This morning, 10 minutes before leaving for school, I found my Freshman in the kitchen, frantically cutting up white paper and pasting it to a piece of cardboard. “It’s for a group project,” he said. “I was in charge of bringing the posterboard.” I ‘withheld my motherly “What were you thinking?” expression and told him as kindly as I could that perhaps he could have brought this up last night, so we could head for Target and buy an actual piece of posterboard. “Aw, Mom,” he shrugged, holding up his last-minute creation, “It’s fine.” As I looked at the crooked cutting job, the scotch tape plastered haphazardly all over, barely holding the flimsy paper on, I thought of my own spiritual life. It so often feels to me like this very raggety-looking, unpolished, pieced-together jumble. From the moment I wake up, I try to turn my heart toward Jesus, but sometimes I rush into the day without a thought of Him. Often, my prayer time feels dry and too routine. I may find myself just going through the motions in my work. I may miss opportunities to show love to the people God puts in my path. I may fall into bed wondering how much purpose my day really held. BUT, then I’m reminded that my life looks far different from God’s point of view, as He sees me through eyes of pure love and grace. Surely, no matter how often I think of Him, He savors those moments when He does have my attention. He doesn’t condemn me for all the times I forget Him. And when I show up to pray, I believe He is just happy to have a conversation with me, no matter how “holy” it feels on my end. When I'm busy with the stuff of life, not finding much meaning in it all, He's still there using it all somehow for my good. When I miss the chance to share His love with someone, He doesn’t fret. He just sends more people my way, letting me try again (and again.) My faith looks nothing like that perfect white posterboard and I’m okay with that, because every day, I’m learning and growing a little more, and He’s putting those pieces of my life together to create something beautiful in the end.