I recently took on the task of putting together some donated quilt blocks for the Mission Work Circle here at South Church.

The blocks were:       

ugly,

misshapen,

poorly stitched,

frayed and wrinkled,

odd color combinations,

fabrics thick and thin, coarse and fine.

Not to be a quilting snob, but I'm used to working with nice fabrics and pleasing colors. I became very frustrated, trying to turn these homely blocks into something beautiful...and then the Bill Gaither song got into my head. "Something beautiful, something good...all my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life." I have started to have a new attitude toward these blocks. First, I blessed the dear soul who obviously spent many, many hours stitching them and then donating them to be used in a very worthy cause.

Then the quilter began her work. The ragged edges were trimmed, and

every block (every single one!) was squared up and made true. The blocks looked better outwardly, but were still ugly! So, some pretty fabrics were added, the blocks were arranged and rearranged. Patterns and order emerged, the blocks were stitched together, and borders provided stability & cohesion. The result was a pretty little quilt!

The Lord - the 'Master Quilter' - did the same with my life! A close look will show that the insides of the blocks still contain some crooked seams, mismatched corners and puckers...remnants of the sin nature still within. They won't be fully eradicated in this lifetime. But the more and more of His beauty that's added to my life, the less obvious the flaws. The Master Artist is at work, changing me step by step into the image of his most beautiful Son - making something beautiful, something good, of my life.

By: Teri Nessia (April 2010)

The South Church Missionary Circle is a ministry of the Missions Committee. For more information visit this link: Missions Work Circle