We’ve all done it.  You know that thing you do when you don’t have time to tend to it properly, so you cover it up, stick in on a shelf, or just plain ditch it?  I have a junk drawer in my kitchen that I manage to somehow keep stuffing more into, while at the same time thinking, “Someday I’ll clean this out.” There’s a funny thing about ‘someday.’  It’s always ‘tomorrow.’ 

I was blessed with a grandmother who didn’t just recite the adage, “A stitch in time saves nine,” she lived it.  She was resourceful in ways people now can’t even imagine.  Her generation knew the value in taking care of things, appreciating them, and fixing what was broken before they got out of hand.  They believed in making time to right a wrong.  Not doing so, was foolish.  It always ends up costing us more later.  

This didn’t just apply to things, but to people too.  In her day, it seemed that folks took the time to get to the bottom of a circumstance, a hurt, a fracture in relationship that needed mending.  It was important that what needed to be said, was spoken.  Unlike today, looking someone in the eye and apologizing, expressing empathy, sincerely extending care and concern, was the only way to be.  There were two ways to live — a right way and a wrong one.  Gray was a color, and not a catch-phrase for what we don’t want to commit our time or attention to.

Things should be easier today, right?  I mean — we have all this technology, all these ways to communicate, to express ourselves. We microwave, not just our food, but everything.  What used to require time and effort, now happens in nano-seconds.  We don’t need to fix things like before — we dispose of them, from diapers to razor blades.  We don’t even have to think about it. 

The only thing that has not changed over the years, is that people are still human.  And yet, we treat them like our things.  We discard, abandon, forget that we have responsibility for them.  We are all guilty at times of short-handing our relationships, qualifying them by what they can do for us, not in how they transform us to be better people because of them.  

We can have all the bells and whistles that are supposed to enhance our lives, but they do little to help us with important things.  We can’t just “zap” our feelings.  We can’t just make a post on social media about someone that we love and think that covers us when we fail at being a good parent, friend, or even spouse.  We have to do more than just push buttons and transmit our emotions.  And yet, that is exactly what we try to do.

We are all so busy “doing.”  But busyness doesn’t convey commitment, honor, respect, covenant, standing for what’s right, unconditional love, trust, believing in someone else when it’s not convenient.  

Some things can only be done the old fashioned way.

I find myself, as a Christian, consciously filtering things that I say and do through the paradigm of WWJD - What Would Jesus Do.  Naturally, I often fall short.  But I have another measuring stick that I also use.  WWGD — What Would Gram Do.  What would she think about a certain situation?  What good would she see in me when I feel broken?  What would she think about how easily we push things and people away from us because they require work?

“You can’t tape over rust,” she might say. “You can’t ignore taking care of what needs fixing or it will always break.”  Things, hearts, relationships, intentions, finances, health, faith, our souls… Everything we value requires our care.  Everything. 

What I am trying to say, is that perhaps we need to pause and look deeply at what ails us.  It will not just go away on its own.  We will continue to overstuff and overlook and pretend that we will take care of things “someday.”  But what if we need to do it today??  What if we need to mail that letter, make that call, pay that bill, mend that fence, say those words?  What if we actually did them?

More than any of this, is that we can do what only we can do… The rest, we can bring to God all our rusty places.  All the things we push down, ignore, and feel helpless about changing in us and our circumstances.  We are not intended to fix everything.  He is.  He’s the ultimate healer, fixer, and miracle worker.

A stitch in time saves us from the agony of many things.  If we tend to things when they are small, they won’t grow to overtake us.

Thankfully, with God, it is never too late.  He will always gladly mend all our brokenness, all our hurtful circumstances.  It may take a little time, but His work is always perfect.

What can you bring to Him today that needs attention?

He’s always there, arms open wide, ready to stitch us up again.