It's a bright, cheery quilt, showcasing all sorts of lovely fabrics from Africa.
Some I bought with Angèle the last time I visited. Some pieces are from the very first two skirts I had made when I moved to Senegal. Some are fabulous wax prints I found on Etsy.
And this ever-so-happy-looking quilt has also been a sanctifying quilt, something God has been using to teach me.
I am a perfectionist.
I am also human.
Which means that I'm forever wanting, striving, reaching for perfection…and forever falling short.
Even in the most mundane aspects of my life, I play this foolhardy chase, me after ever-elusive perfection.
Perfectly matching quilt seams don't make me an amazing person.
They don't make God happier with me.
And conversely, when those blessed seams are puckered or just off, He is not disappointed in me.
Nothing comes to a screeching halt either in heaven or on earth.
I sometimes act like it might.
Why, having tasted grace, do I insist on going back to the chains of perfectionism and self-effort?
I know all about grace in my head. I love talking about it, writing about it, singing about it.
But something as simple as a sewing project shows me all over again how much I still need it. Grace isn't a need from my Pharisee past. It's something I'll need for as long as I live, more desperately than I need oxygen.
Sanctification, this walk with Jesus, is a process. It so rarely comes in the adventures, the flashy moments, the next exciting experience, but in the flat, mundane path of the everyday.
Learning takes time.
Growing takes time.
Grace means He walks with me, shows me myself, shows me Himself.
Right here in the midst of everyday life - with its puckered seams and stacks of fabric on the ironing board and pins strewn across the dining room table - Grace Himself walks with me.
Could I wish for anything more?
I love your posts about our imperfections and God sustaining grace while showing us His perfect faithfulness. Striving to do our best should never consume us, but simply remind us that only HE is perfect. I wish I could post a picture here of a beautiful handrail that Caroll installed. He hurried to complete the job so the homeowner could host a party, so worked late one evening. At 10pm, he stood back to look at the finished job, only to discover that one of the ballusters were upside down. (((sigh))) He assured her that he would come the following day to correct it, but told her that it has been said that Amish women purposely make a "mistake" somewhere on their handmade quilts to remind themselves that only GOD is perfect. The homeowner loved the story.....and the balluster is still upside down 15 years later. Sanctification....by grace. We are blessed. Love to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that story, Joyce. I like what you said - striving to do our best should not consume us. Perfection can so quickly become an idol, can't it? Yay for grace that is so much bigger than any of our idols and imperfections! Love you too.
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