WHY TO Sew on a Button

Were you, maybe, wondering why this post isn't titled:


HOW to Sew on a Button?

If so, I'll tell you WHY, (while showing you HOW).

I have a beautiful wicker basket, on the floor, at the bottom of our linen closet 

that holds linens or clothing that need to either repaired or ironed.

Sometimes those items stay in the basket till either:

A) the person to whom they belong has grown out of the item.

or

B) the person forgets that the item is even part of their wardrobe.

Pitiful homemaking on my part.

It's not that I can't sew, or even iron.

It's just that I hate doing it.

One day, not so long ago, I asked myself and the Lord, 

"Why do I hate mending or ironing so much?"

I got some answers.

Last week, Mark came to me with a pair of pants on one arm, 

and a button in the other hand, and held them out to me and asked me

 a sweet and simple question, 

"Would you please sew this button back on the waist of my pants?"

To which I replied, 

"I was wondering who'd eaten all the chocolate cake."

Unfazed, he set the pants and the button on my dresser 

(because he knows about the basket in the bottom of the closet 

and how nothing comes out alive).

I walked by that pair of pants and button for three days.

They sat there glaring at me.

Then yesterday, I made a choice to put 

the mending of the pants on my TO DO list.

And because I like to see little check marks 

to the left of the items I have completed,

I decided to actually mend the pants.

Why?

• Because I no longer live for myself. 

Philippians 2:3-4 says-- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, 

but in humility, consider others better than yourself. 

You should look, not only to your own interest, 

but to the interest of others.

• It is a considerate thing to do.

Philippians 4:5 says-- 

Let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do. 

The Lord will soon be here.

• My husband's body belongs to me- I am the keeper of it.

1 Corinthians 7:4 says-- 

A wife belongs to her husband, instead of to herself, 

and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself.

• I am to honor and value my husband.

1 Peter 3:2 says-- 

Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs.

• I am an example of a godly woman to my daughters.

Titus 2:7 says-- 

But mostly, show them all this by doing it yourself, 

to be a pattern and a model of good deeds and works. 

Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.

• It pleases the Lord.

Hebrews 13:16 (The Message- I love this interpretation) says-- 

God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship- 

a different kind of "sacrifice"- 

that take place in the home and workplace and on the streets.

It took me no more than 5 minutes of "sacrifice" (including taking pictures).

I heard the Lord ask me, "Now was that SO hard?"

Nope.

It wasn't.

I think I need to go see what else is in my basket.