The Webs We Weave

Every so often I see a spiderweb that looks like a mess and I wonder—is that an old web that’s fallen apart or is it a web spun by a really sloppy spider?

I noticed an especially neat and intricate spider web the other day, strung between two trees, and it got me thinking about high school. Specifically, I thought about those students who kept their lockers nice and neat and their three-ring binders in good order. I always wanted to be one of those students, and I went into each new school year determined to do better than I had the year before. It was sort of like a New Year’s resolution except it happened every August instead of January.

I can still see those neat lockers and three-ring binders in my mind. The lockers had an extra shelf added so that books and binders weren’t crammed on top of each other, and there was often a magnetic pouch for pens and pencils. Girls I knew with lockers like that added both practical and pretty elements. A mirror for touching up lipstick, a handmade garland to cheer up the dull space, some even covered the back of the locker with patterned paper. Their three-ring binders were color-coded, all the same size, with the subject names printed neatly both on the front and side. They had colorful tabs, dividers with pockets, and plenty of paper.

I never remembered to buy a shelf for my locker. That’s where things always started to go wrong—right there at the beginning with no additional shelf.  But that’s not where it stopped. Somehow I often ended up having forgotten to buy three ring-binders and having bought spiral notebooks instead. And then I often found myself in class having grabbed the wrong notebook. So, after just a few weeks, I had science notes in my math notebook and English notes in my science notebook. And of course that meant that when I had a test in any subject I needed all my notebooks in order to study. Not especially efficient.

One year I had an English teacher who highly valued organization. She graded our three-ring binders at the end of each semester and it counted for a large portion of our final grades. We had to keep every written assignment we’d completed inside those binders, and let me tell you—that did not go well for me. The night before turning in the binder, I stayed up late rewriting entire stories and essays that were long gone to who knows where.

Today I want to remind you that God loves each of us—those with neat lockers and orderly three-ring binders, and the ones who forget to buy shelves and keep bringing the wrong notebooks to class. He knows us truly and completely—our strengths and our weaknesses, and He loves us. And those areas of weakness? He reminds us that they do not define us. His love does.

Blessings to you,

~Amy