Streaky Windows … Hello weekend readers. I am musing about perfection and imperfection. Why? Because this last week it just seems that no matter what I was working on either fell apart or didn’t come out the way I wanted it to be. Besides of burning the pork-chops for dinner, I managed to screw up my POS which had to be turned into the USACE, left the windows open on the Suburban in the hail and rain—the outside needed it, the inside, not so much!

Don’t we all have those kinds of days, though? Claire McGarry is favorite writer of mine and she shared her story about her friend’s bridal shower at a beautiful venue on the Pacific Ocean. The wall of the room was made up entirely of plate-glass windows. She enjoyed the unobstructed view of the cobalt-blue sky, interesting puffy white clouds and of course, the ocean’s dancing waves. All this stunning beauty around them got cut short by the father of the soon-to-be bride because he was upset with the streaks on the window! He declared rather loudly to not only the group but the whole place, that when he signed the contract for the space, he wrote in, “Windows must be perfectly clean the day of the wedding; but the manager explained why he couldn’t allow that because they clean the windows weekly but aren’t in control of the weather. If a storm blows in between cleaning day and an event, there’s always the possibility of streaks.”

After everyone listened to his complaints, of which few really didn’t care about the streaks, Claire decided she would look closer at the windows, and yes, they did have some streaks but she had overlooked that in order to see the stunning views before her. After a few moments of looking for the streaks, she asked the group, “did you see those streaks before when we were all looking out over the ocean with oohs and aahs?” One after the other said, “no, it was a gorgeous day and we looked out to enjoy it; never paid attention to streaks.” Claire then told them “Good! Don’t fixate on the streaks because that will take away your joy of this beauty.” They all agreed—accept the father of the bride. He sat in his chair with a sullen attitude and Claire knew he was one of those “perfectionists” and she quickly said a prayer for him so his daughter’s wedding would be beautiful instead of imperfect!

As I was perusing for a Scripture on this, one of Paul’s words to the Romans 8:18-21 [MSG] popped-up in my mind. 

“That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.”

So goes you and my life, right? Nothing is perfect, there is NO guarantee that Jesus will make our path clear or wipe away our hardships. But Jesus always gives us the choice which is: “what are you going to fixate on?” Like streaky windows or burnt pork-chops, if we fixate on what’s gone wrong we not only get sullen and mad, we miss the joy in life!

What are the imperfections in your life that bug you? Take a moment and write them down. Then ask yourself if those imperfections have stopped you from doing anything in your life. Are they horrible or something you can look beyond. Be honest with yourself, can you accept imperfections and look through the streaks on the window or not. If you can’t, ask God to help you overlook those imperfections and leave them behind. After all, nothing is perfect except God and God is not demanding us to be perfect!

Like my friend Claire said, “I choose to look beyond because when I do that, I actually can clearly see…all the ways my Lord blesses my life with beauty and goodness.” I think she’s got a handle on perfectionism, don’t you? OK, I’m done with this devotion and it’s time to put the hamburgers on the grill…I intend to do them perfectly…well close to that would be OK. AMEN!