Reflections On a Finished Quilt.....

"Project Unicorn" wasn't completed quite yet... Label on the back had to sewn on...and now it is
done & waiting for name & address to mail the quilt.

While sewing the label to the back of the quilt, I thought about what it takes to make a marriage. I suppose there's a connection there somewhere - but I don't question any more what the Holy Spirit lays on my heart. It's easy to go with the flow than to argue. And who can argue successfully with the Holy Spirit!

On the 27th of July, Riley & I will celebrate our 37th wedding anniversary. We eloped on the 27th of July to Marshall, Texas - just over the Louisiana border - and told my parents that evening. Twenty-five years later, we renewed our vows in church. Bridesmaids, groomsmen, dad walking me down the aisle - the whole nine yards. And now on our 37th anniversary, we hope to renew our vows in our church. Riley emailed me the question I was not anticipating ... "what will you say?". I had assumed the pastor would do the talking - hopefully very briefly - and our response would be "uh huh" or words to that effect. Ah, not so. For days I have thought about what I would say...hopefully very briefly. And so I wrote from my heart.....

When I first joined hands with you 37 years ago, little did I know what our lives would be like. You promised then to love, honor and cherish me though life. While we had difficult times, God always was there for us – early on we just didn’t know His presence. We realized together God had to be first in our marriage and our life was so much better. You have made my life complete and full. Not only have you kept your promise to love, honor and cherish me, you’ve made our lives together an adventure. You’ve been there for me when I needed comfort, you’ve listened to my fears and you’ve held my hand throughout it all. We made a commitment to each other. Some days it wasn’t easy for we both let pride get in the way of love. God’s greatest commandment is LOVE. And I do so love you and pray we can renew our vows every year. You are my husband, my soul mate and my best friend.

What was in my heart was simply one word: commitment. No matter how difficult life was, our difference in opinions, our different viewpoints .... God kept us together despite every trial, every tribulation. There were times when I felt life was so unfair - my life was unfair - my world was unfair. As to what constitutes "unfair", I haven't a clue now -but I know I felt it. We as women do not have it easy. We bear the children, we keep house, we cook, and if conditions warrant, we do all this plus work outside the home. I came to the realization years ago, men have a much harder job. No matter how difficult the job, no matter how painful it is to go into that job day after day, they go. Imagine being in a position where there seems to be no way out, day after day. We have it easy? I believe not. Are we appreciated for efforts? In some instances, maybe not heard .... but demonstrated? Oh yes, day after day. And it took years for me to say "thank you".... and it took awhile for Riley to learn the art of "listening" without attempting to fix whatever was bothering me. He will never be my "bestest girlfriend" - but he is my best friend.

It's amazing how all this can come about by sewing a quilt label to the back of a quilt.

In the meantime, quilt ideas are floating around in my head once again. Time to start a new quilt.

And, oh yes, I quilt.

Angel45402