Thank you for sharing Imperfect, Laura. I'm continually blessed by your friendship and support. I'm also blown away by your poem! In particular, the lines: Of perfection’s illusion, of perfection’s cruel hoax, From its tonic we drink, so drunk that we choke. That line brings to mind the tonic Alymer gave his wife. To remove one tiny flaw, he destroyed what was already perfect.
How many years did I spend relentlessly pursuing perfection? Years that almost destroyed me. So many. I'm so grateful that through God's grace I learned that imperfection isn't a flaw; it's part of God's design, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
You're so welcome! I was so inspired by your article!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words! It means so much!
The story of Alymer is so tragic and yet I know throughout my life, I lived to have perfection. It nearly ruined me. I thank God that He takes us as we are, flaws and all. He redeems us, restores us, and receives us through His Son!
Your friendship is a true blessing to me as well! Thank you so much for such a great and inspiring post and for your comments! 🥰
Absolutely! I must confess that it was inspired by my niece who needed help with her college English Lit essay on those two stories. We had a very in depth discussion about it. Lots of soul searching and learning!
OMG!! I LOVE that! What an amazing thing, being able to talk with your young niece about it! I look for those kind of opportunities with my daughters — just being able to get their perspective on different things is so fun! Makes me love your article all the more now! 🤩
There’s something cruel about a standard of perfection that inevitably discards everyone eventually. Age alone exposes the lie—we simply cannot build our worth on remaining impressive, beautiful, strong, or useful forever. I love ending this with Samuel’s reminder that God sees entirely differently. The world keeps grading the surface. God has always been looking at the heart.
Such a beautiful and thought-provoking poem, Laura. When will we stop chasing in others and in ourselves what only Christ can be? He and He alone is perfect. We are imperfect people following a perfect Savior. Little by little, as He transforms us, we can begin to reflect His image—but on this side of eternity, it will always be an imperfect reflection of the One who is perfect.
Thanks so much Donna ♥️!! I always appreciate your words! It's so true! The lie is constantly trying to draw us away from the only One who can bring transformation to our lives. Perfection will always be elusive! Without Christ, no amount of effort will make us perfect or good enough! Praise God, we have a Savior who gave Himself to save us. 🥰
What an amazing, beautiful poem, Laura... full of powerful truths. SO grateful God is good with our brokenness, our fault lines.
I wonder if this perfection the world is ever pursuing is not a twisted version of our deep longing for who and what God originally created that can now only be found in Christ.
Thank you so much! I really like what you said — being that we were created in God’s image, an image that has been broken, it seems to make sense that there would be this longing to be restored to that again! But, like you said, only in Christ can we find that restoration. Thank you so much for your comments! 🤗
Laura, the image of time peeling away paint, opening gates, and exposing what presentation tried to protect gives the poem its sharpest movement. Perfection becomes fragile here precisely where it promises permanence, while the heart remains the place God chooses to see fully. I also appreciate how another writer’s reflection returned you to words you had already carried for years, giving the poem a fresh context without erasing the life that first produced it. Grateful for the way you brought appearance, exposure, and grace into conversation with one another through both poetry and Scripture.
Thank you so much! I love what you said, "Perfection becomes fragile here precisely where it promises permanence ..." That is so true! What is so incredibly humbling is that God does choose "to see our hearts fully" and even in our imperfection, He still offers us the grace of His Son to save and transform us fully! I so appreciate your comments -- always! Thank you! 😊
Laura, yes, and your response carries the poem all the way into grace. God’s full knowledge of the heart arrives with the gift of His Son, so being seen completely can become the beginning of salvation and transformation rather than a verdict we have to escape. That gives your poem an even deeper movement: the surfaces time eventually exposes were never the source of our hope in the first place. Grateful for the way you brought Christ so clearly into the conversation and reminded us where true renewal begins.
Thank you for sharing Imperfect, Laura. I'm continually blessed by your friendship and support. I'm also blown away by your poem! In particular, the lines: Of perfection’s illusion, of perfection’s cruel hoax, From its tonic we drink, so drunk that we choke. That line brings to mind the tonic Alymer gave his wife. To remove one tiny flaw, he destroyed what was already perfect.
How many years did I spend relentlessly pursuing perfection? Years that almost destroyed me. So many. I'm so grateful that through God's grace I learned that imperfection isn't a flaw; it's part of God's design, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
You're so welcome! I was so inspired by your article!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words! It means so much!
The story of Alymer is so tragic and yet I know throughout my life, I lived to have perfection. It nearly ruined me. I thank God that He takes us as we are, flaws and all. He redeems us, restores us, and receives us through His Son!
Your friendship is a true blessing to me as well! Thank you so much for such a great and inspiring post and for your comments! 🥰
Absolutely! I must confess that it was inspired by my niece who needed help with her college English Lit essay on those two stories. We had a very in depth discussion about it. Lots of soul searching and learning!
OMG!! I LOVE that! What an amazing thing, being able to talk with your young niece about it! I look for those kind of opportunities with my daughters — just being able to get their perspective on different things is so fun! Makes me love your article all the more now! 🤩
🤩
There’s something cruel about a standard of perfection that inevitably discards everyone eventually. Age alone exposes the lie—we simply cannot build our worth on remaining impressive, beautiful, strong, or useful forever. I love ending this with Samuel’s reminder that God sees entirely differently. The world keeps grading the surface. God has always been looking at the heart.
Thank you so much for your comments! I so appreciate it! 🥰
The Lord looks on the heart.
☝️ this is very meaningful 😊 🙏 thank you for sharing
Thank you so much! I'm so glad! 🥰
🙌 🙌
Such a beautiful and thought-provoking poem, Laura. When will we stop chasing in others and in ourselves what only Christ can be? He and He alone is perfect. We are imperfect people following a perfect Savior. Little by little, as He transforms us, we can begin to reflect His image—but on this side of eternity, it will always be an imperfect reflection of the One who is perfect.
Thanks so much Donna ♥️!! I always appreciate your words! It's so true! The lie is constantly trying to draw us away from the only One who can bring transformation to our lives. Perfection will always be elusive! Without Christ, no amount of effort will make us perfect or good enough! Praise God, we have a Savior who gave Himself to save us. 🥰
What an amazing, beautiful poem, Laura... full of powerful truths. SO grateful God is good with our brokenness, our fault lines.
I wonder if this perfection the world is ever pursuing is not a twisted version of our deep longing for who and what God originally created that can now only be found in Christ.
Thank you so much! I really like what you said — being that we were created in God’s image, an image that has been broken, it seems to make sense that there would be this longing to be restored to that again! But, like you said, only in Christ can we find that restoration. Thank you so much for your comments! 🤗
Laura, the image of time peeling away paint, opening gates, and exposing what presentation tried to protect gives the poem its sharpest movement. Perfection becomes fragile here precisely where it promises permanence, while the heart remains the place God chooses to see fully. I also appreciate how another writer’s reflection returned you to words you had already carried for years, giving the poem a fresh context without erasing the life that first produced it. Grateful for the way you brought appearance, exposure, and grace into conversation with one another through both poetry and Scripture.
Thank you so much! I love what you said, "Perfection becomes fragile here precisely where it promises permanence ..." That is so true! What is so incredibly humbling is that God does choose "to see our hearts fully" and even in our imperfection, He still offers us the grace of His Son to save and transform us fully! I so appreciate your comments -- always! Thank you! 😊
Laura, yes, and your response carries the poem all the way into grace. God’s full knowledge of the heart arrives with the gift of His Son, so being seen completely can become the beginning of salvation and transformation rather than a verdict we have to escape. That gives your poem an even deeper movement: the surfaces time eventually exposes were never the source of our hope in the first place. Grateful for the way you brought Christ so clearly into the conversation and reminded us where true renewal begins.
😊 🙏
Love the poetry and verse! And it introduces some thought provoking ways to reevaluate our perception of time and perfection.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad it provoked your thoughts! I truly appreciate you commenting! 😊
Ah, perfection, conformity, and the beautiful masks we were, and the decay underneath it all. Thank God he can look right through it. Great poem. <3