The Beauty of the Imperfect
My work schedule has changed this week and I've found myself with an extra day off of work. I've filled the extra free hours with more cooking, more sewing (and far less cleaning!). It's been wonderful. Projects I've wanted to tackle for weeks have been coming together, meals have been just a little more involved, hours with the kids just a little more lingering.
Yet every successful project comes with its share of failures. Every measurement falls short at some point. Every dish misses the mark by just a bit. The results of almost everything I've tackled have been less than perfect.
This afternoon as I lined up the final seam on a skirt for Cora and found that it hadn't come together quite like I'd planned, I became frustrated with myself. Why doesn't it ever turn out like I imagined? No matter how I measure and do it carefully, it's always off by just a hair. It's never perfect. Why can't it ever be perfect?
Because there's beauty in the imperfect.
There's authenticity, down-to-earth reality, genuineness. Beauty.
The things I try hardest for are the things I do out of love: a summer skirt for Cora, a sweater for my boys, a meal for friends, a cake for a party. They're gifts of love. The heart is pure. The intentions are holy. But when love--real, human love--meets real life, it's messy. It's imperfect.
Love like that--genuine, messy, sometimes-imperfect love--meets a genuine, messy, imperfect world. It meets a legitimate need. It meets something less than perfect and ideal.
I've often wondered at the people God used in the Bible. The stories make no secret of their failures, their imperfections. They were flawed at every level, even while they were being used. Why these people? Why couldn't it ever be perfect?
Because there's beauty in the imperfect.
Because there's authenticity in the imperfect.
Because sometimes only the imperfect can reach an imperfect world.
And there's more. Sometimes only the imperfect makes room for the perfect.
"But he 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)
It's like the line from a song we sang in church a few weeks ago. It's been echoing in my mind ever since: Holiness is Christ in me.
My efforts never will be--never can be--perfect. But there's beauty there. There's freedom there. There's perfection there.
"If I must boast, I will boast in things that show my weakness." (2 Corinthians 11:30)
May all my endeavors be imperfect enough to be made perfect, made beautiful.
Yet every successful project comes with its share of failures. Every measurement falls short at some point. Every dish misses the mark by just a bit. The results of almost everything I've tackled have been less than perfect.
This afternoon as I lined up the final seam on a skirt for Cora and found that it hadn't come together quite like I'd planned, I became frustrated with myself. Why doesn't it ever turn out like I imagined? No matter how I measure and do it carefully, it's always off by just a hair. It's never perfect. Why can't it ever be perfect?
Because there's beauty in the imperfect.
There's authenticity, down-to-earth reality, genuineness. Beauty.
The things I try hardest for are the things I do out of love: a summer skirt for Cora, a sweater for my boys, a meal for friends, a cake for a party. They're gifts of love. The heart is pure. The intentions are holy. But when love--real, human love--meets real life, it's messy. It's imperfect.
Love like that--genuine, messy, sometimes-imperfect love--meets a genuine, messy, imperfect world. It meets a legitimate need. It meets something less than perfect and ideal.
I've often wondered at the people God used in the Bible. The stories make no secret of their failures, their imperfections. They were flawed at every level, even while they were being used. Why these people? Why couldn't it ever be perfect?
Because there's beauty in the imperfect.
Because there's authenticity in the imperfect.
Because sometimes only the imperfect can reach an imperfect world.
And there's more. Sometimes only the imperfect makes room for the perfect.
"But he 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)
It's like the line from a song we sang in church a few weeks ago. It's been echoing in my mind ever since: Holiness is Christ in me.
My efforts never will be--never can be--perfect. But there's beauty there. There's freedom there. There's perfection there.
"If I must boast, I will boast in things that show my weakness." (2 Corinthians 11:30)
May all my endeavors be imperfect enough to be made perfect, made beautiful.
