Crazy Quilt

Here  I go again about sewing, well, really quilting.  I am about to enter the mission field on the international level as a single. I am leaving my job, my home, and  my car, all my material possessions as I pursue the dream of building a performance and visual arts school for girls. Ten years after getting a doctorate and teaching public school, none of which makes any sense to my advisers from Northwestern University, I am about to embark on a foray into international missions for the second time. But, God is about to make all this craziness into a beautiful crazy quilt of His will.

I want to make a few proclamations that God will do something miraculous in this season in my life and your life, despite the pain, disappointment, and confusion. I believe that His plan will be accomplished in our lives. He will fulfill his purposes for us, bringing good from the bad. We will not be overwhelmed by evil or crushed by life.  Only God can make sense of the chaos. I expect this season to be the most fruitful because of all the pruning and pain. Pain proves labor and produces growth. There is a season for everything, and God makes everything beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

Faith and trust are two different things. One can have faith in Jesus’ propitiation, but not trust in God’s character. When we are tested, severely and sorely, that is when the true nature of our trust is revealed.  I am in that hellacious storm at present. Like Peter, Jesus prays that my faith will remain. When things are hard and confusing, is God still good?  This is where the rubber hits the road. No one can answer that question but you.

Each one like Job will be tested and vetted by God if worth his or her salt: "Have you considered my servant?" I am not saying everything bad happens because of God. It does pass through His hands, and he uses it much like he did for Joseph to form character in us. Hey, here's a thought: what if Joseph's coat was really a crazy quilt? Just a thought.

. Just like the quilt, there is meaning and symmetry in our lives even when it looks like madness and randomness. God holds the needle and thread. We see the underside on this side of heaven; from heaven's vintage point, it's all good.

I could be like Jonah and just get on a boat to Tarshish, but then I would end up in the belly of a whale. That wouldn’t be good for this lacto-ovo vegetarian. God told me that if I got on that boat, it would be shattered by an east wind (Psalm48:7).

Feeling Just a Little Crazy,

M.J.