audio version

My boy learned that I was a handy man.   The toddler would run in the room and hold up a Lego car that had crumbled in his hand and say, “Fik it daddy!”   So, I did.  At other times the fix would require a screw or some glue, but I always managed to “fik it” for him.

All of my kids looked to me to be a fixer.  The third-grade class shunned my daughter – the new kid.  I sent her to school the next day with treats to share with her class.  Crisis averted. 

My son K.C. acquired a car that required lots of attention.  I believe that he and I replaced twice as many parts as the car actually had.  But dad was there to “fik it” for him.

I was famous for fixing with my kids, but the challenges became more complicated as they grew older.   

K.C. has a darling little 6-year-old girl who is facing open heart surgery.  They will break the sternum of my granddaughter which breaks my heart.  It was a horribly tough decision for mom and dad to make, but the surgeon says it’s necessary to seal and heal the hole in her heart.  They are stressed but intent on trusting God. 

As for me, I just want to “fik it.”  I want to fix it more than anything I have ever fixed.  I want to find a way around it – a way to address the problem without doing the surgery.  But, it’s just not possible says the doc. 

It’s a helpless feeling to be a fixer, who is unable to fix.

And yet it is not a new experience for me.

Many years ago, I worked as a maintenance man in an apartment complex.  I was tasked with installing a new dish washer.  I pulled the old one out and slipped the new one into place. 

I still needed to connect the machine to the water supply.  I lay on the floor and reached underneath it with my crescent wrench to the very back of the unit.  It was an awkward stretch.

I labored and I sweat over it for a good ten minutes.  I paused to rest and then gave it several more frustrating minutes.  It didn’t happen.  I wanted to swear but I didn’t.  (OK I might have thought a word or two) 

I stopped and lay flat on the floor in exasperation really close to tears. 

I prayed – sort of.  I reminded God that I had a job to do.  There was no one else to do it.  But it wasn’t happening

And right then He brought to my mind something I had read in my devotional time the night before.   Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.” – John 15:5

It was that last part that parted my skull, “apart from me you can accomplish nothing.”

I thought, “Nothing?  Not even making a water connection?”  He whispered, “Not even that.” 

So, I asked the Lord to help this humbled helpless fixer.

With a new attitude and my divine plumber’s helper, I picked up the crescent wrench (which I had previously thrown across the room) and went back to work.  

And I, or should I say we – succeeded on the very first attempt. 

Well this situation with my granddaughter is far more beyond my control than was the dishwasher.  It is not beyond His, however. 

So, my wife and I have been praying for months now in preparation for the surgery.  It is proper that we do.  John the apostle wrote this in his third epistle, “I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.”  (vrs. 2)

So, encouraging!  John prayed for the health of those he loved – and so do we.

In fact, tonight, when my wife and I pray together again, we will say to our all-powerful and incredibly gracious Father in heaven, “Fik it Daddy!”

A PRAYER: “Daddy, you are always there when life breaks down.  Remind us to pray when we think we can fix it without you.”

All Scripture References from the NET Bible ®