Old machine, new instructions

I like to innovate.  That’s a nice way of saying that I’m not really good at reading the directions.  At first, that is.  Now, after the fabric is cut, or too much flour has been mixed in, or the nail has been hammered where there is no stud, then I tend to take a look at the instructions a little more closely…maybe.

So I decided to try my hand and my old sewing machine at making some “Boppy” covers for our upcoming visit with our new granddaughter.  For the uninitiated, “Boppy” is the brand name given to a convenient donut-shaped pillow for nursing mothers, one of which our daughter ordered and which we were packing to bring out to her.  So I thought I would get some cute little covers to go with it.  Being the “frugal” (that’s a nice word, I’ll leave it at that) grandmother that I am, I decided to make the covers myself rather than spend part of the kid’s future college fund by purchasing them online. 

Never mind the fact that I hadn’t sewn a zipper in probably over a decade.  But c’mon, it’s like getting back on a bike, right?

So I roamed the friendly skies of cyberspace to find patterns with and without zippers, printed off one freebie pattern (with a zip) and modified it to sorta-kinda match the non-freebie pattern (without a zip).  Did some trial and error with them both (more error than naught), but at least had the sense to use an old sheet rather than my new fabric.  (I’m not THAT stupid…anymore.)

Deciding that the zipper was actually the way to go, it was time to start sewing it in.  Relying on my memory (first critical error), needless to say it did not go well.  Thankfully, the kind lady with the free pattern had also given us a free YouTube video on how to put all the pieces together, including the zipper.  Because, obviously, not all zippers go in the same way, you see. 

I least, I see that now, after some of my good fabric had been frayed by a) not reading the correct directions for this particular project and relying on my directions from past experiences, and b) not keeping the directions in front of me for continued refresher “cues” as the project continued. 

It’s a good thing I never worked for NASA.  (sigh)

So when God says this…

“For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

..it behooves me to take notice and NOT to shrug it off as the “same old wilderness” or the “same old wasteland”; in other words, not to fall prey to “here I go again”, as in:

• I know how to deal with “this kind of person”. (Arrogance)
• Will I never get rid of this depression/anger/fill-in-the-blank? (Discouragement)
• I can handle this project better than he can. (Pride)
• How much longer, how many more? (Boredom-one of my personal faves…)

Because in the long run, checking in for God’s instructions, even on things I think I know, can save a lot of frayed edges and wasted thread.  He may be trying to do something new.  With me.

Isaiah 43:19  Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.