Repentance Is Like . . .

Some days my sewing is almost perfect!

The machine sews perfect seams. . .

I remember the correct seam allowance. . .

I only need to read the pattern instruction, twice . . .

The right sides are facing together every! single! time!

On those days I find I get more done than I ever expected.

And I feel so good about what I have accomplished. . .

Of course, THOSE sewing days are very few and very far between.

Because most sewing days are more like this:

The children run off with the measuring tape, using it for a jump rope and before I can remember what I need to measure, I first I need to find it . . .

The machine’s bobbin decides it’s going to do its own thing, causing a major backup of clumped-up thread in a millimeter of space . . .

I get side tracked, again, because (DOH) I forget that my children need to eat . . .

I’ve sewn the wrong side of the fabric to the right side of the fabric . . . for the sixth time!

On THESE days, I would have been better off had I started with a seam ripper rather than with a needle and thread.

Which make me SO extremely grateful for seam rippers.

Because repentance is like ripping out a seam.

Because even on my very best sewing day, you will find me with a seam ripper in hand! (It’s true)!

Because as perfect as I want to be, I am so NOT!

And I can make some pretty dumb mistakes.

Sometimes those mistakes cost me.

And those mistakes take some time to figure out.

And sometimes that “some time” is so extremely frustrating.

Because for me, it means I have to undo E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. I have just done for that entire day.

That’s the seam ripper’s job.

To rip out. To remove. To undo everything that’s wrong.

So it can be made right.

And invariably, as I use my little tool, I remind myself that "Repentance is like ripping out a seam."

And my seam ripper is like the Atonement.

For when I rip out the seam and resew and redo, the sewing project I am working on turns out as if I had never made a mistake in the first place.

And even though I MAY remember the mistakes I made, they may fade because I took time to rip out those seams that weren’t done right in the first place.

Repentance is like ripping out a seam and then sewing it back together – making it right and better than it was before, thanks to my seam ripper!