The Mystery of the Dropped Skirt

“Mama, I found this skirt on my floor!” says Benjamin as he holds the article of evidence before me. I told him to go and put the skirt where it belonged.

“But remember what you said?”


“No, what did I say?”


“You said if I ever found some one else's clothes in my room; that they would have to clean it up.”


As I am trying to figure out if I really did say that, an argument breaks forth between the other two suspects in this case. 


“Whitney, that's your skirt!” 


“No, Angela, I've seen that on you!” 


Funny how at another time this disagreement would have taken a different form - (ie “That's my skirt!”).  


I am only half listening when Benjamin walks up to each girl and begins placing the skirt up to their waists in an effort to 'crack' this case on his own. At this point I could not hold back the laughter. Benjamin was determined to get justice!


The case was never solved, so for the next 30 minutes Benjamin continued to carry the skirt over his shoulders. 


He ended up having to clean his own room after all. 


This mystery is so much like life; at times there are too many variables to bring matters to final judgment. When this is the case, we must learn to “roll with the punches” and clean up the mess ourselves. 


Heavenly Father, grant us grace in this “cleaning process” to reflect Your Life.


“Life is a grindstone,Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends upon what you are made of. ~James S. Hewett


“God came down and lived in this same world as a man. He showed us how to live in this world, subject to its vicissitudes and necessities, that we might be changed – not into an angel or a storybook princess, not wafted into another world, but changed into saints in this world. The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.” ~Elisabeth Elloit