The only thing that I truly like undone is my homemade cookies.  Slightly gooey in the middle.  Melty and soft and rich and chewy. Excuse me…let me wipe the drool from my bottom lip…

Other than that, things being undone really gets in my craw. What is a craw?  “The stomach of an animal. Idiom: stick in (one’s) craw. To cause one to feel abiding discontent and resentment.”  Yep, that pretty much sums it up.  I have a deep feeling of discontent with things that are not complete.  I’m that person that moves into a new house and doesn’t sit down until every box is unpacked and there are things on the wall.

So it would stand to reason that I am like that in other areas of my life as well.  When I have a vision for something I want it done now.  Sometimes it’s things inside me that need to change.  Or a project I want to complete.  Or a situation that I think should be different.  My heart and mind can’t seem to rest until I see those things come to fruition.

What is a good characteristic in terms of follow through is not such a good trait when it comes to patience.  I often want to hurry processes and “skip to the end”.  I don’t mind the hard work, I just mind the time it takes to get there.

Yesterday, early in the morning, I stopped at Walmart  to get some things for my front porch. (Yes, I know.  I still am not a big fan of Walmart, but if you have to go, go at seven in the morning and you nearly have the whole place to yourself!)  I got some flowers, some bright outdoor pillows for my porch swing, some paint to apply to some pots.  I was so excited to get home and make it all happen.

But reality hit when I drove in the driveway.  It was windy.  Blake was leaving for school and couldn’t help me move my swing to the front porch.  Mark was still laid up with a bum knee and couldn’t help lift.  I needed to get ready for two appointments so couldn’t really throw myself into potting soil and dirt.  The day was going to have to go on without my porch becoming a finished product.  Still…

I pulled the flowers out of my car.  Bright yellow and vibrant red.  They seemed to smile at me as I carried them to the porch.  If I couldn’t finish, at least I could put them there and enjoy just their color and the hope that they represented of something that would eventually come to be.

And then it hit me.  If I had been able to finish the whole thing right then and there, maybe I would have missed the simple but profound beauty of just that one small moment.  Maybe there was a loveliness to the process.  The lovely undone.

Jesus is big on process.  He is patient with ours.  He has great vision and a wonderful plan for us.  It is a lifelong process, but He doesn’t give up.  He celebrates the beauty of the strides that we make, the ways that we grow.  He doesn’t rush it.  He relishes how the process can bring us closer to His heart little by little.

Today I will remember to savor the flavor of the undone.  Just like that slightly under baked cookie.  I will look for the vivid, hopeful colors of progress and change like the flowers on my unfinished front porch.  And I will keep dreaming of the day when all of it is complete…

Philippians 1:6 – …being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.