Everywhere you look, we seem to be enticed by the possibility of perfection.  Eharmony.com can find you the perfect mate.  A certain facial cream provides perfect skin.   Liposuction can help you get the perfect body.  “Cosmo” can tell you how to have perfect sex.  I even saw an advertisement for a prep course that would help you get a perfect score on your SATs!  We are surrounded by these messages that tell us that perfection is obtainable and therefore we ought to pursue it.  Well, I believe that perfection is OVERRATED!  As the world defines perfection, it is not all that it is advertised to be.

I’d like to share a story that comes from my son Al.  When Al was a little boy, one of our favorite things to do was to walk down the beach and collect seashells.  Now Al didn’t just collect any shell; he had a particular type of shell that he collected.  It had to have a hole in it, so that he could make a necklace (which he then gave to me).   It didn’t matter if the shells were pretty, misshapen or cracked (in fact, some were quite ugly).  The shell had to have a hole in it.  This one particular day, there were a lot of beautiful shells on the beach, “picture perfect” – the kind you would see on a travel brochure.  And of course, my son would walk past the perfect shells and pick up the one with a hole in it.  So, I said to Al, “Honey, look at this shell.  It is perfect!  It is perfect in shape, perfect in color, don’t you want this shell?”  He looked at me and said, “Mom, I can’t use the perfect ones.  The shell has to have a hole in it, that’s the way I can use it.”  He then went on to explain to me that the hole is how it stays attached.  As he said this, I thought to myself, how often do I wish away and pray away my holes (problems); when God is saying “that hole is how I’m going to use you.”  How often do I ask God to take away my imperfections, my flaws (not sin) when He is saying “these circumstances are how you will remain connected to me.”

What are your holes?  What are those things that you so desire to get rid of?  What are those things that you are saying to God, “I could serve you so much better if I had this success or if I didn’t have this struggle or this suffering?”  Perhaps those exact issues are what God is going to use as your greatest blessing.  Perhaps this “hole” is how God not only plans to use you, but also how you will continue to remain close to him.

How often do we pray away or wish away our imperfections, because we believe the myth that says God can only use our successes?  As parents of a special needs child, I think we are often reminded of where we fall short or we feel as though we aren’t quite as good as everyone else.  Take a moment to ask God how he might use you precisely because of those imperfections (or as I like to say “perfektions”).