“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)
When I was a child, I knew nothing about “thread counts” on sheets. I felt blessed just to have a sheet to cover my stripped, not so thick, twin bed mattress, I did not focus on having a fitted sheet and a top sheet. Like I said, I felt blessed just to have a sheet to cover my mattress which must have been made for multiple years of usage. Even if my mattress felt like those old gray mats you pulled out in gym class to learn how to do flips and other contortions that were for physical fitness, I felt blessed. I had a mattress, a sheet, and a cover. Yes, “a cover!” Not a coverlet, not a thick comforter, but a “cover!” Back to the sheet topic and thread counts. My childhood sheet should have come with a “danger” or “caution” warning. For on a cold day, if you moved an inch, the stiffness of the sheet seemed capable of causing physical injury to your skin. Look! It was not until late in my adult life, when I started working for a home décor company, that I learned to look at “thread counts.” Without any deeper explanation than the higher the thread count, the softer the sheets would be, that’s all I read when purchasing sheets.
Now, the sheets that I just took off to wash this week had a thread count of 1000. That’s why I purchased them. But they did not feel soft, not at all. They did not make me feel I was lying in a five-star hotel bed. In fact, these sheets were like the sheets I had when I was a child. Here was my mistake, the thread count only refers to the quantity of yarns and has nothing to do with fabric. So, if you just look at the thread count, you will be fooled, at times. What looks good for you, well, sometimes it’s not, when it comes to thread counts. What looks like the best option, well, sometimes it’s not. Needless to say, I went to the linen closet (I’m trying to sound like I have it going on, when it is really the towel, linen, and leftover wrapping paper closet.); when I went to the linen closet I retrieved an older set of sheets and even though the thread count was 800, less than the 1000 mentioned above, I was so comfortable. What looked like less was actually the best.
Really, there is there a reason for my rambling about thread counts on sheets? Yes! It’s simple: What looks like the best choice in life is not always the best choice. As a matter of fact, if it does not line up with God’s expectations, what looks good will actually be bad for you. That’s the point I want to make this Saturday morning, and I hope you will keep it in mind when you are making any kind of choice. Oh, as a side benefit, you will by better sheets! Smile! Get to church tomorrow! Be blessed!
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12 NIV)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King