A Red Sweater Day

Today I wore my new red sweater. Today I hit a snag. Not wanting to break the threads and cause a hole, I stopped immediately. If I went forward, the threads tightened against the nail. If I went backward, the thread tightened against the nail. So I stood still and began to loosen the thread by hand until I had freed it from its snare. Now I am left with an ugly ball of thread—unbroken, but flawed. The thought occurred to me at this moment that, yes, this is exactly where I am. Sometimes when we encounter a snag in life, the best thing we can do is just stop and reevaluate the situation.

Clothes are meant to be worn. And no matter how we try, they are affected by the environment we place them in. Do we throw out the garment at once because of this? No, we attempt to mend it, patch it, or clean it or find a new purpose for it. Only after every attempt has failed do we give up and leave it for the trash heap.

Fortunately for us, we have a Savior who says, “Old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” Does this mean we purposely choose to wallow in the mud in our new garment or expose it to heat or thorns that could burn it or rip it to shreds? No. We go out of our way to protect it. We strive to keep it clean and beautiful. The nail could have ripped the flesh and scarred. Things could have been much worse.

It is not the nail’s fault. It merely existed. An innocuous tiny finishing nail. Nothing evil in and of itself. Its purpose to make complete, to finish, to help make beautiful. And yet, I am the one who wandered into its path. I am the one who did not see it, note it for what it was, and hammer it back into its rightful place.

You see everything has a place and purpose. I love my red sweater. It is still beautiful. It still keeps me warm. It still serves a purpose. Today it served more than one. It served as a lesson. I am not broken today. I have my flaws. I have some stains that need laundering. I have some work that needs to be done. But I have a purpose, perhaps more than one. And so do you. Let’s not get blindsided by the snags and forget what it is that we were created and meant to do.