Last night I was met with a strange greeting when I got home. I pulled into the driveway and walked into the garage to find my three year old, Eli, sitting on the floor next to a broken fishing pole. The fishing line resembled a bird’s nest and the reel seemed to have ran away from the pole it once was attached to. There were several plastic pieces scattered by his dirt covered feet. With his head hanging low he looked up at me and said, “Dada, this bwoke.You fix it?” I sat down beside him and got to work. 

They know who to go to.

When our boys break something and need it fixed, they don’t go to each other or our schnauzer for help. They come to their parents. They know we are the ones that can make it better. This simple truth doesn’t seem like much until I examine my own life on where I seek help when relationships, circumstances, or (fill in the blank) inevitably break. How many times do I go to Google before I seek God in prayer? How many times do I retreat to a self help tactic instead of reading God’s word? Do I mindlessly scroll social media as an escape? Do I seek the friend who I know will tell me what I want to hear instead of the Godly counselor in my life? Obviously there’s nothing wrong with seeking answers online but sometimes going to Google is as helpful as seeking advice from your family dog in comparison to asking God first. 

They think I can fix anything. 

I would’ve looked at that mutilated fishing pole and thrown it right in the trash had I been the one to break it. Somehow they never see a toy as being too broken for me to fix. What’s impossible right now for you? What seems so broken that you can’t fathom how it could be fixed? Throughout the entire story of scripture, God repairs broken people and circumstances no matter how grim they look. We say things like, “He’ll never change,” or “This is just the way it is.” We must kill that cynicism and believe that God is able to fix anything. 

I’m delighted to be Mr. Fix It.

I’m so honored when they hand me a mutilated fishing pole and I get to play the hero. Words cannot describe the joy I feel as they happily gaze upon their mended toy. God loves when we bring those things to Him as well. He’s in the business of taking impossible situations and creating something better than they were before the break. This is an act of worship.  

The strange greeting in my garage last night is more like a common occurrence at home. Things get broken A LOT. Not a day goes by that I’m not replacing batteries, gluing plastic back together or wrapping something in duct tape. What was once a chore has become something to get excited about. Playing the hero again and again is so much fun that I sometimes look for broken things to fix for them. I believe God does the same. He wants to move into the most broken places in our lives. If dependence on God is our goal, brokenness and weakness play to our advantage. I’m also starting to realize that the worse it gets, the better it can be. God has known this all along. 

Just fishing with my daddy,

Ryan (Mr. Fix It)