A passage of scripture came to mind as I crocheted a doily one evening:

¹³For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  ¹⁴I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  (Psalm 139:13-14 NIV)

Even though I was crocheting and this passage refers to knitting, both are forms of needlework with which intricate patterns can be made.  Each one of us is a wonderful work made by God, our Creator.  An important similarity to notice is that, just as a doily is never completed all at once, neither are we.  Rather, it is started with just a few stitches to form a loop.  Then, to that loop, more stitches are added for form the first “round.”  Once the first round is completed, the second round is attached to and built upon the first, and so on.  In any beautiful doily, each successive round has at least a slightly different combination of stitches in it.  This is what creates the intricate pattern which makes it beautiful.

This is how God makes and shapes our lives, too.  We are created in the womb.  After birth, we continually grow and learn until we mature as adults.  But the growth and learning should never stop there.  As God sends us trials and tests, our actions and what we learn from them form different “rounds” of our lives.  Each round is built upon the previous one (the things we have experienced and learned).

While we live this earthly life, others can (and do) observe the intricate patterns of our lives.  And, just as in a doily, some “rounds” are pretty plain and basic.  Some rounds may even contain skipped or erroneous stitches (sins). The most beautiful rounds in our lives, though, are formed when we successfully endure hardships with God’s help.

It is only when we leave this earthly life to face the Judgment that our pattern is a completed work.  What will others see in us?  Much more importantly, what will God see then?  It is my prayer that in me, God and others will see an intricate pattern of a Christian woman who, because of His grace and her belief in His Son,  learned well the lessons he planned for her and served him faithfully to the end. 

Copyright © 1998 Kimberly B. Southall.  All rights reserved.