Recently I was rooting around in my "craft cabinet" and found my box of crosstich/embroidery things, long forgotten! When I was in Jr. High we had such a great Home Ec teacher, I know this because much of what I know how to do today, with regards to cooking & sewing, I remember learning with her, her patience and encouragement, long before high school and then the professional cooking and baking classes I took in college.(few that i did!) Cooking/baking I use everyday, but sewing and needle craft not so much. As much as I enjoy it, I just don't often take the time to pursue it. To much of a bother to pull out all the materials needed only to have to stash them all away later. But recently I have just had the urge to do something (anything ) creative. Thus the digging around! I did crosstich for a number of years but for those who know me well you know that attention to tiny details is not a favorite! I can and will do it when it is a must, but willingly...painstakingly paying attention to detail just bogs me down, I think I may have a bit of my brothers ADHD!!! I had been following several antique/craft type blogs and noticed some of the ladies had done some embroidery, some fancy with lots of frills and details, others a little more homey and on the artsy side! I pulled all my stuff out and started to see how many stitches I actually remembered from 7th grade (1976...) and was excited to find I wasn't horribly rusty and hadn't forgotten all that much, at least nothing that you tube couldn't help with! So I proceeded to make a small purse of some sort, all hand stitched with vintage buttons arranged to look like a flower, to some it may look quite childlike, but to me it was so nice to just sit, forget about all that has plagued my mind of late and create, to not worry that someone wasn't going to like my work, or be critical of it. This was just for me, just for enjoyment.
As I was stitching I realized I have spent more time being concerned about other people and their possible displeasure over me, that I was second guessing pretty much my every move, wondering if I had or hadn't done something right...wrong.....said something right...wrong.....it was beginning to become an obsession. Not pleasing God, but man. Walking not in faith but fear. Then this verse came to my mind! " For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind 2Timothy 1:7. So while I see the value of correction from someone, and welcome it. I cannot allow someones critical words to direct my path or my thoughts. That is not what God asks of me. The fear that creeps in is not His spirit in me. I was reminded that He has not forgotten me! Like I had long forgotten how enjoyable it is to embroider, to create! Can you imagine how much joy God, our creator had in creating us?!! He created us, with abandon I would think! His word says we are fearfully and wonderfully made! I doubt He worried overmuch what others may think(knowing that later His own creation would deny there was a creator...)! He just created, not only that He hasn't forgotten His creation, unlike us. We forget that each one of us is created by Him, and to view each other through that lens. Yes He is a Holy God. But He is a forgiving God full of grace and mercy. I want to look at you through that lens, I want you to look at me the same. Not through eyes that are just looking & waiting to be irritated, and forgotten, but view you as a creation of a loving God!
K~
Ah, yes, Karen - using our "God-glasses" (that's what a friend & I call it). Good analogy.
ReplyDeleteMy creative endeaver is quilting and sewing. Like you, I came to realize that I was trying to create w/the thought of what others would think of my finished product. When I was able to make a room for just sewing, I realized that this was my space for me do what I wanted and the purpose was for me to have a creative outlet. Being creative was something that I had put aside for a long time.
I then got into quilting and there was NO WAY I was going to be as skilled at making some of the beautiful quilts I saw. I almost stopped b/c of that realization. But, I LOVED all the beautiful fabrics and wanted to play w/them. So, I did as you have shared and just did it my way as a way of almost therapy. It has been especially helpful to me during trials b/c even when life seems to be outta control, I know that God is still on the throne and I can peacefully go about my business. When the pieces of my life don't seem to fit, I know that I can precisely cut fabric pieces and move them where I want them to go.
During the mundane part of sewing strip after strip I often find my heart calming and thinking about the things of Jesus. ~ Selah ~
Thank you sweet friend!!!xo
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