This year when it came time for buying school clothes we made some changes to the usual yearly ritual. I don’t find any particular joy in shopping for clothes. In fact I find it really close to brutal torture. (drama)
When we were offered an opportunity to paint the inside of our oldest daughter’s rental home to get it “market ready” we jumped on it and gave our teens the option to help, letting them know the money they earned would be theirs to purchase school clothes.
They considered…accepted the challenge…got paid and went shopping.
Things are very different when using their own money…clearance and sale items became part of their vocabulary real quick!
God Bless Dave Ramsey!
Adorable 15 year old son bought a pair of *sick* (translation: awesome) shorts…his words not mine. He did good, great color and awesome price.
After a few weeks of wear the metal button came off and left a nice gaping hole in it’s place. Son brought the shorts to me, and with a sad face he showed me and I said; “no problem…I can mend it, but I will have to repair the hole and replace with real button”.
Now…where is mending in your daily structure? In the hierarchy of my daily tasks mending falls to the very bottom of the “must do” list. Basically they were tossed on top of the washer and sat there for weeks…every time did a load of laundry (two times a day) I would see these shorts.
They would just have to wait until….who knows…weeks maybe?
I finally sat down yesterday and mended his shorts…and you know what happens when I work with my hands? I begin to meditate on scripture…what some call “God’s whisper” begins to creep into my heart and guess what God taught me?
Precious son’s request that I mend his shorts was just like our prayers to God.
We place in God’s hands our broken lives, we give them over and petition through prayer for Him to carry our burdens and mend our brokenness.
God had my attention…I was hungry for more…this discipline was gentle and loving; one that I was thoroughly enjoying.
He showed me as I was stitching up the torn place where the original button had been, that He too has mended me and my broken heart, smoothed over my rough edges and restored my soul.
I searched my stash for just the right size and color replacement button, I found the right one. It was perfect…you see I knew that a button sewn on would be a better, stronger and would last a longer than the metal button the shorts originally came with. In fact he will probably out grow or wear holes in the shorts but the button will remain secure.
Just like God’s grace and mercy…You see He knew that His gift of salvation through Christ would be a better life for me, I would grow stronger in His word, and His gift is eternal…His mercy mended me and His grace replaced my old life with eternal life…through Christ…the perfect replacement. I know I will age and wear out this body eventually, but that’s okay, my salvation will remain secure.
My son was very patient with me as the weeks passed before I mended his shorts…I found this odd as he is rarely patient, therefore I definitely noticed this different behavior.
Yes, God used that too…whispering to me; “I hear your prayers and they are important to Me, I will answer in My time not yours”
I wonder…or do we think that God has forgotten us and our prayers?
and when God does answer do we thank Him? Praise Him?
Not that I wanted praise or a thank you…did my son notice that I had mended his shorts? I laid them on his bed…but he didn’t acknowledge the fact that I had mended them.
I asked my son; “did you see that I mended your shorts?”
Oh yeah! thanks mom! 🙂
I praise God and thank Him for His love for me that He loves me so much, that He desires to whisper to me, to teach me, to give me wisdom and restore me.
I never knew mending could be so fun!
Rustique Art 