One frigid night early in 2009 I was walking the streets of the Isle of Man with a fellow missionary when I caught a glimpse of something that made me long to be home.

We had been knocking on doors for a while and it was getting dark. I was cold, tired, and a bit disappointed from all the rejection that comes with being a missionary. As I passed one window, I noticed a comfortable couch in front of a TV and imagined a future version of myself sitting in my own house, warm and cozy, enjoying a movie with a family of my own.

“If I had that, I’d have a whole lot less to worry about,” I thought as the weight of my call to be a missionary bore down on me. Little did I know how naive I was.

Fast-forward a decade and I saw a similar scene while driving that very family I had imagined home from a long day of fun. I thought I saw, in one home we passed, a family relaxing on the couch watching a movie together.

It hit me that I’d gotten to where I’d hoped to be all those years previous.

19-year-old me was wrong in thinking that life would be easier in the future. Things got harder, more complicated. Sure, they also brought greater rewards, and that’s a whole other lesson that this experience taught me.

But that night I figured out the simple idea that life is never perfect, and that’s okay.

There’s always going to be something tough. Something you need to do that feels like it’s beyond your capabilities. But it’s nothing to worry about because that’s the whole point of life.

It’s these difficult situations and responsibilities that make us grow.

Young me didn’t know how to pass a college class or a professional licensing exam. The idea of getting a degree or a full-time post-college job seemed almost impossible.

Now, though, I know that those things were a lot simpler than I had imagined they would be.

And so today I take comfort not just in the fact that I have that family and that cozy couch that I can watch a movie with them on.

What brings me the most peace is knowing that one day, all the worries, fears, and inadequacies will seem like nothing.

One day, I’ll feel like being a Dad and providing for a family went a lot better than I imagined it going. And it wasn’t as impossible as I had thought. All the worries that I have right now are going to be resolved as I work and live.

It’s the simple things, like knowing that everything will be okay even though it’s not what you had imagined and not perfect, that bring the most peace.