Stitched and Patched

 Ecclesiastes 3:7a   A time to tear and a time to mend…

“Put that in the ‘to be mended pile’,” my mother would say. 

An expert seamstress, nothing remained ripped or torn for too long.  She used what looked like a plastic Easter egg to darn holes in my dad’s socks,  sewed back buttons and slip-stitched my girl scout patches on my sash.  Every formal dress for my high school dances, she carefully put together to my design and color, especially paying attention to detail.  I learned to sew as well on the same machine, double checking all my seams to make sure they were the standard 5/8’s inch; if not, I had to do some “ripping out” and a redo.

Reminded of where my sewing ability came from as I finally got around to mending a pillow whose stuffing peeked out, I opened the same drawer of the sewing machine my mother used; now sitting in my own bedroom. Still filled with a multitude of threads and sewing accessories to complete the job, I reached in and found the perfect color thread to stitch together the torn apart side of the pillow. 

 When things in our life become ripped apart, torn, shredded and in need of mending, God just doesn’t throw us in the “to be” pile.  He reaches for that perfectly matching thread of grace, love, mercy and wisdom.  With tender care, we rest in His arms and allow Him to make us like new, and more than likely, stronger than the original.  God is seen in the intricate details of our life; a fabric of forgiveness, a silk-lining of service, a needlework of worship, a pattern of prayer; hemmed in humility, to bring glory to the Designer. 

Father, today I thank you for creating me with your divine thread of purpose.  Though at times I may become a little frayed, You still renew me with your perfect detailed stitches and patches of love.