Never Use Scissors As a Tool

Mabel, expressing her disappointment. "I can't believe you did that, mom."

I'm embarassed to admit that I misused the scissors this morning.

The cat food container was stuck closed. It was very tightly sealed.

The food dishes were empty.

The (in their minds) gaunt kitties were starving.

The husband was already gone, so help was not available except for the above mentioned wasting-away gray girls.

What to do? What to do?

The not-intelligent thinker in my head suggested that I use scissors to pry up the lid.

Not the round-tipped kid scissors. No. Let's try the pointy-tipped very sharp scissors. Yes. Those will help tremendously.

I didn't need to be told twice, but grabbed the pointy-tipped scissors and began trying to pry up an edge on the food container.

Just as I was thinking This is not a good idea. These scissors could slip off of the metal and poke me. the unthinkable (apparently not unthinkable, as I had just thought it) happened. The scissors skidded off of the metal tin and slid right into my face!

Yes. Berating myself, I immediately felt blood running down my cheek.

Yes. I stabbed myself on the face.

As Hermoine Granger said in one of the Harry Potter movies, "What. An. Idiot."

I am forever grateful that God saved me from my poor choice and protected my eyes, nose, and lips. He did not save me from crumbled pride. How humiliating to admit the error of my ways.

I am grateful that the small puncture and slice wound is tiny and the rest of me works quite well.

Warning from one who used scissors improperly: DO NOT use scissors as a tool. They are for cutting. Not prying, digging, scooping, or any other chore. Cutting. Period.

When was my last tetanus shot?

Chains

There is a reason chains are used to keep trains hooked together. The engineers want to keep all of the trains connected, going the right direction. Chains are pretty strong, and mostly indestructible. The steel welded pieces can stand tremendous strain and weight. Knowing that our train car was extremely unlikely to come loose and roll back down the mountain was a good thing to think about as we traveled from Skagway, Alaska, over White Pass into Canada.

The chains that bind us to sin can be just as strong. The chains hook sin to our souls, and quite opposite of the train, sin wants us to get off the track and go in as many directions as we find. Nothing we can do will break those chains. We are eternally enslaved.

In fact, there is only one way the chains can be broken. By the blood of Jesus Christ, the chains binding us to our sins are forever broken. All we need to do is accept His sacrifice.

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace
"My Chains are Gone" by Chris Tomlin

Amazing grace!