EVERYDAY ADVENTURES

Nailed It

It’s hard to believe it’s almost fall, that magical season when the air turns crisp, trees ignite with color and Amazon packages begin stacking up on my doorstep higher than the piles of leaves in my yard.

While many Americans traditionally think of autumn as the harvest season, in my house it’s primarily the birthday season.

That’s because my wife and I were foolish enough to have both of our children during the busiest holiday stretch of the year. I guess we were thinking, “Hey, we only have Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas on the calendar. How about we throw in a couple of kids’ birthdays too? That will give us something to do if we get bored between back-to-school and New Year’s Eve!”

That’s because my wife and I were foolish enough to have both of our children during the busiest holiday stretch of the year. I guess we were thinking, “Hey, we only have Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas on the calendar. How about we throw in a couple of kids’ birthdays too? That will give us something to do if we get bored between back-to-school and New Year’s Eve!”

It wasn’t that big of a deal when our girls were preschoolers, but once they started school and had homework, dance recitals, Christmas concerts and a million other activities, things got really exciting. 

Fortunately my wife is an amazing party planner. So, around the same time that the neighborhood squirrels begin storing up their nuts for winter, Christy begins stockpiling party supplies for the girls’ birthdays. 

When those packages start arriving, that should be my early warning sign that it’s time to pay attention to every conversation with my wife. I mean really pay attention. None of this nodding and smiling business while thinking about football. 

When those packages start arriving, that should be my early warning sign that it’s time to pay attention to every conversation with my wife. I mean really pay attention. None of this nodding and smiling business while thinking about football. 

Don’t get me wrong. I want to pay attention to my wife all year long, but I’m not always the best listener, and my mind tends to wander.

What I have to remember, though, is that after Labor Day, every conversation with Christy is a potential birthday assignment. If I’m not careful, I’ll find myself nodding and smiling my way into all kinds of crazy tasks.

Take the year of the pumpkin string art, for instance. Now that year I really should have been listening.

“I ordered all the supplies,” she said. “I just need you to hammer in the nails before the party.” 

She probably told me more details than that, but all I heard was hammer. I like to play with tools,  so I figured I could handle it. After all, how hard could it be to pound in a few nails?

She probably told me more details than that, but all I heard was hammer. I like to play with tools,  so I figured I could handle it. After all, how hard could it be to pound in a few nails?

Turns out it was harder than I’d thought.

It was eight o’clock the night before the party when I realized what I’d gotten myself into: the craft of doom!

The idea was to create a connect-the-dots picture with nails that my daughter and her friends would wrap with colorful string to transform into a festive pumpkin. Sounds great, right?

The only problem is each board didn’t require just a few nails, but 100 nails! Each board! That meant I had to hammer in almost a thousand nails to make enough boards for all the guests. 

That also meant I had to use a pattern to make sure the nails were evenly spaced, and they had to be hammered in straight and at a consistent depth. Did I mention it was 8:00 the night before the party when I figured this out?

To make matters worse, I had the wrong supplies. The nails were too flimsy and the boards just didn’t work.

It was my own fault. You couldn’t really tell until you tried one out. If I’d been paying attention when Christy first told me about the idea or if I’d done a test run earlier, I could have discovered the problem. Instead, I ended up running to Lowe’s and a craft store, wasting precious hours before I got started.

It was my own fault. You couldn’t really tell until you tried one out. If I’d been paying attention when Christy first told me about the idea or if I’d done a test run earlier, I could have discovered the problem. Instead, I ended up running to Lowe’s and a craft store, wasting precious hours before I got started.

The first board took forever, but eventually I got them down to a science: 16 ½ minutes per pumpkin! They were far from perfect, but they were done.

Sure I smashed my finger a time or two (or more), and my vision was blurry after staring at a thousand tiny nails for hours on end, but when the guests arrived the next day, the boards were ready for some serious autumn crafting.

After all that effort, the party was a success, the girls loved their crafts, and the pumpkins turned out really cool. My nails weren’t all perfect, but in the end it didn’t matter because once the girls got a hold of them, they wove them into a beautiful picture.

After all that effort, the party was a success, the girls loved their crafts, and the pumpkins turned out really cool. My nails weren’t all perfect, but in the end it didn’t matter because once the girls got a hold of them, they wove them into a beautiful picture. 

Sometimes life is like that. We get overwhelmed with the big things. We get stressed out in the little things. But if we’re trusting God, doing our best to follow his pattern for life, and don’t give up, his grace covers the rest. 

As birthday season rolls around again, I will definitely be listening closer to my wife, but more importantly, I’ll be trying to listen to God. I need him to remind me that he’s at work in the tiny details of my day, and even the things that are frustrating and painful, he can use to show the world his mercy and love.•