A Good Pair of Scissors

Philippians 1: 9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.

There was nothing else I could do.  I had jiggled and pushed and used a needle and my fingernails and spent too much time gently tweezing it this way and that -- to no avail.  I was going to have to cut the yarn.

A good pair of scissors slices through the yarn as opposed to chewing it.  The ends can be tied together without fear of fraying and the project can continue. 

I once tried to make a multicolored granny square without cutting any yarn.  The colors would be used repeatedly throughout the afghan, so why mar it with tiny clusters of knots and flailing cut ends?  I eventually realized I was spending more time untangling the skeins than crocheting the afghan.

Some patterns cannot be successfully completed without cutting the yarn and tying it off.  My baby booties are a good example.  The foot part ends at the center of the sole.  The anklet has to be started at the top side of the ruffle.  There is no way to complete the bootie without ending one phase and beginning another.

Don't be afraid of using scissors.  They are necessary.  Learn to let go, tie off, and begin again.  Some patterns call for it.  Some situations in life do, too.

My Jesus,

Help me to let go when it is time to let go.  Help me to turn my back and walk away when it is time for me to leave.  Don’t let me cling to things that are not good for me. Help me to let go, help me to let go, help me to let go.  Amen.