STYLE Savvy: Embracing the Imperfect

Lisa Hess ponders the perfect imperfection of the Incarnation.

When my editor told me they'd decided on Know Thyself: The Imperfectionist's Guide to Sorting Your Stuff  as the title of my book, I was less than enthusiastic. I'm terrible at titles, but I know when one grabs me, and this one didn't. It was, after all, quite a mouthful.

But what the title did do was nail the essence of organizing by STYLE, giving us (writer and reader alike) permission to embrace imperfection in the process. With an overall goal of keeping our house in order and being able to find what we need when we need it, we can carry out a plan that yields results that align with the mission of tidiness. 

In thinking about organization in this holy season, it occurs to me that there's an interesting parallel here. Jesus's arrival was perfectly imperfect; perfect, in the sense that it occurred exactly according to God's plan, and imperfect in many ways obvious to mere mortals. An immaculate conception. A pregnant woman whose husband was not the father of her child. Birth in a stable, followed by a run for their lives. 

Yet, none of this stopped Jesus from carrying out the plan the Father had in mind for Him. His mission to save us from death was unhindered by the imperfection of the world around Him, and He remained true to His mission despite myriad obstacles placed in His path. 

Makes keeping our houses tidy sound like pretty small potatoes.  

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My point here is not to equate an organized life with the life of our Lord, but rather to point out that we, too, are here as a part of God's plan. Like our Savior, we have been given missions that sometimes align with the world and sometimes run at cross-purposes to it. Some days, we count as successes and other days, our efforts seem to make very little difference. 

But it's the big picture that matters. 

Day by day, Jesus walked with His family and His disciples. He told stories, He healed the sick, and He made sacrifices beyond what we can comprehend. He traveled paths we can only imagine, recognizing the power of each moment, even in times that yielded despair.

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Jesus' mission to save us from death was unhindered by the imperfection of the world around Him. #CatholicMom

Christmas is a bittersweet season for many of us, but it's filled with opportunities to find magic amid the chaos and to appreciate that imperfect settings and situations contribute to the big picture of life. Some days, it can be a bit like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with no lid and a few missing pieces but, if we persist, the end product might be a thing of beauty.

Even if it's imperfect.

This season, cherish each piece, keeping in mind that it's only one part of a much larger whole, one we might not yet be able to envision through the eyes of mere mortals.

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