It was February and I sat in Sunday services at Christ Church for the first time since probably Christmas. Adding a third child to our already young family, along with my husband’s aggressive travel schedule, had hit me hard and we simply hadn’t made it to church in more than a month. Despite being a “single mom” that weekend with my husband gone again, I felt an urge to load up the kids and get to church, so I did.
We had guest speakers that day – Debi and Mercia – who were speaking about the Ghanaian Mother’s Hope mission, how we could join the mission team, and for those less adventurous, how we make a difference by sponsoring a child. I had heard the sponsorship message before. Our parish was already sponsoring a Ghanaian child and I had added to collection box many times. That seemed…
Pain arrives on our doorstep, pain we cannot control, no matter how hard we wish, try, or work. I’ve heard from many in the last couple of weeks who are hurting, some from physical ailments or limitations, some from the sickness or deterioration of a loved one, some from unloving and selfish acts on the part of someone close, or who should be close. Some from their own weaknesses or errors. The good news is, there is hope. There is one who loves us, who knows what it is to be betrayed, hurt, in pain and anguish, even to death.
Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;
be alert for signs of his presence.
Remember the world of wonders he has made,
God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day
Would you believe that thousands of years ago a prophet predicted what God would do for us in times like these?
Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?
There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole.Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him.
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now!
God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.
God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.
Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth:unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.
That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.
The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together.
Sunrise in the Abacos, BahamasMorning light, SantiagosunriseSunset in Bartholomew, GalapagosView of snow-topped volcano from Quito, Ecuadorblossom in the dew
My youngest daughter, YD, is asking me to write the story of my life. Why would anyone want to read all that depressing stuff? She says it could give hope to women going through dark valleys right now, to see how I have prevailed, how God has made goodness from my brokenness. I wasn’t convinced, until this past week, when I began a memory t-shirt quilt with my oldest daughter for my grandson’s birthday. OD had collected t-shirts spanning most of his life. We sorted through the shirts, looking for striking colors, interesting designs and logos, and outstanding memories.
I was uneasy cutting up perfectly good t-shirts. (I’m from the waste-not-want-not family. Of course, I saved the left-overs for rags.)
Through most of my early life, I felt like those left-overs.
Torn, missing pieces, needing the impossible to be whole.
When we had enough, we cut and prepped the blocks, then lay them out to plan the design.
OD arranging blocks
As I cut and stitched, I felt the Lord showing me how he has snipped and stitched in my life, pressing and pinning and joining, during times I couldn’t feel his presence. Sometimes, only the pain.
But he was always there.
Always working.
Always creating.
After I sewed the blocks together the back was a mess. Only threads and rough edges of seams, only snatches of color showing through.
Quilt back
I’m not a perfect quilter, by any means. But when I turned the fabric over, all those pieces of my grandson’s life came together, making what I hope he will enjoy.
I’d taken snippets of his life and stitched them together to make something altogether different. Cast-off shirts had become a beautiful quilt for his new room.
Finished quilt
I cannot ignore the lesson whispered along with the whir of the sewing machine.
God is the perfect Creator, and his finished product, when I arrive before him in heaven, will be beautiful and whole. But even now, I bear the marks of the Creator, snatches of beauty, areas where I can bring blessing and love to others.
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole. I Peter I:3-5 MSG
I guess YD is right. I need to share it. Even those of us with memories we’d rather keep buried have a Creator ready to work us into something beautiful to bless those around us, as long as we’ll allow him to work. As long as we are willing to take up new thought patterns, trusting him with our lives.
Have you found that to be true for you?
Or do you think it’s better to let some things stay buried?
Glimpse of Peace 