We are staying in our son’s caravan. He bought it second-hand about two years ago. We have been snug and dry in the van and tent during the past weeks of exceptionally wet weather. We are very grateful that they have allowed us to use it.
The lace curtains are old and have stood in the sun for some time. Three of them had big tears and two, smaller tears.


We decided one way to repay our family partially for their kindness, was to replace the worst of the curtains. We managed to buy similar curtaining material and replace two of the curtains. A third one, where the tear was only about 30cm from an edge, I was able to cut off the torn bit and re-hem the side.
However, the small tears worried me. I knew exactly where they were heading. It only needed our five-year-old grandson to notice one of them and decide it was big enough for a finger or a Lego man to fit through it. So I sewed up the tears, somewhat inexpertly.
“A stitch in time saves nine” goes an English proverb. In other words, one stitch in the lace curtains might save nine at a future date because big things all start as little things.
In Song of Songs we read, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” (2:15 NIV)
Sometimes the little foxes nibble away at our spiritual life. Individually they might be of very little importance but unless we catch them in time, we will have bigger problems to sort out later. One of my little foxes is selfishness. I noticed it the other day. I had been looking forward to going out for breakfast and the venue was closed. I was grumpy. The Lord reminded me that life’s not about me. What I had been looking forward to, or had planned is not the main issue. I had forgotten that my time is not my own. It is God’s. My money is not my own either. It is God’s. The end of such a selfish attitude is easy to predict.
Of course, having identified one little fox does not get rid of all of them. I need to be vigilant and look out for attitudes that show that I have not totally surrendered my life to Christ but am trying to run my life my way.
My Prayer
O Lord, please keep me vigilant to identify little foxes while they are still little. May my attitude be like that of Christ, who emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant. I have a long way to go. Please lead me, and strengthen me for one step at a time. Amen.