A Stitch in Time. . .

Ever heard the old saying, "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine?"  It refers to stitches in fabric which start to ravel out.  If you don't repair the tear ASAP, it will only get worse and you'll have a longer tear.  Having been a professional seamstress for 12 years and a non-professional seamstress beginning at age 15, continuing presently, I can fully attest to the accuracy of that statement.

Sewing for non-family, paying customers taught me an enormous amount about people, sewing, and about myself!  While sewing for the children or myself, I tended to choose the simplest patterns, the easiest to sew.  Customers, however, had no constraints!  They chose what they thought would look good on themselves, no matter what the level of difficulty.  As a result, I learned something new from each and every pattern.  This has been extremely valuable to me.  You name it and it's a sure bet that I've sewn it, up to an including recovering my living room couch (took 2 weeks - I won't do it again!)

My customers were generally very nice ladies but also wanted a standard of excellence which I was only too happy to supply.  There was not one single person which fit the 'bought' patterns exactly.  Alterations had to made on every single person.  That's why they paid me - for the fit!  Also, I worked hard and never missed a deadline (no matter how much sleep I lost!).

Learning to sew gives a person the ability to see how well made (or not) garments are, when shopping for ready-made.  I found that I just don't want to waste money on really cheaply made clothes.  Sometimes I've bought items and feel like I have to just sew all the seams again because they'll start raveling out quickly.

This "stitch in time" advice probably can be applied to anything that needs repairing, whether it be leaky roofs, doors loose on hinges, siding that has blown loose, cabinet pulls that are loose - anything!  We need to do our best to complete the small, aggravating repairs ASAP, before they take more time.

At one time I maintained a mending basket that was eternally full.  I am embarrassed to admit it, but some clothes took me so long to fix that I passed them down to a younger child!  Now, I'm only responsible for myself and manage to quickly repair most things, at least the clothing I love.

What about relationships that are starting to ravel apart?  Can they be repaired?  Yes, yes, yes, if you don't let them 'fester' too long!  If we insult someone, we need to apologize.  If someone has bothered us, we dare not forget about it; we must gently mention it.  We need to know what the other person was thinking.  Odds are, they didn't want to hurt our feelings.

It serves us well to have a mentality that is HEALING, that will try to mend relationships, seek out what is lost, direct someone who has fallen of the right road to get back on.  We dare not ignore hurting in others, particularly those to whom we are the closest.

Dear Lord, is sure takes time and attention to maintain all our 'things' in good working order.  Yet it is far more important to maintain good relationships with EVERYONE!  Please help us be the person who offers to help, the person who is a wonderful LISTENER, the LOVING PERSON, ALWAYS!