My favorite shorts

One of my most comfortable pair of 'knock about the house' shorts has developed a stress tear at a very 'not so easy to fix' location. I will attempt to fix it, but a stress tear is kind of hard to fix because it follows the path knit in the shorts and it isn't parallel to the seam! So, try as I might, these may be 'beyond fixing' in the long run. Try as we might, we can attempt to bring the frayed edges of the tears in our lives known as "stress tears" together without the tear being noticed, but it is almost impossible. Things just don't match up and if we simply join at the point of 'stress', the surrounding fabric of our lives has also been weakened, so that patch is not going to last long either.

“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new wine into old wine skins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wine skins so that both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:16-17)

We experience these same kind of "stress-tears" in our character, commitments, and constitution. The things we have become so familiar and comfortable with, like our little habits or routines, actually "fit" us well, but are riddled with weakened areas that can "burst-out" at anytime. The very moment that the stress of life gets a little too much to contain, we experience the "stress-tear" and it leaves us feeling a little too exposed! A lot of us think that the answer to those "stress-tears" is to simply apply a little patch here and there, until what was exposed is covered up well again. Some of these "patches" are not all that bad - like when we attempt to incorporate prayer as a "patch" to our worries. The thing we don't recognize is that the entire "garment" of worry is what is giving us the trouble - patch one area and another will give out under the stress of life! It isn't the tear that is the problem - it is the quality of the fabric we are attempting to bind together!

Jesus doesn't offer us "patches" in our lives. He offers us completely new garments! He says to be clothed with his righteousness - to be outfit with his graces, power, and authority. The "patches" are our doing - the new garments are his! In various times in our 'fashion history' as a nation, patched jeans were the "in" thing - but that did not last long. Now kids wear purposefully "distressed" or 'whole-riddled' jeans - paying good money for those "stress-tears" in perfectly new fabric! I may not fully understand the "statement" of such attire, but I do know that my Lord is not keeping up with the latest fads when it comes to our lives! His garments are perfect - fitting us to a "T" and adorning us with just what we need in those areas of our life where character, commitments, or constitution are a little too 'stressed' and 'flawed'! I don't know about you, but the times of simply "patching-up" the failures of my life have not been working and they need to be over. I am serious - we need this spiritual wardrobe exchange of our ragged garments for his beautiful garments! Isn't it about time that we evaluate the "patch" jobs of our lives and truly shed the old garments in exchange for his new ones? Just askin!

Dress appropriately for the day

Living in Arizona doesn't require the need for much of a "winter" wardrobe. I have an all-purpose windbreaker I can wear in rain or cooler weather. I don't invest in jackets or coats because the days of needing one are so very few, the coat would just take up space in my closet. I prefer the all-purpose version of something most of the time. I buy an all-purpose cleaner when doing the bathrooms - so I don't have to have a whole caddy of cleaners to do that job. I use the same surface cleaner to do the kitchen counters that I use to clean the stove top and the appliance surfaces. Why? It works! There are just times when the "all-purpose" is not only 'good enough', it is the best! No wonder God declares love the "all-purpose garment" we are to put on each day - it truly is the BEST!

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. (Colossians 3:12 MSG)

We are given a full "wardrobe" to choose from - not that we'd put on one without the other - but that each 'piece' of that wardrobe would serve a unique purpose in our lives. Yet, we are given that ONE all-purpose 'garment' we are to adorn ourselves with each and everyday. It is kind of like that one thing we'd never leave home without putting on. We are to put on compassion, but have you ever tried being compassionate toward anyone without realizing love is at the core of that action? We are to put on kindness, but go out there and try being kind to someone who is being a little bit of a pain in the neck and see if it is possible without the underlying garment of love. It isn't! At best, we will 'fake' a little kindness, but it won't really be genuine!

Now, there are some garments we wear that have a specific purpose - no other garment will do the same job as those garments. Think of the raincoat - it repels water, so we wear it when we need to keep our other garments dry. The shoes we wear are really to protect our feet from the hazards we can encounter on the way from here to there. Not every pair of shoes requires a pair of socks with them (that may come as a surprise to those who wear socks with sandals!) - but socks serve a purpose when worn in cold weather with our snow boots. Love is the one garment that serves the purpose of an 'all-around' covering. It does more than surround our feet, or keep us dry on rainy days. It serves to envelop us in something that not only brings us benefit, but benefits others who are 'touched' by that garment!

We may want to 'dress quickly' some mornings, running short on time, in a hurry to get at whatever the day holds. There is no short-cut to dressing well, though! We need to always find time to adorn ourselves with the garment of love, for no other garment will help us in the various encounters we will have that day, or keep us on an even keel when challenges begin to mount up. Notice all the other garments - they are 'founded' upon the garment of love. Don't let a day begin without adorning yourself with that all-purpose garment! You won't regret the time it takes to 'dress appropriately' for the day! Just sayin!