Embrace the Imperfection

For those that know me well, I am oftentimes described as “very organized or obsessive compulsive” about the details of my daily life.  I am a lover of sticky notes, nice paper and colorful pens.  I love making lists, and I love checking items off my list EVEN more.  I thrive in a holiday season when I know the destinations I need to visit on a given day and the exact times in which I will reach them.  On December 22^nd, the last Friday before Christmas, I looked outside and quickly recognized the weather would provide a challenging backdrop to my day’s plan.  The Texas weather and Colleyville construction would merge to form additional delays, shortened tempers and yes, less than easy travel.  Isn’t it ironic that on those days our errands are always in different cities, separated by many miles and many construction barrels?  As I headed out the door and ran some of my last Christmas errands, I was overcome by the feelings of how hard we work to create perfection in our lives.   I watched people with strollers running down Main Street, dodging torrential rain all while trying to create a “perfect Polar Express experience.”  I watched people unload their cars in a 38-degree cold rain, carry heavy bags across a parking lot and enter the lobby of The Great Wolf Lodge exhausted all while trying to create a “perfect weekend get-away” for their families.  There were melt downs of toddlers, melt downs of teenagers and a meltdown of a wife in The Great Wolf Lodge gift shop.  A loving husband had simply said the wrong words at the wrong time to his wife who was trying desperately to purchase the right gift at this specific time.  Their worlds collided.  Finally, there was the melt down of an entire computer system at a place dependent on gift card purchases.  The sales associate appeared to be handling the circumstances well, despite the loud constant beeping of a computer server that could only be silenced by Oncor.  There was so much imperfection on this shopping day. 

Amazingly, I imagine that Mary and Joseph faced this overwhelming feeling of “messiness”
as well.  There was a long walk on a donkey.  There was “no room at the inn.”  There was a barn, a manger and hay.  There was darkness.  There were terrifying moments.  There were visitors that many of us would not choose as the first individuals to see our new precious bundle of joy.  Yet in this beautiful space, there was peace, love and joy with the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In the midst of the imperfect mess, Mary and Joseph celebrated a perfect Christmas miracle. 

In a recent conversation with my mom, I told her, “Life is messy.”  Her response to this small sentence has stayed with me daily. “Yep, and most of it is lived in the mud.”  I don’t believe Our Father invites us to spend our time on this temporal earth achieving perfection.  I don’t believe Our Father encourages us to strive for perfection in the gift purchasing, the holiday traveling, or the seasonal decorating.  Instead, I believe it is His greatest hope that we will spread His peace, His love, and His joy in the midst of every mess we find ourselves.  On December 22^nd, as soon as the wife completed the biggest part of her melt down, she hastily rattled off one more set of mean words, and stormed off.  It was a “muddy moment” as her husband stood behind me in line.  He looked at me and simply said, “So, how are you today?” It was an opportunity for me to ask him the same question and engage in a conversation, even though I knew his dire circumstances.  In those muddy moments, a small miracle took place.  I told him my purpose for visiting the gift shop at The Great Wolf Lodge, the story of my sister/nephews and the reason this gift would mean so much to them.  As I told my story, the angry wife wandered back over to us, listened, turned to her husband and said, “Yes. That’s what we were thinking of doing as well, and now I think we should.” 

A muddy moment had been transformed into a true “pocket of peace” during one conversation with people whom I had never met before.  As we move through our daily lives, we will encounter so much mud.  James 1:2-4 states, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Sometimes, taking a step out of the mud requires more perseverance than one person can find at a given moment.  In our walks of faith, we have the beautiful opportunity to help those around us persevere.  I pray that we will not miss the “imperfect moments” as they can provide us with a beautiful glimpse of God’s peace, love and joy.