Welcoming in 2023 Embracing the Patchwork Quilt

I clearly remember my Nanny telling me about the quilt she had for me. She explained how they would save their old dresses and cut it up into strips or shapes and create a quilt top. She would tell me about it and say I have each of you one. Then one day she decided to have someone quilt them for us for Christmas and she gave them to us and to this day, I treasure that quilt.

Life is kinda like a patchwork quilt: each person that comes into your life is like a strip or shape of material. Their friendship, their character, things you shared you store up in the memories of your mind. You may never make a quilt as those things are not tangible but oh how very special they are.

People come and people go all touching your life in some way.

Being in the ministry and just through the journey of life,  there have been so many people in our life, and I just want you to know I treasure the friendship we shared, the kindness, the encouragement, or the words of wisdom.
Funny how our journeys separated us or took us in different directions, but I am so thankful that each and every one of you have been a part of my patchwork life.

As of late ( well last 2 years) we have had a lot of death in our family and it truly leaves one a little numb. It also reminds you of the brevity of life as well as how precious it is. 

The true magic of life though is living through loss or grief all the while embracing the present. Not being numb, but alive and in the moment. 

Grief comes like waves, sometimes we embrace it and sometimes it cripples and sometimes we do our best to push it aside and save it for later.  Even compartmentalization works,  making sure to be present for loved ones but also grieving when needed. Compartmentalization is not being fake it is being wise and a great sign of emotional intelligence in that one can detach when needed and be present. 

Someone once told me you cannot grieve and not live and you cannot live and not grieve. All so very true.

To start 2023 , I challenge you as I challenge myself to live in the moment more. Not to be numb but alive. 

Through the old pieces of material that make up our life, Look for the beauty in each day, in each minute of the day. Look for the blessing and refuse to accept or feel cursed, but claim something good. Look for a lesson, look for a blessing amidst it all . As we look at our quilt, some pieces are tattered and torn and even worn thin. Others are still crisp and smooth like the new and easy things of life. All are part of our patchwork quilt and patchwork life. 

So in 2023 embrace life, alive and alert. Just show up even if you're secretly clutching that tattered blanket of security or holding on to that grief because you feel it keeps your loved one alive in your mind. Even if finances, or relationships or careers are not where you want or maybe even in shambles but in your heart may you have peace that can only be given by the One True God. Just Show up in 2023 and be present for the moment. Because that small thing, it seems like nothing, well the little things are not little and life is truly but a vapor. So embrace 2023 with new mindset and new love.

And as we close out 2022, remember that though our patchwork life has many pieces to it, In 2023 may we find ourselves healthy and whole and no longer numb, but warm as we embrace the many facets of the quilt of life. 

Running from Love

 I was 16 and I was running from Love. 

The things I knew, people I knew and loved me.... I ran. I hid. 

The one love that pursued me, I didn't want. I equated a difficult journey with that love. It wasn't easy and love is suppose to be easy. He pursued me any way. 

I think back on my love, the one true love in my life and how he always pursued me even when I pushed him away at 15, 16, 17, 18. He spent years pursing me. Loving me anyway and sending people in my life to let me know. 

This mysterious love was God. He waited on me, he pursed me, he always loved me, it just took me some time to learn how to love him back. It took me years to understand the kind of love HE offers. 

He loved me when I didn't love myself and when I wanted nothing to do with him. 

I was singing Reckless love the other day by Cory Asbury and it brought to my mind how God always loved me.  These words really got me :

When I was your foe still your love fought for me 

You have been so good to me 

You paid it all for me

You have been so kind to me

Singing that made me remember when I was a foe of Christ when I was 16 and running from him. I remember being at the beach with friends, and a church group of strangers pursued me there, and I discouraged my friends from even talking to them. Yes, I was a foe. I was running from the lover of my soul and I wanted no one else to have that love either. It's a great song if you haven't heard it you should go listen. 

Of course Reckless love that seems not like God at all. His love is not reckless it is intentional and free and part of his plan, not reckless.Well yes,  that is the theology thing to say but we are not all theologians. We the lay people of the world, see his love as reckless, our carnal selves cannot understand a love so true. We cannot fathom a love so genuine and forgiving and to us it is reckless but to HIM it is the gift HE promised. It is His natural gift. He is the shepherd and we are the lost lambs and he is searching for us all even that 1 that strays. 

I am so thankful that he waited on me, that he loved me even when I pushed HIM away. He loved me, and he sent subtle messages to me until I decided one day to love HIM back. Til I decided to accept the call from the lover of my soul. Since then, he has been closer than a brother, he has been a strong shoulder to cry into, a friend, a father, a mother. He has offered peace in the dark times, and hope to clean up the pieces when things fall apart. He is my everything! Thank you God for loving me.

He loves you and he is pursuing you today. He sends people your way to remind you that you are his, that he loves you and wants you to be his bride. He wants you to love him back. He is searching for you. Nothing you have done could make him reject you. Come to HIM today!!!!