Fixing Wrinkles

by Audrey Wauson

Some things don’t need ‘fixing’ as much as they need accepting.

So you know, there’s some things that you shouldn’t worry about ‘fixing.’ Sunday morning I got out this skort, that goes with the Hawaiian shirt that follows the theme of the service (a surfing VBS thing) and the front of the skort is a bit wrinkled. Not a problem, I get out the ironing board and proceed to look for my iron. I can’t find it anywhere. Larry can’t find it anywhere. Okay… I’ll just dampen it and toss it in the drier. Problem is, it’s the only thing in the dryer and it clumps up and comes out wrinkled worse than before. Ugh…. So I dampen it again, (no I do not have several Hawaiian themed outfits in my closet) and use the hairdryer on it. Now it looks somewhat like it looked before I started the whole process of ‘fixing’ the wrinkle.

There’s this verse that says these things happen so that you can encourage others… “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Corinthian 1:4NIV

So Sunday night we had our small group over and we were waiting around for the last couple to show up. (this is the wrinkle) So I think to myself, “I’ll just give them a call to see if they’re coming or not.” Which is cool, but I make the phone call in front of everyone, and since we’re all hungry, everyone’s watching me. When they answer, she says, “Oh, you know we got busy, and there’s other things we’d rather do, so no, we won’t be there tonight.” (at least that’s the way I received what I heard) So now I’m having to do some self-monitoring (a word I’m learning in college;) I’m trying really hard not to be offended and struggling to think of what to say. So my husband calls out from the other room, “Well?” and I say, “Oh they’ve got other things they’d rather do, so let’s go ahead and eat.” But I know that my body language is really struggling to keep everything neutral. The problem is, this isn’t the first time that they’ve had other things to do when our small group met, and not the first time that they couldn’t come to our house for similar reasons. (additional wrinkles) The problem is in trying to ‘fix’ the problem I created many more wrinkles, because the couple is our pastor and his wife. So now, because of my hurt feelings, I’ve created some negative impressions that maybe completely unjustified, and may never get completely ironed out. Ugh!!! Thoughts are NOT neutral. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says we should “….take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.” Here’s the original wrinkle, when I was offended the first time I allowed myself to justify my negative reactions and didn’t really take it to God. Then as other experiences came along they stuck to the original offense. Then when I got caught off guard those ‘wrinkles’ that I had been collecting really showed up, and they showed up in a way that wasn’t flattering to my brother and sister in Christ. Ugh!!!

I believe God would have me to encourage you to not allow little wrinkles to bother you, don’t sweat the small stuff. Life is full of wrinkles and life goes on. You and I can have a wonderful time with our brothers and sisters in Christ if we focus on each other and NOT on the external ‘wrinkles’ that need ironing.