In Stitches

In Stitches

Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?. . . Her hands are busy spinning thread. . . . She makes her own bedspreads. . . . Her children stand and bless her.

Proverbs 31:10, 19, 22, 28

As a child, I loved to draw. I remember the manila paper (or as I mistakenly called it, “vanilla” paper) and the crayons we used for creating our artistic works at school. Over time, I produced a large collection of artwork that I proudly marched home to my parents. Unknown to me, my mom carefully tucked my masterpieces into a special box, where she kept them for more than thirty years.

One Christmas, my husband and I hosted the family Christmas gathering at our house in Monroe, Louisiana. My parents, my husband’s parents, and other family members came from Texas and Kansas for the holiday, and we enjoyed all the traditional foods and festivities.

During the gift exchange, my mother surprised me with a king-size, handmade quilt. She had taken my elementary-school drawings, transferred them to manila-colored fabric blocks, and embroidered the pictures in the same crayon colors I had used when I originally drew them. It was an amazing gift of love and hard work that I still treasure.

She also gave me a scrapbook that contained all the original drawings and the blue ribbon she had won for the quilt at the county fair. Her beautiful handwork included more than sixty of my pictures captured in colorful thread on the quilt, a headboard hanging, and matching pillows.

After the holidays, I received a phone call from a reporter at the local newspaper. She said one of my friends had called to say that the newspaper should do a story about my quilt. Naturally, I was happy to oblige.

I still have the newspaper article in the scrapbook Mom created for me. And I smile every time I see the headline: “Woman Puts Daughter in Stitches.”

Father, thank you for the blessing of wonderful mothers. Amen.