Flat Sheets Or Fitted?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20103:13-14&version=NIV1984

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Phil%204:19&version=NIV1984

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2012:9&version=NIV1984

I try to help out my wife Beth around the house whenever I can.  Once or twice a week this means folding the laundry for her.  Sometimes that involves folding the sheets.  What I have learned after many years of marriage is that there are 2 kinds of sheets - fitted and flat.  Fitted sheets go directly on the mattress.  They usually are a struggle to get on because they fit so tight.  Which is good.  I hate sloppy sheets.  The flat sheet then gets put on top of the fitted sheet.  And pulled back slightly at the top.  When you go to sleep at night you sleep between the fitted sheet (bottom) and the flat sheet (top).  OK.  Sheets 101.  Back to the folding part.

Flat sheets are easy to fold.  Whichever way that you fold them (and it seems that there are several ways to do this), since they are rectangular, they match up nicely.  Fold in half.  Fold in half again.  Fold the other way several times and presto, you have a nicely folded sheet.  Not so with fitted sheets.

Fitted sheets have those pesky corners that make them fit very snug on the mattress.  But they are terrible for folding.  What I normally try to do is to put the corners of one end of the sheet and then match them with the corners of the other side.  Because of the layout of the fitted sheet, this is an approximation at best.  Then I fold the sheet in half the other way so that both corners match.  Again, this is an approximation.  Then I just start randomly folding until the fitted sheet is about the same size as the flat sheet.  Unfortunately, when I am finished folding it, the fitted sheet couldn’t look any worse than if I had just rolled it up into a ball.  The point is that flat sheets are a perfectionist’s dream.  Fitted sheets are a perfectionist’s nightmare.

Is this a lot like life or what!  There are some areas of our lives that are like flat sheets.  These areas differ from person to person.  For some people a ‘flat sheet’ could be their finances.  Or their house.  Their yard.  Their job.  The point is that these areas are nice and neat.  Organized.  And we are able to manage them fairly well.  Then there are the areas of our lives that are more like fitted sheets.  How appropriate since they actually give us ‘fits’!  Again, these areas differ from person to person.  Finances.  House.  Yard.  Job.  The point is that these areas are a mess.  They look like a bomb has exploded.  We have little semblance of control over them and most of the time they control us.  We try to get these areas to look like the flat sheets but to no avail.  They are what they are.  A jumbled mess.

Lately I have been finding a disturbing trend in my life.  I don’t know if it’s the fact that I am getting old, busier, or less ambitious (or maybe a combination of all three) but I am finding that some former ‘flat sheet’ areas have now become ‘fitted sheet’ areas.  They are a mess.  And so am I.  I keep trying to get them back under control but it ain’t happening!  This leaves me with two choices - renew my efforts to get these areas back under control, to make them a little more organized and manageable - or to accept the fact that they are not going to be nice and neat anytime soon.  If ever.

The good news is that we don’t have to be perfect.  (That is very good news!)  We don’t have to have every single area of our lives organized.  And under control.  In fact, a quick survey of the Bible finds that many people mentioned in its pages didn’t have their lives totally in order.  Jesus did.  But Peter didn’t.  In fact, Peter had a lot of loose ends in his life.  So did David.  And Abraham.  And many others.  So if people like these didn’t have their act entirely together, what are we worrying and stressing about?  The truth is that Jesus loves us exactly the way we are.  Mess and all.  Yes, He wants us to grow and mature.  To allow the Holy Spirit to tidy up some untidy areas of our lives.  But we don’t have to be perfect in order to receive Jesus’ love and approval.  We already have it!

So let’s go ahead and celebrate the flat sheets in our lives.  And be glad that at least some areas are in pretty decent shape.  But let’s not be ashamed of the fitted sheets either.  Life is messy.  Some areas just don’t just come together very nicely.  And there’s not much we can do about it.  Flat or fitted, we have to rely on Jesus anyway!

Lord, although I wish that I were on top of every area of my life, the reality is that I am not.  And I fear that some areas are never going to be what I want them to be.  Or what You want them to be.  I must remember that I am still a work in progress.  Thank you for Your willingness to help me.  With both the fitted sheets as well as the flat ones.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.