“Read” the Direction Manual

My man Mike is turning out to be quite the do-it-your-selfer-especially when IKEA furniture needs to be put together. Have you ever shopped at IKEA? It’s the Swedish home store that currently has locations in only 20 states. We were lucky to have one back in Washington, and now we live only 30 minutes from one in Illinois. They are huge and really fun to wander around in.

Furniture from IKEA is simple, usually a bit modern and not built to last forever. BUT… the price is right. One little detail… nothing comes assembled and the directions only use pictures. Even though I've taught little children to "read" pictures, I have a hard time with the IKEA directions. They give you one tiny tool that is supposed to help you turn your pieces into a bookshelf, dresser, etc. Our latest purchases were a couple floor lamps and a kitchen island.

I left at 7:15 p.m. for a meeting the other night as my husband began opening the boxes. When I arrived home a few hours later,the lamps were glowing, and an island sat in my living room. I was so impressed. Luckily it fit through the doorway into the kitchen...

I think some directions are really hard to follow. Even with my Tom-Tom GPS system in my car, and Google maps on my computer I still get lost sometimes. We have a LOT of picture signs around our town because our intersections don't always have four stop signs. Sometimes there are just three and if I don’t pay close attention to what I’m doing, I’ll get in a wreck! Raising children has felt like a car crash at times since none of my four arrived with ANY directions!

There is one place we can look for the most important directions. Sometimes it comes with pictures, usually not… Sometimes they are crystal clear; sometimes they require time and thought to put into action. God’s word in our bible is His guidebook for our time here on earth, pointing us to Heaven. Whether we are living in America, Sweden, or somewhere else, if we can read God’s word we have a much better chance of being successful with this thing we’re building; life on earth and for eternity. Have you opened your instruction manual today?