Pin or Rip?

But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Psalm 39:7 (NIV)

I have been feeling really irritable this week. I don’t know if it is because we are a week into our Gluten free diet or because my to do list is too long and there is not enough time. Last Friday, my to do list looked like this:

Assemble and quilt a medium sized batik quilt
Assemble and quilt a baby batik quilt
Cut, assemble and quilt a pink baby quilt
Cut, assemble and sew two baby bibs
Assemble and sew three bags, a batik bag, a pink bag and a Florida Gators bag
Assemble and sew a quilted batik tote bag

On Monday, my to do list looked like this:

Assemble and quilt a medium sized batik quilt

Assemble and quilt a baby batik quilt
Cut, assemble and quilt a pink baby quilt
Cut, assemble and sew two baby bibs
Assemble and sew three bags, a batik bag, a pink bag and a Florida Gators bag
Assemble and sew a quilted batik tote bag

See any difference? No? That’s because there was no difference. My weekend got in the way of my to do list.

Then, I went into a very busy week at work that meant I would be cramming any sewing into a few free hours each evening, except the week started with a work meeting on Monday night. While in that meeting, my boss leaned over and said, “Robin Williams just committed suicide. Why would he do that? He has everything.” And in fact, that seems to be the way most of us responded to the news as well as the question, “If Robin Williams, with his gifts, laughter, money, fame, family, houses couldn’t make it in this world, what hope is there for me?” That echoed around in my head. On Tuesday, I finally got to sew on the medium batik quilt, but in my effort to take a shortcut, I did not pin the back to the batting and the top as securely as I should have. I only pinned along the top and sides. The result was a huge mess as the backing wadded up when the fabric slid around under the machine. Trying to undo the damage, I created more cutting a hole in the backing. I fixed the hole and the next night, spent a lot of time making sure I pinned it all together properly. One Internet site I read advised that you don’t have enough pins if you can put your hand on the quilt and not feel a pin. While pinning, I was thinking about Robin Williams and it occurred to me that my only hope is staying pinned to Jesus. When life gets tough, if we are securely fastened to Jesus, that is when life may not be easier, it may not make sense, but it at least gives us meaning and hope for the future. I am not saying that if you are depressed you shouldn’t see the doctor or the counselor and take the medicines, but that the bottom line is only Jesus gives real and lasting joy and hope. We can’t find it in anything else. So, when life is unsteady, pin your hope on Jesus and stay there. And in the end, all those messed up pieces of your life will come together into a beautiful creation.

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