Quick Fix

Not even a bad cough would stop me from going to the Kortright Centre (http://www.kortright.org/) with the rest of my class. I was in Grade 4 or 5, and eventually I hacked so much a teacher gave me a Halls (bad taste, but it worked!) If you don't know what the Kortright Centre is, it's a conservation park/educational centre in Woodbridge, Ontario. The weird thing is, I can't remember for the life of me what we learned, but I do recall the souvenirs. Because what would a school trip be without goodies?

For me? A carving of a blue jay. My grandma had bird carvings in a shelf on her bathroom, and I wanted to start my own collection, just like hers. And for Adam, my then-7 year-old brother, an Elliot Moose book. Before he was a puppet AND cartoon show, and source of a stuck-in-your-head theme song, the cute stuffed moose was the subject of a series of children's books by Andrea Beck. The particular book I bought him was called Elliot's Emergency.

In the story, Elliot is running around, having fun, when all of a sudden, his leg catches on a nail and rips it open. Fearful of losing all his stuffing, he tries to fix the problem himself. His friends try all sorts of solutions, from glue to binder clips to string. Eventually, he becomes so frustrated when nothing works that he starts to cry. Beaverton (a beaver toy) hears him sobbing and asks him what's wrong. Elliot explains and Beaverton removes all the clutter and glue and just sews up the tear. Elliot is good as new.

I bet if you're reading this, you can relate to it. Have you been hurt by sudden circumstances beyond your control? Do you become frantic with fear for the future? Does the counsel of well-meaning friends leave you confused and let down? Are you ready to crash? Sometimes it's as simple as accepting that there are some things you just can't fix. But it goes beyond swallowing your pride. You must cough it up at the feet of Jesus instead. Because as hard as it is to admit you can't solve your problems alone, it's even harder to admit that other people can't solve it either. It's the next step on the road to wholeness.