Eli’s homework usually consists of one story from his literature book, and he has to read it every day for a week.  This week he is reading “Goose’s Story” by Cari Best.  It’s possibly the sweetest children’s story I’ve ever read, but doesn’t feel like a children’s story (by that I mean that I actually enjoyed it).

There is a line in the story that made me pause and reread it a few times.  First let me tell you that this story is about a girl who lives on what I’m assuming is a farm with a pond, and flocks of geese come every spring.  This year an injured goose comes – it only has one foot.  She befriends this goose and wants to help it.  This is where I had to pause, at her mother’s response.

“A wild goose has to learn to live with her weakness.  Or she won’t live at all.”

I, Janna Orlikowski, have to learn to live with my weakness.  Or I won’t live at all.  My weaknesses are a part of me.  Not a pretty shiny part that I want to show to everyone, but a part nonetheless.  A part that makes my marriage great because Chad’s strengths complement my weaknesses.  A part that makes my God great: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  A part that means I’m not done being refined and I’ll NEVER be done being refined.

I can try to ignore my weaknesses… believe me, I’ve tried.  For a long time.  But that doesn’t make them go away, and that doesn’t magically transform them into strengths.  What it DOES, however, is keep them exactly as they are.  Weaknesses.  All those items in your junk drawer that you think “I should really organize that” but you never get to it until one day you realize it’s so full that you can’t even open it anymore, and you just pull and yank on it, but it still won’t open.  You know what I’m talking about.  Those are ignored weaknesses.

Or I can recognize what my weaknesses are.  I can acknowledge them, bring them into the light, choose just one (baby steps), and work on it.  I can choose to transform them, slowly but surely.  I can stay the way I am, or I can be a work in progress – hopefully moving towards a better version of myself.[subscribe2]