Prospering

Miss Fix It

Something strange happens when a lady turns a certain age. For some, this age is twenty-five. For others, it happens at the post-thirty mark. Since I am currently preparing for my ninth annual twenty-fifth birthday next month, this “something” had to happen prematurely. But, it happened. I found hair . . . on . . . my upper lip. Wax it off! But I was embarrassed to go to a salon. So, I sent my spouse at the time out of the house and put wax in the microwave—which then exploded!

I instinctively grabbed the wax from the microwave. Ouch! It was hot and burned the heck out of my hands as I slung it into the sink! Now, hot wax hung recklessly all over the kitchen! With burning hands and desperation, I grabbed chaotically at paper towels. By the time my partner returned, the paper towels were stuck and shredded all over the kitchen and across my hands. Tears filled my eyes and began spilling over my red cheeks when I offered a defeated confession, “I have a mustache.”

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Everyone gets into messes. We all have things that we’re ashamed of, and sometimes those things creep back to life at unexpected times. We have options: 1) We can be too prideful and foolish to ask for help. We can cover up our mustaches and try to fix them before anyone notices; or 2) We can go to a darn salon, humble ourselves, and let a professional help.

We are taught to give our cares to God. We are encouraged to allow friends and family to offer support. And yet, we lock ourselves away and try to “fix” things ourselves. We pray without faith and we exclude our families because we don’t trust them to care for us. And we don’t want to bother anyone. How foolish we can be, and what messes we can make!

The Bible teaches us that God is close to the humble but opposes the proud. When we take on more than we can handle because we are too proud to admit we have a situation too big, too scary, or too shameful to allow others to help, we deny our family the honor of covering us and we put ourselves in direct opposition to God.

This week, I learned this the hard way. I made a little problem into a big mess. As my mother used to say, “Autumn is doing what Autumn does best. Autumn is making a dangerous mess!” Thankfully, I have people in my life who love me despite my messes and even help me clean them up. All things considered, I am very blessed.