Diversion Ahead

Taking Emily back to college a few weeks ago, we passed through a construction zone on Hwy 150, and I saw this sign:

Isn't it great when life warns you what's coming!?

I wasn't prepared for my quilting set-back this week.  I was meandering along very nicely, you see, on a Take 5 quilt for some young friends who are getting married next month.

Their household shower was Sunday evening, and I so wanted to get their quilt finished in time for it.  But running around with two active boys I wasn't able to get started on the quilting until late in the week.

Things were progressing nicely.  My non-stitch-regulated meandering was looking pretty decent (at least for a beginner like myself! LOL) and I was sooo excited! YES! I will have this quilt ready in time for the shower!

 But my excitement was premature.  After two good lengths of meanders -- a good 1/3 of the quilt finished nicely -- something strange happened to my tension.  And worse!  I didn't notice 'til I had quilted the whole third pass then rolled the quilt....and there they were. 

Nubbies.

Bad tension.

Ugly loose threads.

Yuk!

A whole quilt's length of them.

So, time to get re-acquainted with the Un-Sewer (we're old friends, but I hadn't visited in a while! LOL).  Time to make adjustments.  Time to face an un-inspiring chore and then get re-motivated to finish the project.

Life is full of unexpected things, isn't it!  And most are MUCH more tragic than my little quilting difficulties.

I have a dear friend who is dealing with her son's drug addiction.

I have another dear friend who is battling breast cancer.

Yet another close friend must live apart from her husband 3/4ths of the time because he works away from home; there are no jobs in his field anywhere nearby.

My husband is umpteen thousand miles away in Afghanistan on a deployment.

There's a lot of trouble all around me.  There were no warning signs for most of it.  No "Diversion Ahead" signs posted to let us know that we'd be facing difficulties.  

Jesus spent the better part of chapters 14-16 of John's gospel preparing His disciples for difficult days.  He starts out chapter 14 with "Don't let your hearts be troubled." And He ends chapter 16 with these words:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have troubles.  But take heart! I have overcome the world."  (John 16:33 NIV)

Not IF you have troubles, but you will have troubles.  But "take heart!" He says.  The apostle Paul said, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors though him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 8: 37-39 NIV)

I am convinced that I will conquor my little quilting difficulties.  I am convinced that I can rest securely in the One who not only knows my troubles, but gives me peace through them all.  I am convinced that I am -- and you are! -- loved.  I am convinced that when trouble comes, we can face it with Him and His peace.

Isn't peace one of the reasons we quilt, after all?

Blessings!

A Different Drummer

"Why do you quilt?"
As I sit in dentist's or doctor's offices, or wait on my boys for their Boot Camps and races and what not, I usually bring something to work on  -- right now it's either Circuit Rider applique blocks or my English Paper Piecing Tumbling Blocks.  People are always admiring and say they "could never..."  It gets me thinking.  Why do I quilt?

Sam with his drumming practice pads!

I was asking myself this question as I waited on Sam to finish his drum lessons. Sam has wanted to drum since he was knee-high to a grasshopper! :-D  Finally we are able to get him going, and it's part of his curriculum as we homeschool.  A class in some kind of performance/arts is a requirement for graduation in our state, so we can follow Sam's muse. 

Listening to my 16 year old son blather on  (!so cool when kids are excited about something and want to tell you every single infinitesimal detail, huh!? :-D) about his lessons and their difficulty and his excitement about overcoming the challenges, it occurred to me that I quilt for the same reasons that I homeschool.

I want to pour my life into something that lasts beyond me.

Deciding on curriculum,  and tutors (where needed  -- Sam is learning drums and Spanish and chemistry from better equipped teachers than I!), and activities (youth group at church, Boot Camp, athletics, music) are all part of the fabric and design of my children's educations. 

And they are unique just as each quilt I make is unique.  Each requires different colors or patterns or skills.  Each is its own work of art.  Each brings me joy beyond just the making. 

 

Homeschooling is an investment in something -- in someone(s), my daughter and my sons as they become caring, responsible individuals, critical thinkers, patriots, statesmen and women, followers of Christ --  that has potential to impact the world. And my quilts (beyond preserving my sanity!)? -- if only to make the world a little prettier, a little more comfortable, a little more comforting -- they have an impact, too.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says "Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil." (Amplified Version)

Investing in my children (and, yes, I think, in my quilts, too! :-D) is a way for me to "live purposefully" and "buy up each opportunity"  in these evil days. It's not particularly dramatic or noteworthy, but in our way we are making a difference.  When I am long gone, my kids will continue to change the world (and my quilts will be there to bless and comfort them and, hopefully, any generations that follow!) because I invested in them now.

And only Heaven will reveal how wide and how far their impact will be felt.  I can't wait to see!

Blessings,

Mary Lou