As I write this, it’s 6:30 in the morning, and I’m sitting at my kitchen table looking at the beautiful sunrise out the back sliding-door window of our home.
As the sun rises in from the east, it brings in just enough natural brightness that I don’t have to turn on any lights, while at the same time, it magnifies all the fingerprints and smudges of dirty little hands that have gone in and out of our sliding glass door.
Just behind those innumerable smudges I can see lush, green grass that’s screaming at me to cut it once again (“Didn’t I just cut you last week?”), as well as a handful of other backyard projects that have been waiting (not so patiently) to get done.
Just last week we had our carpet cleaned in the house including our very light-colored carpeted stairs. However, yesterday at lunch, when I asked my 6 year old son, Shane, to throw away an avocado seed that had fallen on the floor, he ‘accidentally’ missed the trash can (while trying to slam dunk it, no less), and the brightly green-covered seed went rolling down the freshly cleaned stairs, plopping one green spot after another down each stair it hit on its decent to the bottom.
Ah, yes, and this is the same 6 year old boy, who on the same day climbed up a tree so high that we thought we were going to have to call the fire department to come and get him down (at least, alive, anyway).
We won’t even mention any of the other details of the week like running late to soccer practice because our little guy couldn’t find his gear (again), or the bathroom sink deciding to discharge instead of drain (not actually the little guy’s fault), or the fact that is was also my night to do the dishes (I love doing dishes… not). Like I said, we won’t mention any of those things…
What I’ve come to realize is that we don’t live a perfect life… and we never will. Because life is not meant to be lived perfectly.
But quite honestly, when I stop to think about it, would I really want to have it any other way? Is a perfect life really what I want? Will clean windows, cut grass, spotless floors, and perfectly draining sinks really make my life fuller and more meaningful?…
Do I want to one day look back upon my life and family with perfect, bland memories – nothing too exciting, too adventurous, too challenging, or too unexpected? Yes, I sometimes resent those unpredictable circumstances in the heat of the moment, but are they really all that bad in the bigger picture of life?
Or do I want to remember my family life as a wonderful journey and adventure with unpredictable twists and turns that God took us on together… to grow us, and to grow each other, both in the little every day imperfections of life, as well as in the bigger challenges we’ve faced?
Our life’s not perfect, but I don’t really think that I want it to be perfect, because quite honestly… wonderful is far better than perfect.
And I’d have to say, I wouldn’t have it any other way… IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE!
Please share if you agree. I’d also love to hear something about your wonderful, yet imperfect life. You can let me know by leaving a comment.
