can i ask you something?

 When was the last time you Swatched?

they say confession is good for the soul, so just relax and tell me:  DO you Swatch .... sometimes?  never?  ALWAYS?     i wonder if there's a Personality Trait that's revealed by your answer? 

Okay, i'll go first.  My answer:  Sometimes ... but usually NOT!

i just JUMP RIGHT in ... start knitting ... and then try to make it WORK since i didn't take the time to swatch!  and for the most part that philosophy has served me well .... i mean, a scarf's a scarf .... right?  but sometimes a 'hat' might just turn into a 'beret' if my tension is too loose!   and a sweater could end up as a shrug if my calculations don't match the ball band!  so .....  i have to Let Go ... Rip Out ... and start over!

BUT that all-too-familiar Life Lesson we've come to call FROGGING happens ... and i rip it out ... only to begin again!  However, in my defense there HAVE BEEN actual times when i swatched and used the recommended needles and failed to achieve the suggested gauge .. so i had to modify needles .... lighting ... shoulder tension ... i've come to learn that starting over is just part of the process ... and doesn't mean that i can't knit .... or that i shouldn't try again .... i just have to release my current 'grip' and regroup ....

The last line in my devotional reading this morning: "Be prepared to let go of anything I take from you, but never let go of My hand!"
Ouch! and AAAhhhhh! all at the same time .....
Bottom line: With Him i'll NEVER be empty handed! Can you remember the last time you slipped your tiny little "daughter" hand into your earthly father's hand? the feelings of connection .. and safety and security despite whatever else was going on around you? the sense of pride and 'belonging' that came with those moments of bonding .... the Identity you took on beCAUSE of who's hand you were holding?
it's been more than a LONG time since i was young enough for those little girl days ... but the peace that comes from the obedience of slipping my hand into His is overwhelming. He never lets go - even though i often tug away in defiance (or ignorance!) .... He never holds me so tight that it hurts ... or so non-chalantly that i wonder if He cares. He leads me to green pastures, beside still waters, to the banquet table .. and ultimately, He's proud enough of me, thanks to His gift of redemption, to take me Home to meet His Father - - whom i can call mine!

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Ps. 129:23-24

So i have to ask .... am i a Swatch that He's pleased with?  Does the yarn of my life lay smoothly and consistently with His recommendations for the Needles that should knit my day together ..... or are the bumps and buckles indications of my impulsive choice to just hit the ground running .. knitting with my own ideas and without following His pattern!