Right now, I’m curled up with my laptop on my son and daughter-in-law’s couch. Four feet away, my little grandson snoozes peacefully in his cute little bassinet. Vegetable curry is simmering on the stove. The sun’s coming out after a cold snap here in these North Carolina hills. Even the dog is sleeping at my feet! It’s a real Norman Rockwell moment. You might say everything’s going fine in my life.

(Right. I need to take a selfie so I can remember it.)

The back story is that my darling grandson was born ten weeks prematurely. We’re not sure what his future holds. And even if all turns out fine for us, life may or may not turn out fine for you…or vice versa. If you were to look in the background of any of our “perfect” moments, you might see a hefty unexpected bill lying on the kitchen counter or a relative with cancer or somebody not getting along. Or that cable TV news source you hate blaring from the next room!

What in the world are we supposed to do about our less-than-perfect lives?

Well, hmm. We can be grateful for the great moments. We can look for the lessons in the not-so-great ones.

Jesus had a less-than-perfect life. Things irritated him—a fig tree here, a moneychanger there. Agony awaited him and he knew it. He had to slip away and pray a lot. You know, get God’s perspective.

So maybe there’s our answer. We need to slip away and pray a lot.

I think gaining God’s perspective is one of the key reasons to pray. Maybe he wants to bless our moments in unexpected ways.