Each year, millions of parents suffer from Lego Tunnel Syndrome--a chronic condition where the parents' hands lose function after constantly extracting Lego's from the bottoms of their feet. This is why Courtnie and I thought it was a good idea that Beckett have his very own toy box for Christmas this year. Even though he is 15 months old, and has yet to have any set of Lego's that he can call his very own, we have been up to our eyeballs in Fisher Price and Leap Frog since last Christmas, and it's just time that they found a home.
Besides, every kid needs a toy box. And it should be perfect.
After perusing the aisles of Target one evening, and seeing the cheap quick-assembly toy chests, I suggested to Courtnie that maybe I should build Beckett's toy box myself. See, I've always considered myself to be a handy man, and at times spend my entire lunch breaks watching Do-It-Yourself videos on Youtube. And I've built and repaired things in the past, but this would be my first "major" project venture. Accordingly, I began to develop my vision and plan for building it, and before long, I had the "perfect" image of the toy box in my head.
Well...I built it. And I can confidently say that I built it well. I worked hard, and I am proud of my work. It's a great feeling to finish something, then lean back and look upon it with satisfaction. On Christmas Day, when Beckett saw it, his first order of business was to put it to the test by crawling on it, as well as climbing inside--he loved it. Courtnie was very impressed, too, which felt great. I even thought to add some features that would keep Beckett from smashing his fingers with the lid closed. And I tested it myself, by standing on top of it. I had actually built his toy box the way I had envisioned it.
But it wasn't perfect.
Because I built it, I know that it's not perfectly squared, so I had to overcompensate with extra sanding. There were some dents in the wood where I had to pry two boards apart to reposition them, but I filled those in with wood filler before staining it. There are two very heavy duty, but mismatched, spring hinges that hold the lid in place when it's opened. No one can tell. No one has any clue about the flaws in Beckett's toy box. But I made the toy box, so I know every flaw. I wish they weren't there, but they are.
This thought takes me back to the very first chapter of God's word, in Genesis 1, where the story is told of Creation; of how God created the Heavens and the Earth, and everything on the earth; even us humans, created according to the perfect image of the Creator. And he looked back on everything with great satisfaction.
But, just as my flawed finished project did not exactly match the "flawless" image that I had in my head, we were not created flawless, because we are not God. I know that I am far from perfect, and I try to be a pretty open book, but I bet that there are still some flaws in me that only God knows about. Even so, I know that He loves me. In fact, He loves me so much that he sent his perfect son to die for me. The same goes for all of us. We are all uniquely imperfect, but Jesus Christ died for us so that one day those imperfections can change. In fact, the blood of Christ makes us completely new. As we reflect on the death and resurrection of Christ, keep in mind that we are the reason that Christ suffered and died. Let's worship the perfect Father, God, who loves us no matter what flaws we possess.
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
-2 Corinthians 5:14-17
