Simple Singer & A Work In Progress

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A few years ago on Christmas morning I received a most wonderful gift...a Singer sewing machine! It took me another whole year to learn how to use the glorious thing. I tried not to be down trodden when I realized that my machine was emblazoned with the word 'Simple'. The advertisement for this particular Singer machine guaranteed that ANYONE could sew with this simple model...needless to say my ego took a hit. My first project was curtains for my kitchen, & lemme tell ya, I strutted like a rooster when I hung those babies up on the windows! Despite the uneven hems & loose threads everywhere, I couldn't be more proud. In the time since then I've become mildly proficient at operating my Singer, & there's nothing that I love more than taking a beautiful piece of fabric & making something useful out of it. The other day I made an apron for my little Goldilocks (she turns 4 here in a few weeks & is having a baking party). Months ago I'd sewed up 5 other aprons using the exact same pattern so I knew I'd fly through this project having done it so many times before...but that day everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I was ready to pull my hair out! My bobbin jammed...3 times. My thread broke twice. Belles 'N Whistles stepped on my foot...the foot that was on the pedal & sent the needle flying through my fabric. It was disastrous. To cap it all off I sewed one part on backwards & then had tear out each individual stitch. I'm fairly certain you could have seen steam pouring out my ears. Finally when all was said & done the apron was completed & it was just as precious as I'd imagined it would be. Just looking at it one would never know all the trauma the poor thing had been through in its making.

Needless to say I learned (relearned) a profound lesson that day...My sewing abilities are a work in progress. As Abba so often does, He laid a profound reminder upon my heart as well...I am a work in progress. I'm just like a sewing project...from a bolt of fabric to a completed project...from lump of clay to Daughter of the Most High...the process is the same.

Step 1: Pick a Fabric & Cut Out a Pattern
When I'm preparing for a sewing project, I already have a vision in my head of what my finished product will look like. I walk into a fabric store (don't even get me started on the glories of such places) & I meander around until a particular pattern speaks to me (if fabrics could speak, they'd call my name). I know right away when a particular fabric is the one for me. I have the yardage cut, I take it home, & begin cutting out the pattern. Those who sew know how utterly tedious it is to cut out the pattern pieces, pin them to the fabric, & then cut out each individual piece...but it's imperative to get this part right. Before you & I were ever born, Abba envisioned who we would be...He saw the finished product of our lives before they were even conceived.
"Your eyes saw my unformed substance, & in your Book all the days (of my life) were written before they ever took shape, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16)
Before He choose the fabric of our personalities...just as particular fabrics speak to me, He chooses specific & unique qualities, quirks, & gifts for each of us, traits that speak to who He is.
"So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male & female He created them." (Genesis 1:27)
Before He cut out the pattern of the body that soul would fill...He KNEW who & what we would be.
"I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking...you know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence." (Psalm 139:2,4)

Step 2: Pin the Pieces of the Pattern Together
Once the fabric's been picked & the pattern has been cut out the real fun begins! It's time to begin pinning the pieces of the pattern together. This is when a seamstress starts to see her vision taking shape & coming to life! It's important to remember that with most patterns, one is supposed to pin it inside out with the pretty print of the fabric on the inside...that way when the sewing is done you simply flip the project inside out & voila! (I totally did not do this the first time I sewed & it was a hot mess) You & I are born into a sin-filled world. We are born with sinful natures ourselves.
"For I was born a sinner-yes, from the moment my mother conceived me." (Psalm 51:5)
The good news is that we already know that Abba personally & intricately designed us...He handpicked us with a vision of the end product in mind. The beauty of Himself lay within us, & He knew that despite the sinful nature being evident...deep within was that image of Himself that would be revealed...so He takes His handpicked fabric in it's backwards shell & begins sewing together a life that is what He desires it to be...knowing that despite in the end His beautiful creation will be revealed.
"For you did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother's womb...My frame was not being hidden from you when you knit me together in secret intricately & curiously wrought in the depths of the earth." (Psalm 139:13, 15)
"Beloved, we are God's children now, & what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)

Step 3: Start Sewing & Voila!
Pieces of the pattern pinned it place, there's only one thing left to do; SEW! This is my favorite part...the vision becomes reality. Piece by piece, stitch by stitch the project begins to mold & take shape. What was once simply a bolt of cloth is now becoming something useful...something beautiful.
"For we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of The Lord, are being transformed in the same image from one form of glory to another. For this comes from The Lord who is the spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Our lives are much the same when we allow the Creator to begin creating a masterpiece using the fabric of our lives.
"Yet, you Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; We are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8)
When all the tedious cutting, pinning, & sewing is done...when the project is turned inside out...the beautiful completed project is revealed! The vision has become reality.
"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10)

Step 4: Bobbins Jam, Threads Break, Mistakes are Made
After 3 years of sewing, I am certainly no expert, but I do know that no matter how much I've improved my sewing skills, I still make mistakes...my description of the other day is a prime example. There are still times when I have to rip apart the seams, take out stitches, & remove stray threads. It's a work in progress. The other day I was ready to throw in the towel & admit defeat. I was ready to toss that whole apron into my scrap bag, but I persisted. I tediously pulled apart every wrong stitched. I pulled off countless stray threads, & in the end the result was a beautiful (in my opinion) apron that my daughter will love...it was worth it. We are just like that. We will still sin...still make mistakes. Our lives will forever be works in progress with Abba removing wrong stitches (reproofing poor choices) & picking off stray threads (getting rids of bad habits)...but in the end we become His masterpiece. We must not be discouraged & give up...Abba will keep working on us as long as we abide in Him.
"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)
We must not get proud, thinking that there's no room for improvement.
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)
When I look at that apron, I still see stray threads & mistakes that have been made...but the overall impact is a job well done. We will never be perfect, but if we continue to be that work in progress one day we too will be an overall work of art.
"I praise you because I am fearfully & wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalm 139:14)

May you be excited & motivated to see your life as a masterpiece in the making...as a work in progress! Be Blessed!