Patches of Grace

Summer’s Patchwork

By Bonnie Winters

My garden plot is a summer patchwork – a living, growing comforter wrapping my heart with a sense of peace and warmth as I tend to each plant and row; lovingly weeding, watering and harvesting.

Two rows of green beans with thready pods hanging down on the underside of the leaves marks the outer border of the garden.

Sturdy melon vines bearing large striped globes along with their daintier cucumber cousins stitch a row by themselves, flanked by the broad leafed squash plants boasting their yellow and green offerings. Pumpkin vines stitch one corner of the garden with large orange globes.

Polka dot tomato plants with yellow blossoms and luscious red fruit march down their own row. Pepper plants spice up the pattern a bit with hints of red, green, yellow and jalapeño accents.

Lacy carrot greens add texture to the next row, while curly lettuce plants form French knots in a narrow line. Spiky onion tops cross stitch the final row in place.

Rich brown soil borders each carefully planned and aligned section in contrast with shades of green, showing off the pattern to perfection. Each block boasts a different color value and texture – a sampler of divine inspiration. The whole patchwork is bordered with a fine silver chain-link fence to protect the bounty until the harvest is ready.

My heart is rejuvenated as I work on my summer patchwork. I sense the same joy God must feel as He tends to us – His living, breathing garden. He carefully plans and lays out our lives; fitting them together into a beautiful pattern. When the time is right, He will harvest a bountiful crop: ten, twenty, one hundred fold, springing from the love and care He invested in our lives.

Thank You Lord for my summer patchwork.

~ ~ ~

Putting it all together with praise

by Bonnie Winters

Seeing a summer evening fireworks display for the first time through the eyes of my grandchildren is one of the best parts of being a grandma.

“Oooh.” Their little eyes grow round with awe as they lean back as far as they can in their pint-sized lawn chairs watching the fiery missile inching higher and higher into the sky.

“Aaaaahhh.” They sigh as the streak sizzles into glittering sparkles floating downward again.

“Oh no!” They gasp, covering their ears as the thunderous explosion finally reaches us far away from the launch site on our hillside retreat. I’ll treasure the memories forever.

Quilt designer Annette Truong captured the wonder of those summertime memories for me in her Fireworks ® quilt block pattern I recently discovered online. Using dark shades of blue and black fabric to represent the night sky and bright gold and silver lamé fabrics to make the fingers of the glittering fireworks, the block depicts a whimsical version of the real thing, much to the delight of the little children in my life.

The pattern looked intimidating – there were 38 irregular shaped pieces, some triangular and others looking like trapezoids or some other kind of tiny zoids with complicated corners.

“I’ll never be able to put that together!” I thought, laying the pattern aside. But my common sense won out and I picked it up again, examining it carefully to see how the pieces fit together. To my surprise, there were 4 sections to the completed square. These sections were constructed with small pieces building on each other and by following the numerical order of the pieces; all the seams ran in straight lines. No scary corners! The completed the sections fit together in the same way, forming a glittering explosion in a night sky.

The process of putting this block together reminded me of a time fifteen years ago when I began to work through a difficult depression in my life. My emotions felt shredded into small dark pieces and I couldn’t figure out how to put my life back together into a meaningful whole. I felt overwhelmed and sure that things will never be right again.

Praise became the thread to stitch my heart back together one piece at a time as I meditated on who and what God was to me. I looked for praiseworthy things in each dark corner of my hurting heart and discovered little things He had done to show His love for me over the years.

Even the tiniest victory became a celebration of praise and joy until over time, whole sections of my damaged heart came together. Each section contained tears and joy, though I still couldn’t discern the way they would finally fit together.

Over time, my life became whole again as Jesus and I stitched the remaining sections together, revealing His triumph out of the darkness of depression, much like the shimmering pattern of the fireworks exploding on the dark fabric of this quilt block. Through praise He won the victory.

Everyone has rips or tears in the fabric of their lives that need the Savior’s attention. Praise is the thread that runs through every situation, mending and stitching our hearts together again. Finding something, even if it’s small, in the difficult times will help bring out His glory in your life and help restore the joy. What will you praise Him for today?

Quills & Ink:

BEAUTY IN SMALL THINGS

by Mariane Holbrook

I love tiny things. I look for the smallest seashells along our sandy shore, studying the intricacies of their unique design. Walking through the deep woods, I search for the miniscule flower peering shyly from under a sodden leaf, the fragrance from its satin petals begging to be inhaled and stroked.

God has a way of sending into our lives precious people who are not lettered, who don't claim great fiduciary success, who haven't noticeably impacted the world of society nor do they seek to imitate it.

A little wildflower appeared in my life last year through the wonders of the internet. Small in stature, somewhat shy, but struggling to carry the uneven, cumbersome burden that Multiple Sclerosis placed on her frail shoulders, this wood nymph reached out to me for friendship and love.

Darlyne, (pronounced "Darlin' by her natural mother who lovingly raised her and saw her ailing child safely into adulthood), knew early in life the pain of this dreaded disease. In her teens, Darlyne knew the torment of being misunderstood by the world of medicine. Loneliness became her bedfellow; weakness, her unwelcome companion.

Darlyne's mantle is both bravery and courage. When her mother was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer and said her final goodbyes, Darlyne's faith in God dug fiercely into even deeper root. She wiped away her tears with the soft fabric of God's love that He had firmly and tenderly wrapped around her years before.

Today, she spends many hours each day in bed, swallowing copious amounts of pain medicines, trying to surround herself with music and literature to enlarge her narrowing world and give her hope. Her prayer life is legendary.

There are three things we all require in order to survive::

Something to do
Someone to love
Something to hope for

Darlyne, though bedridden for much of the day, deals with "something to do" vicariously. She takes extraordinary interest in the lives of her sister's family and in the lives of her close friends. She wants details to feed her eager mind.

She has "someone to love" in her husband who promised to care for her all the days of her life.

She has "something to hope for" in the promise of eternal life given to her by her ever-present Saviour, whom she adores.

We have yet to meet in person but I know her by heart. She challenges me when I'm discouraged. She lights a candle in my soul when I feel doubt. She wraps herself around the tendrils of my heart when I need relief from my own chronic pain.

Darlyne is a little wildflower, young enough to be my daughter, whom God put in my path to remind me of His love, a precious jewel who quietly ministers when no one else can.

~ ~ ~

DIAMONDS

by Mariane Holbrook

“Diamonds Are Created Fifty Miles Below The Surface Of The Earth.”

I read the headline and cringed.

Imagine the pressure. Imagine the darkness. Imagine the isolation. Imagine the distance from anyone who would ever appreciate the grueling process or even discover that they were there. And all the while, the refining goes on interminably until an outside force declares “That’s enough” and the release and retrieval of the stones begins.

The master craftsman cuts away the impurities and imperfections and begins the arduous process of faceting, so that at every possible angle, light is reflected. The final polish produces a diamond as nearly perfect as any jewel on earth and certainly more universally loved than any other.

And so it is with Christians. Those who suffer the greatest pressure, the most agonizing trials, the severest losses, the most mind-numbing isolation and the most debilitating infirmities, are being carefully formed in that unbearably lonely terrain by the One who Himself crafts His saints, His diamonds, the darlings of His care.

Corrie Ten Boon, whose family hid the Jews from encroaching Nazis, was one of these diamonds. When her so-called treason was discovered by the Nazis, Corrie and her sister were incarcerated in a prison camp where Corrie’s sister died as a result of injuries inflicted by Nazi prison guards. Corrie’s account, which was later made into a major motion picture, reveals the loneliness, isolation, suffering, pressure and darkness of a diamond-in-the-making.

Her submission, her faith and trust in Almighty God, her willingness to have the dross repeatedly cut away from her life, permitted her to finally emerge as a diamond ready for the final faceting and polishing. We who are still in the process admire and emulate her.

The Apostle Paul, a devoted follower of Christ, was not spared. His beatings, his loneliness, his incarcerations, his vilification, his suffering, his prolonged illness, his isolation, all became part of the faceting process which shaped him into a model for Christian behavior for all time.

God never promised not to give us more than we think we can endure; indeed, His children have more often than not been subjected to pain and suffering way beyond their endurance. But there is comfort in knowing these words:

Never doubt me, please don't fret,
I’ve never left My children yet.
Remember, child, that you can rest
And trust in me to do what’s best.
My reasons seem obscure to you,
But there are things that I must do
To make you, child, more like My Son,
And only I’ll know when that’s done.

I’ll see you through; I know the way
Will seem so hard, but this I’ll say:
Your very soul is safe with Me
For now and for eternity.

The Master Craftsman, with a painful but loving chisel, is busy at work. And we can trust not only His timeless skill, but His flawless, finished product.