get scratched in the process of being used -- not
: a coffee table or piece of living room wall art, which I would be loathe
: to put in a situation where it might get even the least banged up. I
: wanted a boat I could enjoy, not one that needed to be babied. (cared for,
: yes. babied, no).

: So.... yes, there are some cosmetic blemishes (boat #2 was for an extended
: family member, so that one's not my concern anymore). If you look closely
: with a builder's eye, you can see them. With a builder's eye, you probably
: don't even need to look that close. From a distance, they aren't
: noticable, and they don't compromise the performance or the structural
: integrity of the boat. I get admiring compliments from others when I'm out
: & about with it... when I drove it out to Oregon & back a few
: weeks ago, the first thing people would say was, "what kind of wood
: is that?" followed by "*You* ***built*** that????"
: (apparantly I don't look like a boat builder )

: And when I got the first scratch in the varnish (on the day I launched it),
: it wasn't traumatic for me... I knew that it wasn't perfect to start with,
: so I wasn't bothered... knowing that I'd built it to use, not just to look
: at. Knowing that it wasn't perfect to start with has 'freed' me
: psychologically to use it -- and to let others use it as well. (I'm more
: picky about letting somebody else drive my car!)

: For me, it did take the process of actually building my first boat to come to
: grips with my perfectionist side. I'd never done anything like that
: before, so I was in new territory as far as skills and experience go. The
: boat came out fine. And it was an exercise in living by grace....as I
: discovered that there were few mistakes that I could make that couldn't be
: fixed with either a little more epoxy or by more sanding. .... but as a
: lot of you know already, I'm a *Lutheran* pastor -- so my theological
: motto is, "there but by the grace of God go I".... I'm not a
: Methodist-- who strive for perfection in all things.

: End of 'sermon' (I've only got three more to write this week -- I have two
: funerals in addition to Sunday a.m.)

: Julie Kanarr

Great sermon!!! I only wish the local vicar could produce one as good! you should be able to ride this one for a couple of weeks! Amen, rmd