In my little town there is a women's group. Actually it is women from the surrounding communities. Most are related in some way. Some, like me are there by virtue of a charming personality and a local address. First let me say moving away from home, family and friends is harder than I ever imaged. Five years later I still feel that way. Part of that was an unwillingness to let go and fear of opening up. It's scary to let yourself be known. It's hard to be vulnerable. Sometimes it's easier to hold back, rather than move forward. But I digress.
I am blessed to be a part of this group, even as I pray to embrace all it offers. Our last meeting provided an opportunity to bead a bracelet together. It wasn't my first beading experience, but it's been a while. Okay, more than five years if I'm being honest. Some of the time it was beading, some of the time it was a life lesson in the shape of a bracelet. Part of the evening was fun conversation and the rhythm of beading. Some of the time it was back tracking due to glitches and goofs. I made some errors. The beads were less than perfect too. I got 3/4 the way through, and over two hours into the project and I discovered a flaw in my beads would mean my bracelet would never be perfect. We
long for perfect. We don't want to be the odd one, the slightly imperfect one. Guess what? We are all slightly imperfect. Tempered by moments we are majorly imperfect.
Never mind, that with help, I got all those other beads right. And therein lies the lesson. We need help to get where ever we are going. There will be mistakes and unexpected outcomes. It's not what we expected, but it's still beautiful. Worth saying again....It's not what we expected, but it is still beautiful. That, my friend, is life. That is what we need to open our hearts to.
