My Mismatched Quilt of Life

I love my grandmother's quilts.  None of the pieces match.  When I was a little girl, she still sewed a lot of her clothes.  The quilts were made either from remnants that were left over from her dresses or from pieces that she picked up on sale.  I have a very old quilt of hers.  When I look at it, in the recesses of my mind I have a vague memory of her wearing a dress from one of the fabrics on the quilt.  It is a comforting thought.

I have heard a particular line many times throughout this Journey that I just don't like.  "Everything happens for a reason."  So many wonderful and well meaning people have said this to me.  I know they are only trying to help and comfort, but I just don't believe that this is a true statement.   Bad things happen because we live in a fallen, sinful world full of sinful people.  (I certainly include myself in that category.  I am surely a sinner that is saved by grace.)  My best friend's husband died seven years ago from a terrible disease called cancer that exists in this world.  I am divorced because my ex-husband no longer wanted to be in our marriage.  There are no good reasons for any of these things.

However, life is not all bleak and hopeless.  While I do not believe that everything happens for a reason, I do believe that no matter what happens to us, if we seek God with all of our hearts, He will work it all out for our good.  That is a promise made to us in a Bible verse that I learned years ago.

Romans 8:28 (New Living Translation)
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

That is an amazing feeling.  When I feel down and discouraged, I cling to that promise.  I will be honest.  It is not always easy.  I don't have any earthly idea what my future holds.  But I know that God holds my future, and I know that He is taking this terrible situation and weaving it together into a beautiful life for me.  I trust that with all my heart.  While I don't know what my future holds, I do know that as long as I am loving and following God, it WILL be good.

You know, my grandmother's quilts would have never won any contests at the fair, but to me they are beautiful.  They were pieced together from leftover scraps and made into something wonderful.  When I am wrapped in those quilts and memories of her come to mind, I feel her love that I knew for so many years come over me.

My original quilt of life was a work of art.  It was carefully crafted and to the world looked like a masterpiece.  That quilt was torn apart.  But my loving heavenly Father is remaking it.  He is taking the scraps from my old life and carefully and precisely piecing them together.  He is discarding the pieces that are beyond repair and replacing them with new, colorful pieces that make it even more interesting.  This quilt is going to be even more meaningful because it is going to be threaded with lessons learned and heartaches overcome. It will be stronger and sturdier than the first one.  No doubt, it will be able to help and comfort others in ways that the first one never could.

Thank you, God, that with You, there is ALWAYS hope.  No matter how desperate our lives seem, You promise us that if we will love You and follow You, it will all work out for our good in the end.  I don't know what my "good" is quite yet.  I get impatient at times and want You to hurry up and show me my plan for my life.  I want to see the "finished quilt."  But I know that I need to stop worrying about my future and just enjoy each day and the blessings that You send me.  Thank you, Lord, that I have You, and my scraps are not just thrown into the trash, but they are being woven into something beautiful.  Amen.