The year I turned 12 stands out in my short history as the best year ever. That was the year I became a ‘woman,’ the year I was allowed to wear lip gloss and mascara (clear), and the last year I made straight A’s. It was also the year I received my very own quilt. It was red, white and blue in a perfect log cabin pattern, handmade by my beloved Grandma. Well, with time, as all things have a tendency to, my quilt began to show signs of wear. There were the small snags from where the clothespins had caught on a corner just right. The yellowed stains left behind by the teary puddles of an emotional teenager. The cozy softness caused by many, many trips to the laundry room. Patches in places that a simple mending job just wouldn’t do. The Big E. sewn into the back, my favorite initial.
This lovely heirloom saw the tops of my own children’s beds as I grew from a single gal to wife and mom and could not use it on the huge bed now shared with my husband. It gathered more stains as Kool-Aid spilled, peanut butter plopped, and diaper accidents found their way into the shared memories of that beautiful quilt. I remember the last time I saw it. I packed the quilt, along with several other handmade items, into a box as we prepared to enter into the ‘military’ chapter of our lives. Baby blankets, placemats, doilies, and my beloved log cabin quilt, all stored for safe keeping in a cardboard treasure chest. I’d never see that box again.
What made this one quilt so special? It was handmade by my Grandmother, a one-of-a-kind product of her time and energy and love that cannot be replaced. I haven’t had the heart to tell her that it’s gone. If given the opportunity, I would do or give (almost) anything to give it back, rips and stains and all. I’d pay (almost) any amount of money, travel (almost) any distance, trade (almost) any possession just to have it back in my hands.
You know Who else has a similar passion, but for you and I?? No matter what rips or stains or initials we’ve been marked with? God says in Dueteronomy 14:2 that we are His “treasured possessions,” and in Colossians 3:12, it says we are, “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.” God loves us. He created every single one of us to be unique. One-of-a-kind. “Fearfully and wonderfully made,” is how we are described in Psalm 139:14. Genesis 1:27, in the story of Creation, at the beginning of time, announces clearly that we were created in the image of God. We must be beautiful in God’s eyes. No matter how beautiful we all started out, we’ve all made poor decisions that seemed to leave stains. And not one of us have escaped the heartbreak that seems to rip us to shreds at times. We all have patches, places where there has been loss, and our best attempts to patch those areas up. These things only endear us to His heart that much more. How can I say these things? How can I be sure?
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The big difference in how much God loves us is that there was no ‘almost’ when God decided to do whatever it took to get us back, his treasured possessions. He paid the ultimate price, traded the best of what He had. For me. For you. Softly worn, stained, torn and patched one-of-a-kind quilts. Christmas has come and gone, the New Year already here to shoosh us on our busy ways. Will you remember what so many seem so eager to forget? Jesus came as a baby, yes, but He came to ransom our lives, and not just in the month of December. We have the opportunity to offer ourselves as a Gift back to God every single day, stains and all. Can you look at your patchwork life and ask God to use each rip, stain and memory for His Glory? God doesn’t need us to be perfect, just to be present.
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