I helped my daughter Brenna slip into her favorite Minnie Mouse slippers one evening.
Her little covered feet padded down the hall into her 5-year-old brother’s room, and I listened with a smile as she exclaimed “Look, Connor! Look at my Minnie Mouse slippers!”
“Oh! That’s cool!” he replied.
“Do you like them, Connor?”
“Yeah, Brenna!” he assured her. “I like them a lot!”
I stood against the wall in the hallway, grateful for his responses to his little sister, who wanted his approval so badly.
Though Connor loves things like superheroes and playing outdoor, he is easygoing, laid back and introverted – unlike so many boys his age who are loud and aggressive. Soccer was a source of immense frustration as he tried to dodge the kids running around him instead of kicking the ball.
But I am constantly reminded why God formed his gentle soul as he is: to be the ideal brother for his little sister who was born with…
a rare and severe skin disorder. Brenna’s skin condition, which is life-threatening and requires a lot of daily care, means that she is very small for her age and her skin could get hurt easily. But her caring and compassionate big brother showers her with gentleness instead of harm.
Connor truly is the perfect brother for Brenna.
We are often reminded as moms that perfection does not exist. But one day, I realized how wrong this is. Perfect does exist: we were created by a perfect God.
Our perfect and sovereign and all-knowing God chose every single one of us for this life, for his purpose.
I am not perfect, but I am the perfect mother for my children.
My son and my daughter are not perfect, but they are the perfect children for my husband and me.
Why? Because we were chosen by God for each other.
Not one among us lives in perfection… but we were created in the image of a perfect God, and we were perfectly formed by him. We were chosen and called by him to live out his love and his perfect plans for us.
We live in a very messy and often broken world, and perfect does not exist among us as human beings. But perfection exists with our God, and by living each day through him alone and by carrying out his purpose for us, we can find that wholeness within his perfect love.
Courtney Westlake lives in Springfield, IL, and is wife to Evan and mother to Connor (4) and Brenna (2). She is a writer, author and photographer, and writes Blessed by Brenna, a blog that details her family’s lives after Brenna’s birth. She is also the author of Christian children’s book, “That’s How You Know”. You can keep up with Courtney and Brenna by following her on her Facebook as well!
