Last week I spent from Monday afternoon ‘til Saturday morning at the home of a dear friend of mine, Annalisa C. (some of my readers know who I mean) - she and her husband have five adorable children ranging in age from 6 years to seven months- and the ‘excuse’ for our wonderful scheme was that she was teaching me how to sew.
Here is the quilt we made! It took two days to complete. (Just have to brag a little!)
It fits on a queen size bed.
This is the reverse side- it is double sided made with 112 twelve-inch squares.
One thing I learned (besides the obvious implication of a home-economics course) was what a truly beautiful person looks like. She is a beautiful lady- and we actually had a discussion on beauty last weekend at the annual ‘Hayride’ that our family enjoys going to which is hosted by her husband’s family at their pasture. She said that real beauty is your attitude inside showing on the outside. I guess only becoming more of a woman of God will bring out beauty that matters- natural beauty, a gift from God, is worthless if it isn’t adorned with a meek and quiet spirit. Believe me, good attitudes really show- but bad attitudes show just as much, or more, so watch out! Only God can work a truly beautiful attitude in any person- LET HIM DO HIS WORK, LEARN, BE HUMBLE, AND OBEY HIS WORD!!!
This is a closeup of the cool side of the quilt!
Spending time with her (and her husband, Josh- he really is a great guy- I love them both!) was a blessing to me in observing how her attitude towards life, her husband, and her children was manifested in daily life, you know, breakfast, mud, applesauce, runny noses, etc… Not only this, but God orchestrated the whole event so that my coming was also a blessing to them, something that was too coincidental to be coincidental, if you get what I mean! J
We made these skirts for my four younger sisters- aren’t they wild?
Being around so many young children reminded me constantly that of such are the kingdom of heaven. William really has his bible lessons learned!! (Let him who was at the hayride understand what I’m talking about…) Hearing their devotion times and singing songs at dinner with even the three year old pitching in made me wonder at the doubt we so often cast upon our little ones’ innocent piety and love of God. Why can’t a child love God as sincerely as an adult? If anything, their love is more pure, if less full, than ours because they aren’t set upon by unbelief, they are so trusting, albeit sinful and in need of a saviour. They love God, He loves them, and it doesn’t get much simpler than that. Why can’t He reveal Himself to a babe as far as their maturity will understand? He does, of this I’m sure. This is why we are to come to Him as a little child does.
Here are the aprons we made for my brothers to use- they’re a little
more ‘manly’ than lace and frills for our aspiring chefs, don’t you think?
The funny thing was that while I had been thinking these thoughts and learning how wonderful children are, Annie chose to read aloud before bedtime the story of Jesus rebuking the disciples for forbidding a child to come unto Him.
How perfect! What confirmation!
We are supposed to lead the children to the Saviour, not tell them when they're older- you gotta make sure 'cuz if you don't know you're REALLY saved... you finish the thought- of course no one wants to be one of those fake Christians!! I know I never understood this approach when I was a child and everyone, though not purposefully, made me to doubt what I'd believed since infancy. Don't doubt, teach assurance by living in Christ- as you may have noticed, this is a theme close to my heart.
Anyway, every night that Josh was able to be home early enough (which was every night save one) we sang hymns in the living room for awhile- the first time Annie’s sister played my guitar, I played violin, Annie played recorder and Josh was on the piano until he quit so he could listen to us! We sounded pretty good, if I do say so myself! It was a lot of fun to sing and play in harmony although most of the time we just had the piano or sang acapella. (Does anyone else feel a Barney Fife moment coming on? How do you spell that word anyway?)
Since Abby, Annie's sister was staying with them also, we brought the ratio of boys and girls almost even- with William, Grant, Chris, Nicholas and Josh on one side and Lexi, Annie, her sister and me on the other. (We really were even because a nursing baby doesn't count, right?) Lexi (the four year old) was watching me sew the quilt in the bedroom and she suddenly collapsed onto the bed with a big smile across her face (sorry, no pictures!) Her mom asked her why she was so happy. She replied, "I just love having all these people here!" To tell the truth, it was a blast. I made with some quilt scraps a mask for Grant (3 years old) and he ran around the house for two days simply emanating coolness- he was pretending to be Zorro when he wasn't a 'bad guy' or a cougar or a black bear. I'm glad to be back home with my own siblings, but I'm going to miss those kids something terrible!
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Well, that was how I occupied myself last week. Now I have only to put into practice what I learned. And I don’t just mean sewing another quilt either!
~JORDAN ELIZABETH
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