Trying to add thoughts to this blog has taken a back seat to many of the the other things going on too. I can't even really tell you that I have accomplished a lot of other things while not quilting or blogging, but they must be out there.
The thoughts have been racing through my head about one subject that I feel I really need to get down on paper before I explode or implode, or both. It is really a metaphor that has been hanging over my head for weeks now. Today, I want to get it down in written form so I can move on.
Quilting has pretty much consumed me this year. If you have read my previous posts, you can clearly see that truth. I feel that consumption has been a catalyst for my writing.
As I have worked on my quilt, I have thought about the process and how it relates so closely to my life. When I start a square, it begins by looking at a piece of paper that makes really no sense all by itself.
As I work toward the goal of piecing together the block, even still, the small little pieces coming together look to make no sense at all. Sometimes I look at one fabric that goes in the piece and I wrinkle up my nose at how ugly the color is. I would never choose that one particular color in a quilt of my own making. I wonder why someone would like that ugly color?
I move on, adding piece by piece. I see form taking shape, I see colors complimenting each other, I stand corrected as to the value of that one particular color.
Progress is being made and eventually the square comes together in full form. I see how pretty that one square is, but one square will not a quilt make. The quilt is far from complete when one square is made. There are more, more piecing, more colors, more patterns and shapes, more pressing the pieces so that they lie in the right direction, etc.
My squares are so far from perfect. It is difficult to make the whole quilt work correctly without making adjustments to the size and shape of each square. Sometimes cutting away a bit here and a bit there and other times completely scrapping the whole square and starting over with more careful precision.
As I put the squares together, I realize how much this is like life. If I focus on the pattern as I see it and how alone it makes no sense, I would not be able to make the square. If I don't make the square, how will the quilt be made? So, I take a piece here and a piece there, following the instructions. Still, that close up view is still not clear. It is far from beautiful, the ugly color is still there. I think of my own life, how focusing on one small part can distract from the end product. Today (as in this year) I have had my world turned upside down. The place I have loved to go has become a living hell for me, I have no option but to keep going, but I am miserable. That is that color green, that frustration of the seams not being right, the ripping out and starting over. Other issues in life are trying. I have an adult child who needs parenting still, can I tell you, it is harder to parent an adult than a child? It is like finding out that if I put the fabric face up instead of face down, it doesn't look right. So, I begin again, or I just put the wrong piece aside and start over.
As I work continuously on my quilt, I also see other similarities in life. One particular square was just not looking good. I could do absolutely nothing to fix it. I tried making another one, same issue. So, in this case I reached out to a friend who spent time meticulously ironing out the square to make it work. Sometimes in life, we just need to really give it up, knowing we cannot fix the mess on our own strength. That friend came and used heat and water and forced that fabric to do what I needed. Had I refused that help, I would have a square that continued to look horrible. Just as she pressed and added heat and pressed, sometimes that is what I have to do with the mess I have made of my life. I have to surrender it over to a Master who can iron out the imperfections and give the forgiveness that my life needs.
So, as I continue, and I put the squares together, and I don't look up close, but pull away from the quilt, I can see the masterpiece it has become (well, not completely, because I am still not done with it). Look how life is like that. The circumstances we live in right now are the small pieces of our quilt. They make no sense in and of themselves. As we pull back, we see how God is using these things to put together our life. Much like my quilt, it isn't finished. I can however see that it is becoming more and more like what it is supposed to be. So, when trials come and our focus is on that one little piece, yes, we need to pay attention. But God is working all of it for the final masterpiece and we will pull back and see each area becomes a part of the whole and each trial builds character and we end up being a completed work of art that God had orchestrated in us.
Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Keep that thought in mind while you work on the little pieces and the squares of the quilt we call Life.
Thanks for reading
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