I am a believer that anything can be fixed. Maybe this is naïve. But no matter if it's the car, the toilet, or a strained relationship, it can be fixed. I suppose this comes from my Dad--his job is to fix things. If he can't fix it, well then no one can. My innate drive to fix things caused a humorous story. My freshman year in the dorm at Southern, I was cleaning the bathroom floor. I had a bucket, a rag, and a toothbrush. I went to dump the dirty water down the toilet, forgetting that the toothbrush was at the bottom. Thus, the toothbrush was now down the toilet. I was not reaching in there to fetch it, so for some inexplicable reason I flushed the toilet. Down went the toothbrush, up came the water, clogged became the toilet. I gasped. I called my dad. "DAD I flushed a toothbrush down the toilet and now the toilet is clogged! How do I get it out???" Uproarious laughter ensued. "It's not funny." More laughter. "You'll just have to fill out a report for maintenance." I was stubborn, "Noooo I can't do that! That's soo embarrassing! Please just tell me how to take apart the toilet so I can fix it myself." I ended up filling out a report and the man came with his snake to unclog the toilet, though I don't think he ever found out the reason for the clogged toilet.
When something broke I would take it to my dad. "Fix it!" But there were some occasions that it couldn't be fixed. He would tell me "This is the kind of plastic that doesn't glue or tape." I couldn't understand it! How could Duck tape or even Goop not fix it? I was again reminded of this my last year at Southern. A rubber scraper of mine had broken and I got out the "Welder" glue to glue it back together. I applied the smelly glue to the handle and squeezed it together. The next day, expecting it to be fully recovered, I found it tacky still, the plastic didn't adhere together. Hmmm...I'll just put more glue on it. The next day I found that it still hadn't worked. Ohhh! this must be the plastic that doesn't glue! I smiled to myself and rolled my eyes as memories of un-fixable, broken toys were brought to mind. It made sense.
Just like I take things to my earthly dad to fix, I take things to my Heavenly Father to fix. "Fix it! You have to!" Then I suggest ways for Him to fix it. "See, just do this, and this and this...There!" But sometimes He doesn't fix it in the way I want Him to. Sometimes I don't understand how the parts of life just don't glue together the way I want them to.
I surrender. So here, God, please fix this the way You want to. And help me to be willing to accept it.
3 comments:
Mmm.... That's a really neat parallel. Thanks for sharing.
I too had to fill out an embarrassing maintenance report my freshman year. I wasn't thinking and poured hot wax from my wax burner down the sink! I desperately tried to get it out myself, but in the end it was no use. When the repair guy came, I was in the room (unfortunately) and he asked me what happened, so I sheepishly told him. As he was leaving, he was like, "Well, you probably shouldn't pour wax down the sink anymore. You should probably just pour it out into a container and throw it away." I thanked him for his kindly advice and thought, "Well, duh. How could I ever forget this and make that mistake again?" :) I have never forgotten that... I was so embarrassed.
Ps.34,18. 37,4.
Ps.34,19
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