Devotion for June 28, 2026
Perfectly Imperfect
JoAnne Fletcher
As we begin our annual summer break, with worship services suspended for the next few weeks, I think about all the people I will miss and look forward to seeing again in the fall. I wonder what everyone will be doing on Sunday mornings during our time apart, and know that it will be different experiences for different people. It might be spending time at the cottage, worshiping at different churches, visiting with family and friends, staying busy with children and grandchildren, sipping coffee on the front porch, sitting in the shade with a good book, or heading off on a new adventure. All of these possibilities made me think of the many wonderful opportunities I have had to travel and explore this beautiful country as well as some interesting and exotic destinations beyond our borders. Throughout all this traveling I have gathered many souvenirs that serve as reminders of the sights and experiences encountered along the way. Papier-mache elephants from an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka, a wooden zebra mask from a safari in Africa, an indigenous print from the foothills of Alberta, a rock from a glacial lake in Alaska, a cherished clay sugar bowl from a dollar store in Japan.
However, there is one item from my travels that holds a special place in my heart, and that is this belt, purchased from a small leatherworking shop along the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia.
Here is the story of that belt:
As many of you know, I assisted my nephew with his rafting business in Alberta for six years in the 2010’s. Every spring I would pack up my vehicle with camping gear and head out to cross the country with my beloved companion Sam (a female dog, to avoid any confusion). Someone else occassionally drove with us either there or back, but my favorite crossings were just Sam and me, reveling in the beauty of the forests, lakes, prairies and mountains. Sam was 8 when we began those cross-country adventures, and as the sixth year approached I knew that it would be our last trip together. She was 14 years old, her eyesight was failing and she was showing signs of the beginnings of dementia. It was also going to be the last year of the rafting business, so I wanted to make this trip a special one for Sam and for me. I decided that this time we would travel the entire length of the country, so that spring we headed to the East Coast for the first time. We drove through endless pine forests in New Brunswick, Sam dipped her paws in the cold salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean while I marveled at the red sands of PEI, then we headed over to Nova Scotia to drive the Cabot Trail.
It was a wonderful day for our drive, with bright sunshine refecting off the ocean, and so many places to explore and shop for hand-made treasures along the way. One of the places we stopped was “Leather Works by Jolene”, an all-female local artisan studio that creates high-quality leather goods like handbags, belts and jewelry.
I needed a new belt for my jeans and found the one pictured here, which was the perfect size and beautifully woven. I loved it. However, if you look closer, you will see that the belt buckle, which is tightly sewn into the leather, was put in upside down.
I looked for another belt like it, but despite all the other buckles being correct, none of the other belts appealed to me the way this one did, and although this buckle did not lie perfectly flush against my jeans it worked just fine the way it was. It called to me and I bought it, despite its imperfection.
Sam and I finished our trip down east and returned home. We packed up the camping gear and drove out to Alberta one last time, for the final rafting season. The belt came with me and I wore it almost every day. My sister Judy flew out for the rafting wrap-up party in July, then she, Sam and I headed west, over the Kicking Horse pass and on to the West Coast, where Sam dipped her paws in the warm salty waters of the Pacific Ocean.
It was a memorable trip, from coast to coast, closing a memorable chapter in my life. The belt came home with me and became a daily fixture on my jeans. Within two years Sam was gone, but the belt remained. All these years later I still have it, and it is still imperfectly perfect. Every time I put it on I am reminded of my time with Sam, our trip around the Cabot Trail, and our time traversing this incredibly diverse country that has so much to offer and in which we are so lucky to live. If the belt buckle had been right-side-up would those memories be so vivid, would a perfectly crafted belt mean as much to me? For some reason I don’t think so.
Every time my eye catches that upside-down buckle it serves as a reminder that we don’t have to be made perfect to be beautiful and serve a purpose. We are imperfectly perfect already; our flaws and imperfections are simply opportunities for God’s grace to shine through us. We can continually grow in love and faith, allowing God to work in us and through us despite our imperfection. Thanks be to God!
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul reminds us of God’s words:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
May you all be blessed over the next few weeks, whatever your Sunday mornings may bring, and may you find beauty in the imperfect perfection around you.
If you would like to share where you experienced the wonder of God this summer, please drop a picture or a note to Liz Healy healy3@cogeco.ca or me joanne.fletcher.home@gmail.com before the end of August, and we will include it in our final summer email devotion before we gather again on Sept 13.
Blessings and safe travels
JoAnne
"A Village Church With A Heart For The World"
Christ United Church
12 Perth St., Lyn, ON, K0E 1M0
(613)498-0281 (Phone) (613)498-2589 (Fax)
lynunitedchurch@cogeco.net www.lynunitedchurch.com Follow on Twitter: @Ch1United