COVER: Lenten Devotion Day 13

Lenten Photo Devotion: Day 13

COVER

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. 

Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.

 For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover them with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:11-12

I am so blessed to say that almost every room in my home contains millions of little tokens of love. My Granny Hamlin (Geneva) loved to quilt and the only thing she loved more than quilting was giving her quilts away. The million tokens of love are the tiny little stitches that she hand stitched in each of my quilts. They may not have been perfect but in each stitch I can imagine what she was doing as she made it...sitting on her sofa, thinking of her family, praying for us, worrying over us...and loving us. She may be gone from this earth but every time I cover myself with one of her quilts or place one on my children's beds I know her love still covers us and I am secure in her arms once more.

As I reflect on the love of Christ I see how his love also transcends the separation of heaven and earth. I am surrounded by millions of tokens of his love - big and small - that remind me each day that I am covered in his love and sheltered in his arms. 

What tokens of Christ's love will you recognize today? 

COVER

be wrapped up in Christ's love.

The Quilt Maker's Hand

I was graciously and mercifully spoiled this past week while on my retreat. It was as if God knew I would be missing the loving warmth of my family and so he warmed the earth just for me. I had plenty of sunshine and warm, breezy days in which to get out and walk.  But just in time for my return home, to the warmth of my family, the wind has turned chill and I have to break the coat out once again.

It is one of those days where I haven't really wanted to climb out of bed, it has been dark and misty - not very inviting. I want to draw the quilt around me tighter and just stay snug in my little cocoon.  Instead, I ponder the quilt...it is worn, faded and stained. I look at the stitches...every one almost the same length - tiny stitches, some crooked, some straight.  I remember the hands that made each and every stitch.  Geneva's hand...soft, warm, always busy with some household chore. My Granny made quilts for all of us over the years. It was something she took great pleasure in, but never pride. She never felt her quilts were anything special - but to us, they are a great treasure.  I know I should stop using them - pack them away and protect them from more wear and tear. But every time I cocoon myself in one, or place one over my feverish child, it is as if we are wrapping ourselves in her loving care one more time. Her hands go to work...healing...comforting...being.

It occurs to me that the beautiful things of the Earth can be similar expressions and remembrances of God's loving care for us. Wrapped in the warmth of sunshine...comforted by a sparrow's song...healed by the solitary quiet of a mountain breeze or a valley's wide, lazy river.  If we stop, look and feel the beauty of the patchwork quilt we call Earth, we will see God's hands at work...healing...comforting... being.

Suddenly the chill of the day is gone...I want to go out and feel God's loving care in the world - to see the trees turning green with new leaves, to see the tulips pushing their way through the soil - tiny stitches created just for us...healing...comforting...being.  The Quilt Maker's hand at work.