A Little Patch of Praise

This morning I opened up my Bible Gateway to spend some time with the Master and saw this tiny little patch tucked into the corner of my day!

"The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me!  

Your unwavering lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever.  You will not abandon the works of your own hands."

Psalm 138:8 (AMP)

How beautiful is that?  

I am so thankful that God is looking out for all the details of our day.  The errands that need ran. The bills that need paid.  The grocery budget.  The impatient customer.  The "clicky" sound in your engine.  The spilled milk.  The  doctor's appointment.  The little league game.  The difficult boss.  The aging parent.  The flashing red lights.  The lost paperwork.........the list goes on and on.  Isn't it comforting to know that we are not randomly flailing around, alone, in the chaos of daily life?  The things which concern us are important to the Creator of the Universe!  Not only are they important to Him, He will accomplish good things in us and through us and for us in this topsy-turvey world.  We are held secure in His unwavering (what a wonderful word!!) love and kindness.  In the craziness of life, we have something solid to cling to.  Even in our darkest, most painful patches, He will never abandon us.  We are the work of His hands, the ultimate expression of His creativity, the reason He poured out Himself in willing sacrifice for our redemption when we sinned against Him. Because of His great love for us and His kindness to us, we can face this day, confident in the fact that He is weaving all the details of our lives into a beautifully intentional Masterpiece.  

Blessings!

Natasha

As we all know, in a quilt you need more than just the patches sewn together.  What truly holds it all together, keeping it from fraying on the edges, protecting the raw seams, and adding the beauty of completeness is the solid backing and the binding around the edges.  For extra strength and stability, decorative stitching is added over the entire quilt.  Because of the haphazard nature of Crazy Quilts,  instead of overall stitching, short decorative strings or yarn are threaded through both backing and patchwork at regular intervals, then tied off to give the needed support.

What a perfect analogy!!

We each have so many patches in our life.  People, places, and events in a myriad of colors and textures fill our days.  Sometimes life gets frayed and raw.  We need something more to hold us together in this crazy world.  For me, that solid foundation is spending time with the Master Quilter in His Word and Prayer.  His loving Promises and Guidelines keep me from falling apart, protect the raw areas of my heart, keep me focused on what is right and true.  On top of all that, looking back at the experiences of my life, I see the regular intervals where he threaded through a little extra strength at the exact times I needed it.  I know that if He is working such amazing craftsmanship in my life, He is definitely at work in each of your lives also.

So today, I want to share an extra "thread" with you to strengthen you through your week.

That is right!  YOU, my Dear Friend, My Sweet Soul Sister, YOU are an incredible Masterpiece!  You were created with purpose and perfectly equipped in Christ to do great things!  Even if you are in one of the coarse, dark patches of life right now, the Master Quilter is weaving truth and beauty into  your life every day, because He has amazing things in store for you.  

    

But you don't have to take my word for it!  You can look it up for yourself.  Grab your Bible or go to biblegateway.com and search for Ephesians 2 and read it for yourself.  Three of my favorite translations are the King James Version (so poetically eloquent), the New International Version (more modern language) or the Amplified Bible (extra explanatory phrases).   May you find there as many blessings as I do!  The Master Quilter is alive and at work in all of us and I know we can trust Him to create something beautiful out of this day!

Blessings!

Natasha

P.S.  Don't forget to take my "PB and ???" survey!!!

Re-Awakening!

My Dear Friends,

Welcome to Patchwork and Peanut Butter!

 If you are an old friend, you know this has been an on again, off again addition in my life!  Welcome back to what I hope is now an on-going expression of all the joys, triumphs, lessons and changes that have happened and are continually filling out my Crazy Quilt Life!

If you are a new friend, Welcome!!!  I invite you to go back through my previous posts.  There are not that many, but it may give you a little understanding of what I am about.  Hopefully you will find something that blesses you and you continue to be a part of my followers.

Now for a little catch-up!  If you look back at the dates, you will see that I began this blog 4 1/2 years ago.  In all honesty, I have had more changes during those years than all the rest of my life combined.  Some have been devastating.  Others have been breath-takingly amazing.  There have been moments when I have triumphed and moments when I have been crushed. All my big girls grew up and left home.  Our adoption was finally finalized. I started and failed at a business!  We celebrated life at funerals, weddings, graduations, births, holidays.  We added 2 sons to our family.  I got a tattoo.  We cheered at ballgames and theater productions.  I had a life threatening illness and survived a life-saving surgery.  My baby girl grew into a precocious pre-schooler. My husband and I are now working on our 28th year of marriage. A patch work of colors and textures swirling through the passing time. Through it all, I have always had a sense of the Master Quilter lovingly choosing the exactly perfect patches of events and people to blend together with His grace, stitch together with His strength, weave together with His healing.  Now as I sit here at my keyboard and look back over the past 4 1/2 years, I can more fully glimpse the Masterpiece He is making of my Crazy Quilt Life.

So, it is with a re-awakened sense of purpose and joy that I hope to encourage each of you to trust the Master and say with me, in the words of the Philosopher, "He has made everything beautiful in His time."  (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Blessings on you all!
Natasha