SEWN TOGETHER WITH LOVE
Lately, I have been aching for the comfort of my mother’s little sewing room.
When my blanket fort collapsed or my tummy rumbled , I always knew I could find her there.
It was no bigger than a closet, with walls the color of buttermilk and windows that opened wide their panes for the sunbeams to warm her shoulders as she clipped, smoothed, pinned, and pressed, the fabric of our lives.
Holding colored pins between her lipstick, Momma hummed as she worked, pausing and tilting her head, as if imagining what could be. For the style she had selected promised to drape me with beauty, but first it must be basted together, one careful stitch at a time.
At times, she and I would struggle there as she sought to see its progress, pulling a wreath of gingham over my sighing head with great determination, adjusting and tucking despite my protest.
Seams were often ripped out and reworked, but she never walked away from a project.
Some Saturday nights, I would fall asleep with a head of pink sponge curlers and the faint hum of her Singer in my ears, only to wake to find a brand-new pinafore hanging in my closet, crisply starched and ready for church - the proof of her tireless love for me.
That same love laid a pattern on my soul that I would one day grow to pin my own hopes on. For the Gospel she demonstrated for me in that tiny, pale corner of my childhood, was one of forgiveness, perseverance and hope.
Through my mother’s hands, the Master Tailor made a garment to shield me from this world’s chill, made up with the quick, sure needlework of truth and a thread of quiet courage stretched across all the days of my life.
Even now, I try hard not to squirm as my Maker expertly fits me for His kingdom - knowing that I will one day wake to find my garment waiting - pressed crisp, white as the winter snow.
Until then, I will ever return to that open doorway I know so well, to sit in the Presence of Love at work, one tiny stitch at a time.
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Philippians 1:6 nlt