I always tell students that quilts are made up of straight lines.  But that isn’t true.  Quilts are made of broken lines, just like life.  Over and over again, we try to walk a straight path, but run into dead ends, sharp corners, and uneven ground that cut us off and forces us to change direction.  Sometimes it’s’ painful, other times joyful.  But it isn’t until you take a moment to stand still, step off the line and back away, that you finally see the truth. Those unexpected turns and startling about faces, the chaotic path, it wasn’t chaotic at all.  When you step back to see where you have been, you discover the shape, the reason, the intricately beautiful pattern and vivid  colors of a life stitched together from what, at one point, had seemed nothing more than mismatched scraps and broken lines.  Stepping back, you see that there had been a design all along and a designer.

Marie Bostwick, “A Single Thread: A Novel”

What a beautiful way to state what I have been feeling, but did not have the right words to express.  Broken lines and sharp corners.

We have had much distress the last little over two months.  A death in the family.  A stage four cancer diagnosis in the family.  The death of a dear friend.  Hand surgery.  Being told our dear dog will not be here next year.  (But I do believe in miracles!)  My sister losing her beloved cat, who I loved too.  Realizing a loved one no longer knows who I am…

However, I know that it is all part of life.  We all experience heartache, and that makes the good times even sweeter.  None of it takes God by surprise.  “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  Psalm 139: 16b

Just as I would not make a quilt without making sure there were light, medium, and dark values to make it interesting, I would not find life near as interesting without all the different emotional values.  I would not appreciate the bright days as much, or even the neutral days, without the dark days spattered in.  But the bright and neutral are there for me to look back on during the dark days, and they make me smile.

And I thank God for the great design He has created and called my life!

(BTW… The picture is the winter view from the front of our house.  Only during the shortest days and coldest months does this view appear.  Beauty to look forward to each winter!)

No matter what you are going through today, create something beautiful today.  And creating a beautiful memory counts!