Jumble Box and Grace

A while back my friend Aaron talked about his Jumble Box. A jumble box is a box, tote, or whatever that contains collected bits of...stuff - in this case musical stuff - cables, adapters, whatnot - over the years.

I have a jumble box. Well, no, I don't really. I have a jumble room. Yep. I've got so many cables, amps, speakers, adapters, various and sundry pieces of electronic equipment that to put it all together in one place would jumble a room. And I can't help myself.

I'm a packrat at heart (no, I don't like the term Hoarder, thank you very much, even if it's accurate). I collect stuff that I can use...someday...sometime....you know the drill. Lori has done her best to curb this tendency in me - and she really has for the most part - but not with musical...stuff. When I used to build model kits (and that's a story for another day) I had the "scrap box" or the "junk box" - you know, leftover parts, sprues, etc. The stuff that you might just need someday. It didn't take up too much room - it really was just a box. And that was okay.

But the problem with the "Jumble Room" of musical stuff is that, well, I don't even know what all I have... yep, there, I said it. I know that I've scattered bits of it across at least 5 churches - useful bits (usually, though I think there's still some detrius in First UMC Warren's basement) needed either as "emergency repairs" or "unexpected updates" that just became permanent fixtures. And, probably, some bits have made it into the box(es) from those churches, too (I have some lights from First UMC that I need to get back there...)

And, like Aaron, I see this as a reflection of my life, to a degree - things can get jumbled. I'm not the husband, father, pastor, Christian, person I should be. I fail and fall. I've accumulated bad habits like the jumble room has accumulated cables. And why am I loathe to part with them (the habits, not the cables)?

It's a mess. It's my mess, I guess. But God's working. That's what Grace is all about, right?