Embrace the Ordinary, 2019 vol. 2
He brings beauty out of chaos.
It’s my experience that crafting starts with an idea, a frenzied collecting of supplies, and is followed with several days (weeks, months, years!) of messes.
I am nearly an expert at the mess part. The last time I sewed a quilt, I had a room just for crafting. It was easy to leave fabric and my sewing machine out, day after day. I’d sneak in there early in the morning, late at night, even during homeschool days for a quick sanity check.
Even with the freedom and space to keep my mess-becoming-a-quilt out every day, the last quilt took me three years to finish. It’s imperfect, and beautiful. Every one of us in my family has snuggled up with it.
Starting a new quilt now = perpetual mess in more than one room. Cutting mats are out. Scraps and strings end up on me, under the table, on the couches (how??). The sewing machine stays out, on the dining room table or tucked into a nearby corner. Pieces in progress pile up on the bookshelf. Quilting is a bit chaotic and messy; but the end result is a thing of beauty, comfort, even joy.
And it struck me, as I scrolled my camera roll images and landed on the above photo of my quilting mess + favorite miracle story, that God’s creative process–perfect as it is–might be a bit like mine (in reality mine is a mere and imperfect reflection of His, but bear with me). He takes all kinds of pieces of our lives, messy as it may seem from day to day, and crafts beauty from the chaos. He can see so many possibilities from up above, possibilities I might not even dream of.
The miracle story made me think of God bringing beauty from chaos, because the incredible joy of a son brought back to life is beautiful. Bonnie’s story of her family’s faith and trust in the Lord, especially during the unknown and stress and fear, is beautiful.
God’s workmanship in my messy life is already beautiful and will be so perfect when He is done. The pieces of my life, –strong in some areas and weak in others, beaten down and tattered in the corners from hurts and fears— those are colorful bits He’s using to piece together the tapestry of my life.
Lord, teach me to stay out of your way and hand my life over for you to work. Please accept all the messy pieces of my story as I surrender it all to you. Make beauty out of the chaos in my life.
