Mending

When I was a child, the word mending often meant my mother or grandmother was using a needle and thread to mend some garment that needed to be fixed before wearing it again. Perhaps a rip needed to be sewed up, a button replaced. or a patch sewn on the knee of a pair of pants. Today the skill of mending it is as often used in terms of fixing personal relationships as it is used about fixing garments. Both uses of the word serve valuable purposes, but today a garment in need of fixing is as often thrown out as mended. The skill of mending garments is fast being lost, but there are some efforts to mend and preserve human relationships which are benefiting from many time-tested concepts of how to keep and fix them. Husband and wives, parents and children, and friends profit from the attention to philosophies that enhance relationships.

Wouldn’t it be nice if people could simply apply a needle and thread or a use tool that preserved or mended relationships. I remember a gadget shaped like a wooden egg on a stick one slipped into a sock to separate the sides of sock so a hole in the heel or toe could be mended and the sock worn longer. I also remember the mended heel felt bumpy and uncomfortable under my shoe, so I often left it in the drawer in favor of a newer sock. If we ask Him, God can help us mend relationships so well there are little noticeable bumps in our interactions with those who once annoyed us, and we can once again enjoy our relationship with the individual. Ask God to help us embark on renewing relationships.