May 8, 2006
Here’s my Life Verse Follow-Up
I’m back from wherever I’ve been the past 6 weeks, and after rereading
my last PW offering, wanted to fill you in with the story of how
perfectly God provided EVERYTHING we needed (just as He promised in my life
verse) in regards to that surprise move I had briefly discussed. And
yes, right on time, he has provided us a beautiful apartment with lovely
accommodations that almost perfectly meet my physical requirements, our
D&R business needs and included new neighbors to build relationships
with and opportunities for ministry aplenty surrounding us! And God did
it all while we just watched and prayed … and packed a million boxes!
God sent helpers when we needed them, funds to meet every need and
bonuses of love and support beyond description. And toward the end of the
ordeal, a beautiful surprise with spiritual lessons I’ll be gleaning
for years to come. But let me share with you the greatest blessing of
the move for me personally. So far! Are you ready? Here is the
beginning ...
The story starts in 1968 during my last semester of my senior year in
college. I purchased a double bed quilt top to embroidery – it had
imprinted on it in cross stitch a beautiful “Tree of Life”. A tree that
filled the quilt from top to bottom with leaves and braches and beautiful
flowers, big and small; all in blues and pinks, yellows and oranges and
green leaves and border. It would be beautiful! Well, with my poky
nature and jobs, moves and then babies and churches, it took me 10 years
or better to complete the embroidery. But finish it I did and was very
proud of my accomplishment!
Then I realized I didn’t know what to do with it next. So it sat in a box until about 1982 or so when I
found some older ladies in our church that did quilting. Dear Mrs. McBride
took me under her wing and helped me assemble the quilt top with
batting and a back, holding it all together with a thousand straight pins.
She even lent me her quilting frame and I began the arduous task of hand
quilting my “heirloom” I was creating for generations to come! Right.
Anyway, that beginning was interrupted by another couple of moves when my
now pinned-together quilt rested in another box. That box traveled to
California and back and then hid for years in a closet shelf
in our bedroom. And then about 2 or 3 years ago, I was talking
about that quilt with a couple of ladies from church and got my curiosity
up because I hadn’t seen it in years. But lo and behold we couldn’t find
it. It must be in the “black hole” called our garage. We emptied
that out for the move and no quilt surfaced. But when I had given up and
supposed that it had been thrown away, Den found it in another
overhead shelf and quickly let me know that it was found but just as quickly
spirited it out of the house.
For the next few weeks I overheard whisperings between Den and Jane Harris which I suspected related to the
quilt, but who knows? Well, all mysteries were solved last Sunday when
Jane and Julie presented me with the finished quilt – an absolutely
gorgeous piece of artwork!
If the story ended there, that would be enough. Two ladies took an old
dream of their friend’s and turned it into a finished masterpiece! No
one has ever received a more appreciated gift of love. I was
speechless, if you can imagine, and blessed beyond words. But as all the facts
began to come to light, my gift went from being a beautiful gift of
love to truly being a miracle in fabric and thread.
But for that, stay tuned for the rest of the story in the next
Parson’s Wife. Be back soon, I promise.
Until next time … love and prayers,
RuthAnn Gleason, the Parson's Wife
ragleason@sbcglobal.net
