For my mom’s 60th birthday, I wanted to do something really special for her so I decided to sew her a quilt.  There was only one small glitch in my lofty plan: I didn’t know how to sew.  Luckily, I knew someone who did.  The Family and Consumer Science Teacher (Home Ec to me), was an expert.  She opened her classroom for sewing nights and patiently taught me each step.  Quilters seem to have their own foreign language.  When I heard ‘Stitch in the ditch” I thought it was a reference to where I should throw the pitiful-looking thing I was making.  My early work was not impressive!  Sometimes I’d look at those frayed squares and crooked stitches and doubt that it was going to develop into something worth making.  The waiting for a completed project seemed endless.  Yet surprisingly, little by little, something quite lovely began to take shape.  And finally, the completed work became a beautiful and treasured gift.

Your life can follow a similar pattern.  Sometimes you look at an individual day and wonder if the next will be better.  Waiting for a relationship to improve, bills to be paid, or a job issue to get resolved can overwhelm your days.  But rest assured, your life is going to get better.  God is working behind the scenes right now to improve your circumstances.  “I believe I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13-14)  You can be sure there are brighter days right around the corner; so keep going, keep waiting, and start expecting something good to happen.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 assures us, “He has made everything beautiful in its time…” There may be a lot of frayed places in your life, but those loose ends are coming together, and when they do, it’s going to make something quite beautiful.