Embracing the Imperfections

I just noticed a new, growing hole in my sofa. I love this sofa, but all of its edges are starting to wear dangerously thin. My sofa has holes and stains and is starting to fade in all the wrong places. Then I got teary-eyed, knowing that we can’t afford a new one anytime soon. Somewhere deep in my twisted thoughts I realized that there is a good side to having a not-so-perfect sofa. Toddlers can eat melty chocolate chip cookies on it and no one will gasp when a chip falls onto the fabric. And when one of my boys has an upset stomach, they can rest on it without fear that it will be ruined. If my husband’s greasy popcorn hands touch the arm of the sofa, there’s no threat of me giving a disapproving look. Then it dawned on me. There is something worse than a falling-apart, used-up sofa: a perfectly unused five-year-old sofa. What a tragedy if my old sofa were in mint condition. We are actually so much freer to enjoy it because of its imperfections. And I am thankful for the daily reminder that something doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

This is an excerpt from our 365-day A Moment to Breathe Devotional Journal.