[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Saturday, March 8, 2014

[Paul]

Greetings to all my fellow saints of the Most High God, no matter what time of day it is or what country you reside in.  I hope that, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, that you are all doing well.  My readers down in Kiwi Country are no doubt preparing to leave their homes and heading to their respective houses of worship as this is being written, so I hope and pray that you and your fellow congregants will get a good word from the Lord as imparted to you by your pastors and/or Sunday school teachers.  More importantly, I pray that you will apply what you will hear and learn to your individual lives as the gracious Holy Spirit enables.  And you in Australia aren't that far behind your co-religionists in New Zealand.

Fran Hart is a writer from Round Rock, Texas, and she shares with us today her contribution entitled "A Stitch In time:  Finishing What I Started," rendered as follows:

I sat on my bedroom floor surrounded by skeins of yarn, piles of red, white, and blue granny squares.  Pieces of an afghan my husband, Jim, and I started crocheting years ago, forgotten until I unearthed it from my closet in a bout of cleaning.  I picked up a square and ran the soft threads between my fingers.  Why hadn't I finished the afghan? Why did it seem I never finished anything? That's what working 60 hours a week at a computer company, teaching Sunday school, sitting on the church vestry, and raising kids will do to you, I guess.  I just wished I felt more fulfilled, more connected to a deeper purpose instead of scattered like those afghan squares.

"What's that?" Jim asked, walking into the bedroom.

"Remember that afghan we started?" I replied.

"Wow, that was ages ago," Jim said.  "You're finally going to finish it?"

I stared at him.  Finish it! Who had time? And yet--could I really just shove all these squares, some already discolored with age, back in the closet? Maybe I could squeeze it in somehow.

Work really wore me out the next day.  That night I plopped down in front of the TV, ready to zone out.  Then I remembered the afghan.  Half annoyed, I grabbed some yarn and a crochet hook.  I draped a strand of yarn over my left hand and clutched my crochet hook in the other.  First, a slipknot.  Then over, under.  I led the yarn through one loop, then the other.

I fell into a rhythm, my fingers moving by themselves.  My mind wandered.  I imagined the finished product--a checkerboard of red, white, and blue, thick and soft, keeping Jim and me warm on cold nights.  That got me thinking about our kids.  Our oldest was grown, living in Houston; Jim and I were planning a trip there soon.  Our son was excited about going to summer camp.  God has truly blessed us, I thought.  When was the last time I'd felt this abiding sense of gratitude?

I took to crocheting squares every chance I got.  In the evenings.  While Jim drove us to visit our daughter in Houston and to drop our son off at camp.  In Sunday school, when the kids were working on a project.  For once I wasn't spending those moments thinking about calls and emails I had to return, or next week's Sunday school lesson plan.  It felt so peaceful watching that afghan take shape.

I hit a few snags, like when I realized I needed to make twice as many squares as I'd planned.  And when I figured out I'd have to trim each square in white to make them easier to assemble.  It took more time, but I didn't mind.  Every moment carved out to crochet was time to reflect, to pray, to grow closer to God.  That was the connection I'd been missing.

Finally, I was able to admire my creation.  I wrapped the blanket around myself, enjoying its warmth.  It had seemed so impossible that day I found it in the closet two months earlier.  One granny square at a time, though, it came together.

Like life, I thought.  I couldn't transform my busy schedule all at once.  But by making room for God, making room for moments to appreciate His blessings day by day, I could start to get closer.  One granny square, one prayer, at a time.

And there you have it for today.  Hope this story was a blessing to you.  It reminded me of a verse from the Book of Philippians, chapter 3 I think:  "He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." If we were afghans, I'm sure that God, in his wisdom, wouldn't put us in the closet and then forget us for two months now, would He? Anyway just something to think about.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow we will have our Bible game, this time from the Old Testament.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul