Patterns in the World

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

Romans 12:2 New International Version (NIV)

I won this quilt in a raffle for the Relay for Life a few years ago. Naturally it is too pretty to use, so I hung it on my bedroom wall. Someone spent many hours on this, laying all the pieces out so that once the quilt was sewn, it would display this pretty pattern. 

When I was in co-worker’s office the other day, I told her how beautiful this quilt was on her wall. She said that it was her favorite and that she didn’t have a pattern for it when she started.

She explained the whole process she went through, starting with the wildlife scenes and then adding to it. Running out and buying more material when she didn’t have anything that worked in a certain block.

       

I already had this quilting blog spinning around in my mind when I went to church last night. It is that time of year where the ladies spread out the quilts they have made for world relief. In a few weeks, their hard-work will be packed up and shipped to those in need in third world countries.

And my own quilting? Well, this is how good it is going - I couldn’t find the quilt pieces I started working on years ago.

So, what does this all have to do with anything? Sometimes we work with a pattern, sometimes we work by the seat of our pants. We work with what we have, but when we are hard up, we run to the store and buy what we need. The outcome is never the same. each finished product is a one-of-a-kind, each ends up somewhere else. And in my case, there may not be an outcome yet for many years, but that doesn’t mean I am a failure, I just am on a different schedule.

Which is how we should live our lives. Sometimes things go as planned, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes we have what we need, sometimes we don’t. But in the end all things work out according to God’s plan.