Workshop 101

I am on a quest (again) to get my craft room in order. It was sort of good until the desk I was using left for LaCrosse with my daughter. I put an old kitchen table in the room, which is basically a large surface to collect stuff on. What I really needed was a bookcase or shelf to put all my magazines on. What a happy day it was when I spied the companion shelf to our real computer desk sitting in a corner of the basement not put together yet. I had forgotten all about it. I'll just build this real quick and have my room done in no time, I thought.

Then I couldn't find the screws that came with it. Ok, found them in the tool box. Then I couldn't figure out how to attach the shelves because all the holes were in different spots. Ok, found the directions that came with it in a drawer. Now I know that the problem is the missing L brackets. Joy! Found the brackets on a shelf with old cans of paint. Finally, all the players are in place. We have shelves. We have directions. We have screws. We have brackets. So why are the shelves not sliding into place like in the picture? They are all stuck about 1/4" too high; I can't get them over the screws holding the brackets.

At this point, the question "What level of dysfunction am I willing to live with?" enters my mind. And wow, the spiritual implications sent me reeling. Sometimes I feel like I have all the pieces I need, so why is my life still wobbly? Why isn't everything level and sliding into place like in other people's lives?

As I laid all the pieces of my shelf on the floor for a "starting over" kind of look, I realized my brackets were on upside down. My box came with the upside-down L bracket variety. They should have called them 1/2 T's or something. Once I turned them all the other way, the shelves slid into place and I had a place to stack more stuff.Yes!

The real life implication to me is that even though I feel like I have all the parts for the life I would like to have, if I am not applying them and using them correctly they will only serve to frustrate me. I can read the same Scripture ten times but if I don't take it to heart and apply in my own life, it does me no good.