When we got our porch swing a dozen years ago, I dreamed our daughters would court on it. I would wash dishes, keeping an eye on the girls and their suiters out the kitchen window that overlooked the swing. All dating would be done at our house. Their dad would be in the yard doing yard work, but not really. Scott would be watching the young couple while pretending to do yard work with a chainsaw in hand. Preferably a running chainsaw. If the couple got too close on the swing, Scott could wave the chainsaw around. You know, make a lot of noise and look dangerous. Maybe Scott could wear a mask with the chainsaw.

It’s true. I have a big imagination. My dreams of the girls courting on the porch swing didn’t happen, but here is our younger daughter, Lacy, at her bridal shower last spring on our porch swing. A month and a half later, just weeks before Lacy’s wedding, our boys broke the swing because they break everything. We unhooked the chains and dumped the swing in the garage with so much else to do preparing for Lacy and Jake’s big day. All summer long my swing lay in the garage. Should we try to fix it or throw it away? Finally, because I loved it, I went and bought some wood glue and worked on it for a while, but the swing didn’t seem savable.

“Go ahead and take it to the dump,” I told Scott after that. Scott loaded up his truck, and I didn’t think any more about it. Other than I was sad we couldn’t afford another porch swing right away. A few days later, I noticed the swing was still in the garage. “Why didn’t you take it to the dump? I asked Scott when he got home from work.

“It didn’t fit in the truck. I’ll take it the next time,” Scott said.

“Okay,” I said. But we were so busy with our boys playing football, and Scott coaching, that I figured the next trip to the dump would be a long time coming. Soon after that, I really needed to pray. I walked out onto our back porch as I’ve done so many times before to sit in my swing and talk to God. To my disappointment, the swing wasn’t there. Of course, it wasn’t there. It was lost in the garage.

But was it really lost? Maybe the wood glue had worked enough that it could hold my weight. At least for today while I prayed.

I went to the garage and wrestled my swing out to the back porch. My prayers began with, “God help me hang this broken swing.” To my surprise, the hanging went well. And the swing held better than I expected. So the next day, I headed back to Lowe’s for some wood fixer and anything else I thought might help the swing.

I spent the next several days doctoring my swing, and then returned to Lowe’s and bought a can of really good deck paint. “Ten years of protection” the paint promised. I’d be happy with another year.

Now my porch swing looks great from a distance. Up close you can see all the mending I’ve done, but who looks up close at porch swings? More importantly, I’m back praying on my swing. I’m so glad Scott didn’t have room for it in his truck when he went to the dump.

And I’m glad I took the time to fix it.

How many things have I thrown away that could have been fixed?

Probably a lot of things.

I’m grateful nearly 20 years ago Scott and I fixed our marriage instead of throwing it away. The mending began with a lot of prayer. And took a lot of work.

Is there something in your life you need to mend? I know it would be easier to just throw it away, but can you fix it?

Can God fix it?

With God all things are possible, Matthew 19:26.

These days, I find myself not blogging very often because I don’t have time, but I want to try something new. I want to share small encouragements with you when I can.

So here’s my small encouragement for today. Go mend something that’s broken in your life. You’ll be glad you did.