Never in my life did I think I would argue about clothes hangers…
We had just returned from our honeymoon. We unpacked, opened our wedding gifts and moved in her belongings in just-wedded bliss. Something about having a new, beautiful wife made me not care that I just lost most of my closet space. And as I was reduced to only one drawer at the bathroom sink, I didn’t mind. In fact, I was even started to enjoy the potpourri in the house (it actually smelled really nice); but the clothes hangers, I guess that’s where I drew the line.
As we were rearranging my, excuse me, ourcloset, my wife noticed something…I had wire hangers.
“What are those?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure if she was asking trick question or not (give me a break I had only been married a week).
“Uh, hangers?” I replied.
“I know,” she said. “But they are made of wire.”
Were they supposed to be made of something else?
I happened to like my wire hangers. To me, they are the Swiss Army knife of the closet world. There is no other item like a wire hanger in a closet…sure there are clothes rods, shoe cubbies, and maybe even a dirty clothes hamper; but there is no more versatile tool in the closet than wire hangers. First of all the hangers are FREE! That’s right FREE! OK, so you have to pay for the dry cleaning, but they gladly include a sturdy wire hanger. Secondly: they can be used for a variety of uses around the house. Lock your keys in a car? – Use a wire hanger. Can’t get reception on your television? – Use a wire hanger. Can’t find anything to roast marshmallows on? – I think you get the picture. There are so many uses for the wire hanger around the house. The last reason I love the wire hanger is the simple fact I can pull a t-shirt off faster than a NASCAR pit crew.
What should have been an ordinary conversation quickly escalated into an undue disagreement. I think we have all been there.
Fast forward almost 14 years and four children later, I can tell you there is nothing but plastic hangers in our house. And can I be perfectly honest with you? I really prefer the plastic hangers to wire hangers now. Sure we may have to call a locksmith, and sure we may not get perfect reception on TV, and yes, we use real sticks to roast marshmallows, but my clothes hang nicer and the shirts don’t have those weird hanger marks on the shoulders.
I share this story to show how easy it is to make mountains out of molehills. I’m sure you have had similar disagreements, but the question is this: Did you let it turn into a mountain or did you realize you were simply disagreeing over a molehill.
Jesus said it best in Matthew 7:12 (NLT 2nded.)
Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
It is so easy to fight and argue over little things, and petty disagreements can ruin an entire evening. My challenge to you is this: Take Jesus’s words to heart, treat others they way you would like to be treated, allow the silly disagreements to be just that and nothing more, and make sacrifices for each other.
Who knows? You might even change your preference of hangers.
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