(The Infertility Companion by Glahn/Cutrer)

Tapestry or weavings are very popular here in Ecuador.  Some towns are almost completely dedicated to this skill and I am witness of their beautiful handiwork.  I grew up with a mother who sews.  The hum of the machine was a familiar sound and there was never a lack of fabric or ribbons or projects in our home.  She often made my sister and I dresses and could whip up a perfectly crafted item after simply seeing something in the store.  Truly an artist.  I can remember when she allowed me to "sew" with a non-threaded needle on the machine and send a blank piece of paper through, and all the tiny, perfectly measured dots that took shape.  There was something magical about pushing your foot on the pedal and the measured up and down of the needle.  Unfortunately, I never quite honed that skill which my mother has mastered.  The number of sewing projects I began (and never finished) is too many to count.  Sure, I can sew on a loose button or mend something if I really need to but my lack of precision often means that I must re-do.  Rip it out and start again.  

Much like the quote above, I have felt in the midst of knots and tangles.  I like the image it gives me that I am the thread being woven on the loom.  I don't get to know exactly what the end result will be, only the tapestry maker knows but I can trust His skilled hands.  So many times, I would leave unfinished sewing projects in a heap, giving up on the end result.  Silently, my mother would redeem it.  She would take out my poorly and misaligned stitches and re-do it.  I clearly remember a quilt that I "began" and never finished.  Then on Christmas morning, I opened a box with the finished quilt, pristine and perfect.  Things that I give up on, the Tapestry Maker lovingly redeems in my life.  

"It's what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together and completes it with joy."  Romans 14:18 (MSG)

I want to encourage you, that as you are stretched on the loom, you are not alone.  My stretching has come in the form of secondary infertility.  I am not asking for advice or words but simply to share that we are all stretched in different ways.  Some days I can see the beauty that is being woven and other days I just see loose ends and tangles.  Way we cling to the Tapestry Maker.

Blessings of books!

Garden growth