Perfection

I just love my everyday china that I registered for eons ago at Ware's in Auburn. I even got a very generous gift card toward my china from Andrew's parents for Christmas.

Ware's called me months ago to tell me that my initial pieces I ordered came in, but it wasn't perfectly painted, so they sent it back to France.

WHAT?!

If I had known it was hand painted from France, I wouldn't have registered for it. (Well, maybe I would have, but at least I would have been prepared for this non-sense.)

To add more grief to my situation, Andrew accidently broke one of the few pieces I had when the salt shaker came crashing down on the hot, fragile salad plate! UGh!

Here's what all the fuss is over.

Empire by Gien

Pretty, ain't it?

(Especially when you have the lemons, florals, and perfect sunshine cascading through the windows. Our home is exactly like this picture. All the time.)

I should have told those fancy, china people at Ware's, ya know what, I don't like perfect. I don't want perfect hand-painted china. I want the china with mistakes that show character. That's why I registered for Match pewter. It's old-looking, on purpose! It looks like the Match people dropped it a few times before shipping it off. That's my kind of perfect.

See? Character.

I really don't mean to insult Ware's. I'm just ready to serve dinner on my dang china that I registered for a year ago!

I say all this to tell you what I've been reflecting on and realizing lately. Life isn't perfect. It isn't always pretty. Things are going pretty great for me right now, but it hasn't always been that way, and it won't always be that way. There's something that I like to call the "Christmas card syndrome" or the "facebook syndrome" that displays this facade of perfection. We send out our best moment in greeting cards, receive the best quoted Scripture from Christmas cards, and see the most beautiful babies and wedding photos on facebook.

It all comes down to this: We showcase our best moment when it's really just a snippet of our {photoshopped} life. But what's underneath is what's real, raw, and full of character. The way I see my banged up pewter may be how God sees us and still loves all of us. Maybe He sees His perfection through our weakness.

"'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest upon me."

2 Corinthians 12:9

Isn't it funny that my "perfect" china won't seem to come in the mail, but the one of the pieces that did arrive broke into tiny fragments. Maybe it's God's way of telling me that nothing is perfect apart from Him. (Psalm 16:2!) This may be a far-fetched analogy, but He spoke to me through all of this every day life "stuff."

I've never claimed to be or tried to be perfect. Those people annoy me anyway. I know better than to think that someone has it all. I think that God has placed so many gifts in each of us, but He's also put struggles in our lives too. That way, we always see our need for Him.

"There's no such thing as perfect people

And there's no such thing as a perfect life

So come as you are, broken and scarred

Lift up your heart and be amazed

And be changed by a perfect God."

"Perfect People" by Natalie Grant

God does require perfection. (Well, I'm in trouble.) Ah, but He's bigger and smarter than we could ever be and knows perfection will never be attained by us alone.

And to that I say, "Hallelujah! Thank You, JESUS!"