When my children were small, I made Christmas stockings for each of them. It was a long and tedious process. So many hours passed with me sewing stitches, attaching sequins, stuffing appliques, untangling knots, etc. When the stockings were finally done I felt such a sense of accomplishment! Each year I would carefully remove them from the special box where they stayed safely packed for the previous 11 months. Since I knew how much work had gone into them, I handled them as if they were glass.
This Christmas I will have a new grand-daughter, and so I'm working on another stocking. This time, through the process, I have more time to reflect. As I sew stitches, attach sequins, stuff appliques and untangle knots, I become annoyed when I see mistakes that I've made. I really want this stocking to be perfect for Ava. I want it to be a stocking that she'll be proud of and know that her grandmother made with love just for her. Many times I undo the work that I've done and do it over, trying to make everything perfect. The other day I had the thought, "if I keep undoing each part of this project, I'll never get it finished." That's when I realized that I just can't make it perfect, but maybe she will like it anyway. It's kind of like life. We can go back and fix some of our mistakes, but not all of them. Later, when we look back, maybe we can still see a beautiful life; flaws and all.
