fixing

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There’s A New Fixer Now

If you’re a dad, you’re a fixer. If you’re not good at fixing things, you become good, because as a dad, you get lots of opportunities.

Requests for your assistance come from all kinds of sources and for all kinds of fixes.  As a dad, you have to be a generalist fixer, not a specialty guy. One minute you can be fixing a dishwasher for your wife (it’s still broken), and then asked to fix your son’s latest gadget or your daughter’s computer.

iphonefix

Sometimes the fixing is more like doing things no one else can do, like unscrewing the lid on the pickle jar, or raising the basketball net, or untangling a necklace. When you think of it, dads are really miracle workers.

As a dad, you fix things for so long that you never think that there will be anyone to take your place. You look at the potential and all you can see are people who need you to fix things.

But there comes a time when the mantle of fixer changes hands. It’s not a quick hand off, mind you. There is training that comes into play, until slowly a new fixer is developed. I witnessed the beginning of that development this past week.

My son got an iPhone 5 on Wednesday. On Thursday night at his work, he plugged the speaker system into his phone but no sound came out. He didn’t think much of it until the next day when he couldn’t hear calls that were coming in to his phone.

When he looked into it, he discovered the tip of the sound jack from work was stuck in the earphone hole of his iPhone. The iPhone reacted like there were headphones plugged in it so its internal speakers weren’t activated.

When I got wind of this, I went right into fixer mode. I looked at the phone, got some tools out and started to work. I got on the internet and researched if this had happened to anyone else. Surprisingly, it’s happened often.

I found a couple of solutions that I tried without any success. But there was one solution I didn’t want to try. I didn’t think it would work and felt it was too risky. We all got busy and, for a couple of days, Mike was only able to text his friends.

But then one day we were mulling over what to do about the phone. Mike decided he was going to try crazy glue – the solution I thought was too risky. I wasn’t convinced, but it was his phone, so I gave him a couple of tips and he went at it.

He used a Q-Tip, took the cotton off and filled the hollow end with crazy glue. He carefully put the Q-Tip into the earphone hole and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then he pulled on the Q-Tip and, unbelievably, the end of the earphone jack came out.

The iPhone was fixed and this house has a new fixer! He’s not ready to take on this responsibility full time yet, but I’m confident that with more coaching and lots more opportunities, this guy will be able to fix anything … just like me … well, almost.

Here’s the thing: We may get confident fixing iPhones or dishwashers, but God is the real fixer. He’s the one we need to take our brokenness and problems to. There’s nothing He can’t fix.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When was the last time you turned to God to help or fix something in your life?  Leave your comment below.

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The Doctor Is In

For the last several years I’ve been collecting watches.  I have several . . . actually I have more than several.  The watches I collect aren’t expensive or collector’s editions.  They’re not popular brand names.  They are cheap $10-$15 watches that I mostly get at a flea market.

Since I’ve been collecting these watches, I’ve been called the “Watch Doctor” by many … mostly my family and only after I told them I was the Watch Doctor.  If you say “Watch Doctor” out loud in reference to me, please pronounce it “Watch Docta”, it sounds better.

I’m not the Watch Docta just because I have a large collection of watches; it’s because I fix them too.  You see, with so many cheap, and cheaply made watches, there are always one or two needing attention.  If it’s not a battery issue, it might be the stem or the strap.  In order to fix them I need tools and I found a great little kit online.  So, if you see me with my little black bag, you’ll know I’m in “Docta” mode.

Not long ago I needed to change the battery in one of my watches.  For those of you who are laymen regarding watches, there are basically two different ways to get the back off a watch.  Some watches are the pop-off kind, and you use a special knife for that.  The other kind screws off.  There are little notches so you can apply a case opener tool to twist it off – and yes, I have that tool.

This watch had the notches so I got out my case opener for screw types and got started.  But I couldn’t get the back off. I turned the back one way and then the other way, but it would only move slightly and then tighten no matter which direction I turned.

Soon I began to get quite frustrated, and in passing, my wife Lily commented, “Why don’t you try to pop the back off?”  I gave her a look only a well-trained Watch Docta could give, as if to say “Whach you talkin’ ‘bout, fool?”  Then I kept at it.

After a while I began to get angry at the watch.  I would put the watch down for a bit and then pick it up and try again.  Nothing.  I got nowhere. Finally I got out my knife – because I didn’t care any more – and funny thing, the back of the watch just popped right off!

Those markings on the back of the watch were just decoration!  It wasn’t a screw type watch at all.

Here’s the thing:  The appearance of the watch indicated to me that I needed to take the back off a certain way.  Lily had no idea what type of watch it was.  She just threw out another possibility.  Her suggestion didn’t make sense to me because of the appearance of the watch.  But she was right.

Sometimes we get our mind set on something that we think we know about, and we don’t listen to God.  We think we don’t need His advice, that we know what to do.  But God knows better than we do.  Even when it looks like something we know, listening to God will give us the best way to proceed.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  How have you been guilty of not listening to God when you think you know the way to proceed?  Leave your comment below.