Monday, September 27, 2010

Wise Woman's Mending Service


"When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet."
Proverbs 31:21

I love The Message translation of this verse, "She doesn't worry about her family when it snows; their winter clothes are mended and ready to wear."

Ouch. This one is hard for me. I'm not good at keeping things mended and ready - in fact quite the opposite. I usually put the mending off as long as possible. I'm ashamed to say how long some of the things have sat in my mending pile and how often my children have had to ask me to fix things for them.

I don't know why I put this task off for so long or so often - when I finally get around to doing it, it usually only takes a few minutes. How I long to grow into a wise woman in this area and reverse my habit of putting the mending off.

Don't I want to take good care of the things God has given me? Yes! I do!

Here are some of my realizations about why this mending thing was not working out for me:

~ I did not have a location to keep the things that needed mending. This means that I had one thing in the laundry room, one thing in my closet, an item stashed on a bookshelf, etc... I didn't really know where everything was that needed mending. And, if I did know where something was - were all the pieces right there together? Doubtfully.

~ It was not a habit I was used to keeping. Like all habits - they must be created and cultivated (unless you want to get rid of them!) and the really good ones require discipline and don't just happen!

~ Not only were my pieces not all together, my supplies were scattered. Once I finally found all the pieces of what needed mending, then I had to gather a needle, thread and scissors. It just felt overwhelming to spend so much time gathering the parts to this project.

~ It didn't really affect me. I'm ashamed to say this - but if it were my clothing or something I used that relied on my fixing it, I am betting I would have been a whole lot quicker to get to the task at hand. Oh, why don't I serve my family the way I want to be served?

So, there are my pitfalls - but God's Word shows me that a wise and virtuous woman is on top of these little things. She serves her family graciously in this matter. She is not dreading the first snow or trying to put off the preparations of her family's clothing until then because she is ready.

She is prepared. She has not procrastinated. She has not put things off. She has worked hard and is ready for the things to come.

Aren't there so many things I could apply that to in my life? Being ready. Being prepared. Typically, I am always working ahead on things so that I am prepared and ready. Again, this has not been one of those areas.

As I worked on this project - I knew that I could not ever share it with you until I had gotten my pile under control. I completed the project and then had to put it into action. God has helped me in this and when I finally tackled my mending basket - it took me less than 30 minutes to finish everything in it and it was full!

Why on earth I put this off for so long for such a short investment of time and such a pleasure in having it done is beyond me. Will you join me in creating a mending service in your home? It is God owned and operated by one of His wise women. In each of our homes, this is us!

Looking over my list of reasons why mending was not working for me - this project sort of brings everything together easily and quickly for creating a mending set up that serves us well.

Start with a basket and a pile of ribbon scraps. You want your basket to be big enough to hold the things waiting mending, but not so huge that you have no place to keep it. This one has worked great for me and was found on a clearance marked down further rack!

Begin tying ribbons along the handle of your basket:

Continue until your handle is covered in small tied ribbons or
until it looks the way you like it best:
Find a small tin or box to gather needles, thread and a thimble.
I already had all of these things on hand - be resourceful and find something you already have that you could use for this!
Now, set aside a small pair of snipping scissors just to stay in this basket. Tie them on to the handle of your basket so they are always handy.

I added a little tag that says Mending with Wisdom to my basket to remind
me of God's Word on this topic!


You can see that we've gotten all the basic supplies ready to just keep in the basket. No more excuses about having too many supplies to gather. The next thing I did was write "mending" on the first Monday of every month on my calendar to remind me to check the mending basket and fix anything that was waiting.

Fill your basket and be a wise woman!

16 comments:

LynnMarie said...

Love your post! Another reason mending might be harder for you is that you live in a place where "winter" has a different meaning than for someone like me who lives up in New England. Winter means 20 degrees, 6 feet of snow, frozen gas in the car, high winds, wind chills below 0. That is not the case for you so mending for winter takes on a different meaning. I love how you put together your mending basket! Great job.

Bevy @ Treasured Up and Pondered said...

This is R*E*A*L*L*Y good, Monica.

I felt you were describing me to the "T".

I love your idea and thank you for sharing it.

It's just knowledge until something is learned & experienced and after that it's wisdom. Maybe this will inspire me to grow in wisdom, with mending, as well.

Wendi said...

Funny that you posted about this. I put off mending also. Chuck asked me about a pair of shorts this weekend that need a button. He has gone all season without them. Sigh. Great idea to tie the scissors to the basket!

Flyonthewall said...

Thank you, again, for sharing so openly. I might add another reason for not getting to mending (atleast this applies to me) ... because it is not as enjoyable as creating something beautiful from scratch, like most hand sewing projects can be. However, the wise woman knows that not all things that must be done need to be enjoyable; unless they realize the blessing it is to our loved ones when they are able to put back into use something for which they have been waiting. There is great joy in blessing our loved ones, no matter how mundane the task. Now, I must go apply that thought to my ironing pile. I move it on our bed each morning knowing that it is in the way and I will have to get to it, only to pile it back on my dresser at night. Sigh. Maybe if I tie some pretty ribbons to my iron?!? Thank you, again!

Ami said...

I just opened a drawer yesterday and saw a pair of my husband's pants that need to be mended. He's been losing weight and I don't think he can wear them anymore. And my kids usually grow out of their clothes before I finally get around to the mending. So far my approach to mending has apparently been to put it off until we no longer need the item. So sad! Well, there's a little stuffed animal on my craft table that needs a little TLC right now, so I think I will have to put a plan in action to get to it! I love the craft with this, and I love even more the heart behind it. Thank you!

*carrie* said...

Monica,

Nice basket and idea!

I'm usually pretty quick when it comes to mending by hand, but if the sewing machine is required--good luck! Mom fixed a buttonhole on my pants last week and she couldn't stand my machine, either. She said now she knows why I don't like to use it! =)

Blissful & Domestic said...

What a terrific idea! I too lack in this area. I find I too have things scattered everywhere. When it comes to me wanting to sew I never know where the things are to be mended or I forget about them. I am definitely going to try this. Thank you again for all you share. Monica. Your words are always a blessings:>

thecurryseven said...

This has been an area I have been trying to be better at as well. There have been too many times to count where I have put something in the mending basket (yes, I have one, I can't use that excuse) only to finally pull it out and discover that the child who owned the clothes had grown and couldn't wear it anymore.

I have a wise friend who has challenged me in this area. Not only does she do an excellent job with mending her own family's clothes, but she also makes sure to mend the clothes she is giving away. She figures that since she donates her used clothing to a local woman's shelter, the women there dont have the time or resources to do the mending themselves. I had never seen mending as a ministry to others before.

angie said...

I read your post after having mended my son's soccer socks while in the passenger seat today. I don't mind mending, probably because I can't sew otherwise. More often than my family's clothing, I am mending my daughter's doll clothing.
Love the basket for corraling all of your mending supplies. I see strings of thread in your tin, but not spoools. That is something I always have to run for--the specific color of thread needed for that repair.

Mom said...

Cute mending basket -- great idea to tie the scissors on the handle! :) Love you, Mom

Anonymous said...

I too have difficulty mending department. I do not enjoy it and put it off for a very long time:) even years! Thanks for sharing ♥ the basket is adorable and looks like a fun project that would be useful in many ways...

BlEsSiNgS, Kelsey

Debra said...

Love the basket! I have a pair of shorts that I need to put a button on for my husband. They've been sitting in our bedroom for about a month. I know it would only take a couple of minutes to do it but I procrastinate for some reason. I think I'll try to make a fun basket also to make the mending more enticing. :)

I also translated this a bit less literally - not just mending but laundry in general & ironing. We are forever running around looking for something that someone needs but it hasn't been washed or ironed.

Unknown said...

Great post Monica! This is something I often put off, too. I'm thinking I need to make a mending basket for my family. Thanks for the inspiration!

Davonne said...

I started making my basket tonight! I just need to find my sewing scissors to add, then it'll be done. Thank you so much for this post - I love this idea and can't wait to use my basket (which already has clothes in it).

Mrs Miller said...

Love this idea ☺ I made one today - with a red basket! Think I'm gonna put a piece of Mary Engelbreit's "cherry" fabric inside. Thanks for sharing your wonderful creativity with us. What a great inspiration you are to me.

The Monday Family Farm said...

I'm feeling inspired...Thank you Lord for great idea's....