the iron-y of it all

I like to be prepared.

And I hate to iron in the morning.

So, I have started to advance-plan my wardrobe and get out the clothes for my workday the night before I plan to wear them.   This way I can do any ironing, if necessary, the evening before and avoid hauling out the board and accompanying apparatus during my rushed morning routine where I barely have enough time to dip my mascara wand twice, much less put a hot metal plate on something and risk scorching it to death.

One morning last week I was all set.  I had the perfect outfit all ready to go.  As I put it on, I took notice of how perfectly I'd pressed it the night before; not a wrinkle anywhere.  But as I turned away from the closet, something up on the top shelf trapped under a pile of poorly folded clothing caught my eye.

It was a scarf.  And it wasn't just any scarf; it was the perfect scarf to go with my outfit.

But there was only one problem.

It needed ironing.  And it was morning.

What's a girl to do?

I did the only thing I could do.  I decided to forego brushing my teeth to give me the extra three minutes I would need for the scarf.  ;)

As you might guess, this is often also the scenario in my day.   Try as I might, I can be all set and planned out and yet not too far into it starts
                                                   the interruptions,
                                                             the disasters,
                                                                     the delays,
                                                                            and the inconveniences.

And here's where I have a choice.  I can either balk at those unplanned events, or I can let God do His work through them.  Those events are allowed into - if not sometimes downright sent into - my life to shape me; to mold me into who God wants me to be in a way that couldn't happen if they didn't happen.  They are refining tools, meant for my good and never for my harm.  This is why it says in James 1:2-4,

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. "

The funny thing is, after I had done all that work, in my hurry I almost left the scarf on the ironing board. That would have been a waste.  I would have sacrificed brushing my teeth for nothing.

But instead,  I took the scarf and put it on and let it change my look for the better.  That ironed scarf which once seemed an inconvenience now added color to my outfit where before there had been none. 

And I smiled.  It's the same with life.  God allows trials to come in order to make us more colorful than we were before.  It's up to me to embrace them, wrap them around me, and allow them to do their change-work in me.

So there I had it.  A wrinkly scarf had turned into a spiritual lesson.

And the irony was not lost on me.