Friday, January 25, 2013

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.


I am seriously considering writing a knitting devotional and would love feedback. 

I found a problem with my knitting, an extra stitch, I think, so I took out a few rows. When I put the stitches back on the needle and counted them, there weren’t enough. I found the two dropped stitches and took out a few more rows, but it still wasn’t right. In the end I took out 33 rows. Very frustrating.

At that 33rd row, I found a weird mistake. The yarn was knotted into one stitch in the middle of the row. When I released it, I found the other end was attached to a stitch about 20 stitches away.

I began knitting again from there, and things went smoothly for a very long time. I was able to reknit what I had taken out and continue to the end of the panel without any real difficulty.

Life can be like that sometimes. Two steps forward, one step back. Frustration after frustration. Whether we are trying to organize a room, start a business, repair a relationship or knit a scarf, things don’t always go smoothly.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of putting our heads down and pushing through.

Other times, we have to look back and see where the difficulty started. Perhaps if we find and correct an error, things will begin to go right.

            Have we not defined what we want to use the room for well enough?
            Have we forgotten a step in starting the business?
            Do we have a selfish motive for fixing that friendship?
            Is there a fault in the knitting pattern?
            In any situation, have we failed to include God in our plans?

 Remember, it is when we trust in Him with all our hearts and acknowledge Him in all our ways that He will smooth the path for us.



"....being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philipians 1:6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6


Other posts in this series are:  Redo, A Beautiful Pattern, and Blessings for Baby Things



I am participating in the January 2013 Ultimate Blog Challenge

14 comments:

  1. I like how you drew some practical spiritual application from your time knitting.

    Trusting in God...That is sometimes easier said than done..

    Would love your thoughts on one of my latest posts..

    http://www.ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/2013/01/entering-stream.html

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    1. True, much easier said than done. I'll stop by your blog. Thanks for commenting.

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  2. Melinda, I enjoyed your relating the knitting challenge to life's relational challenges. I used to knit, and I can picture just what you ran into and how it felt. I see parallels to God's messages in everything. Sometimes we need to correct an error, and sometimes we cannot see or uncover an error, and we just get to pray, and do our best, while He makes our crooked places straight. What we can't do, God can certainly do. And God bless you!

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  3. Interesting analogy. Knitting is certainly more precise than life but thought and care need to go into both.

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    1. Thanks! Knitting is more straightforward than relationships, etc., but you are right, both need thought and care.

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  4. Proverbs 16:9 A man's heart plans his way: but the LORD directs his steps. Good analogy; good question. -Lyn

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  5. I like the knitting metaphor. As a painter, sometimes you need to go back and fix something, and sometimes you just need to start over. After this challenge, I'm going to do 40 days of spiritual practice...so this is fitting to read as we near the end of the UBC.

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    1. Thank you! Blessings on your spiritual practice.

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  6. I enjoyed the knitting analogy, too, Melinda, and loved seeing those scriptures in your post. I especially like "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. . ." Blessings--

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