The first quote that came to mind was from Sir Walter Scott: "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." It sounded good but didn't apply here because there was no deception in this cottony snag. It innocently occurred when the nice, tidy hank was unwrapped and the handler (that would be me) attempted to roll it without help.
Life principle #1: We are presented to this world as a created package, but often it takes a team or at least another pair of willing hands to get us into a useable form.
Life principle #2: Tangles can be someone elses fault and it's ok to say that.
So the next quote that related to this mess was actually a song we used to sing to the boys when they were little...
"Tangles, tangles, tangles I was in,
I was all in tangles because of Adam's sin.
Jesus came along and he undid all the knots,
Now I'm free from my tangles."
Much more applicable.
I looked at the snag, which appeared like a mass of dark pink and purple...something. Intestines maybe. (Although I know from my colonoscopy pictures that an intestine isn't pink and purple, but I digress.)
Tossing it away did cross my mind, but then I remembered that I had paid for it.
Life principle #3: We have been bought with a price, the life of Jesus.
If God figures we're worth straightening out, a task that can take years, a few days spent on a hank of yarn is nothing!
Partway through the process I was getting a bit frustrated, but then realized there was enough rolled up to make something. So I took a break and knitted a useful dishcloth.
Life principle #4: We can be used even in the midst of getting untangled.
At some stage the other end of the yarn appeared out of the fray, so I started rolling that end too. So now there were choices of which side to work on, though sometimes one side was just easier to work with than the other.
Life principle #5: There are two sides to every situation.
Getting close to the end, I was tempted to just cut out the last bit. Who'd miss that extra yard or so that was going to take several more hours to unknot? I looked at it, and just couldn't do it. Having come this far, why waste any of it? What if those last inches were needed to finish whatever project this yarn would be used for?
Life principle #6: "He who endures to the end shall be saved." (Matt. 24:13) And the last little bit of anything can be the most valuable.
Finally, after weaving the yarn balls in and out of the last loops, the final tangle fell out. Yay! But then there were two balls of yarn joined together. Oops. To be able to use them I'd have to cut them apart.
Life principle #7: Sometimes you have to be cut loose to be useful.
So what to do with all this smooth yarn? I'm thinking it'll make a lot more swell dishcloths!
4 comments:
This was fantastic! I loved every bit of this blog. I love how people named Godsiff just have the innate ability to make great out of anything. I've emailed this to Jenna as well. Thanks for sharing your story of a tangle. :)
Aw, shucks, Chad. You say the nicest things. Hugs all around to you and Jenna and Zane.
I agree with Chad mother, this was very profound...and way to go for finally getting it un-tangled! I think I caught the hint in there, but was this actually my fault that it got tangled? I seem to remember picking it up somewhere near Minnesota and not exactly putting it where it was supposed to? Anyway, you would not have learned such valuable lessons otherwise!
I think you should write a devotional!
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