Can you see the stitches in this embroidered dresser scarf? A friend recently gifted me with this, embroidered by her mother Zelda eons ago. Not many of us sit and work quietly with our hands anymore... Do you suppose our souls are missing something in that ?...
Anyway, it surprised me - how moved I felt as I noticed the stitches. Each one was so tiny, and perfect; carefully and intentionally placed. Can you see them? I imagined my own patience erupting, at some point, frustrated at my own clumsiness, and I might never even have finished. But Zelda persevered - providing the world with this small work of art.
I do love to sew, and I try to work with patience and care. And I like to think I'm fairly skillful. I enjoy watching something come alive out of what wasn't there before; there's a thrill when creating with my own hand and imagination. But, I mean, look closely at these perfect, tiny stitches!
It brought to mind Psalm 139 --" You [stitched] me in my mother's womb." Wow!
Each stitch? Really?? Each stitch? You knew what you had in mind? You deliberately created ME with the same care that Zelda took in her stitching??
Most of my life feels like the back side: knots, tangles, overlaps, messy threads. I can't quite get to the real picture. The good part. The finished part.
I turn Zelda's handiwork over and look at the back. It is as neat as the front. It really is!
Is it possible that our Creator God takes the same thoughtful, careful attention to creating? That what feels like a jumbled mess, from my underneath side, is just as intentional as the side God sees?? If one woman, sewing for her family, with cotton and patience, can do this, surely the Lord Creator can too?
I long to join the Psalmist and proclaim with confidence and joy: I am Fearfully and Wonderfully made! May I yield myself to his patient, tender creating, trusting that he is deliberate and intentional, and skillful, and good -- and smile when I feel the pricks of the needle...
