Our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones [sic knotted threads], and good in everything. (ShakespeareAs You Like It, Act II, scene i)

It’s Christmas Eve and I’m sewing a ballerina doll for a precious little two and a half year old who loves to do pirouettes and dance.  The bobbin thread ran out, and I was in the process of re-filling the bobbin when the thread became ridiculously knotted.  The thread wound around the bobbin spindle, (the thingamgig that holds the bobbin in place), instead of winding around the bobbin itself.   This was the last reel of the matching color thread so I didn’t want to just cut it off and start over.  I had to unknot this massive ball of confusion.   Patience!  Slow down!  You can unknot this!  This is life! Knots come in the midst of smooth sailing.  Knots that you didn’t see coming, didn’t plan for, and that force you to stop whatever you are doing and fix things.  Knotted thread.  Reminded me instantly of the Shakespeare quote, “Sermons in stones and good in everything“.  You just have to recognize that there is a sermon everywhere, not just the ones from the pulpit.  And, listen to your own wise counsel, and stop and fix whatever needs fixing.  Success, thread unknotted, bobbin rewound, now back to finishing that ballerina doll.  Sermon in knotted thread and in making ballerina dolls.  Who would have thought that a Christmas Eve sermon would come this way?