As a little girl, my mother owned a Singer sewing machine. Some of her favorite patterns came from the brand Simplicity. Like most sewing patterns, Simplicity patterns consisted of tissue paper printed with numerical guides and instructions. She would gently take a piece out of the small rectangle package and use straight pins to pin it to the fabric. Once she had the tissue paper in place, she would cut along the dotted lines. This left numerous geometric shapes that, to the untrained eye, would look like nothing of importance. At the end, she would take each piece of cut fabric and stitch them together to create a finished product. Each pattern she used had step-by-step instructions for cutting, stitching, and assembling clothes. Over the years, she got so good that there were things she could make without a pattern. My mother etched the steps in her memory and heart because she sewed often and spent a lot of time with her sewing machine.
As Christians, God gives us patterns to follow to help us stay in communion with Him. His ways do not come as folded tissue paper with numbers and lines for our instruction; He wraps them in grace, the promise of His presence, and the Word of God. And where the straight pins would be to hold the grace in place, we have the gift of peace and His Son, Jesus.
In today’s reading, Jesus reveals the pattern for His disciples to follow in preparation for their ministry. He took the time to encourage them by sharing that He would not leave them as orphans (John 14:18) while beautifully unveiling the call to abiding obedience for those who follow Him. Like we do at times, they struggled to understand what He was saying and how He was calling them to serve others. They were so focused on understanding Him in the natural world that it caused them to question what Jesus was sharing with them spiritually. He silenced their questions with the following words.
I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
—John 14:27
Just as Jesus reminded His disciples that He would never abandon them, that same promise applies to us. God calls us to trust Him, and that trust grows by spending time in His presence.
As believers, we look to Jesus to understand God’s character better. And as we mature spiritually, we move from knowledge of Him to being changed by Him through the gift of the Holy Spirit. We study the patterns in His Word so that as we walk daily with Jesus, we may lean on the promises etched on our hearts from time in His presence.
During this Lenten Season, may we all bask in the gift given to us by Jesus and rejoice in the promises to come.
♥️
My first love language is quality time, so it really speaks to me that Jesus would choose to make his home in my heart. I pray I would stay connected and attached to him, so that I would produce much fruit.
Oh my dear Molly R…You did indeed write a long post this morning.
Please allow me to thoughtfully unpack what I heard you say.
The situation: Negotiating ailing/aging parents & siblings; home schooling; homesteading.
The feelings: “Tension. Ups & downs & unknowns. Heavy heart. Pulls. Pressures. Demands. Longing for the peace & serenity of Advent.”
YET. Before closing.
I also heard you say “thankfulness “ & “temporary”.
No one. Absolutely no one.
Not a single She among us has The Answer or The Advice.
Other than what we try to do/you try to do:
“Keep opening your Bible”.
Through the fear. With fragility.
We trust God meets us wherever we are.
We believe Jesus promised to never abandon us.
What the Father can not remove (the Cup)
He can resurrect (the Empty Tomb).
Our Lord in Heaven, we pray without ceasing,
for the sweet sister She,
troubled by so many things.
Guard her.
Guide her.
Grant her peace.
Amen & Amen
Oh how I have missed you all! It’s been a rough time & I have missed most of this study (Very uncharacteristic!). I too have memories of home sewn clothes that matched, & my mom sewing dolls clothes. My grandmother was the one that sewed without patterns…she made them, designed them for Vogue at one point in her youth. I was a dolt & wanted store bought. What I wouldn’t give to have something made by Mom or Moma today.
My mom has received a cancer diagnosis & at 90 she’s decided that she’d rather not do the whole chemo, surgery, etc. I have no clue…
And lime so many others, we’ve had endless winter here in Northern CA, damage from wind & rain…
Just overwhelming…
But GOD…
He got us the money for a double tax hit, found us a contractor at our church, has us in the most amazing, Spirit filled church…and y’all…
But God is so good. The Goodness of God & I’m So Blessed are on constant replay around here.
It just makes me think of that song ‘don’t let your heart be troubled, hold you head up high, don’t fear no evil, fix your eyes on this one truth God is madly in love with you!’
It just feels it like this is what Jesus is telling us. This world is full of fear but He gives us peace. This world will persecute us but He accepts us. What a wonderful thought as we focus on lent! ❤️
It just makes me think of that song ‘don’t let your heart be troubled, hold you head up high, don’t fear no evil, fix your eyes on this one truth God is madly in love with you!
Thank you!!! Such a good reminder!
As I was reading Kimberly’s devotional it took me back to my childhood, my mom used to make mine, my sister’s and her clothes a lot when I was young. I have family portraits where my mom, sister and I all have the same dress or skirt on because she made them. There’s one where I was real young — a toddler — I had a dress and my sister and mom both had skirts all out of the same fabric. The other thing she would do would be make our Barbie dolls dresses to match from the scraps. My sister and I would always want the ones from the store but all our friends would want the ones we had. Enough reminiscing.
I believe I’m a living example of how faith in God works, especially the last couple of weeks. I don’t know if I said but Baby George’s umbilical cord had a knot in it when they birthed him, did the C-section. I believe God did what He did with Dani’s blood pressure for that reason. I also believe He had me call for the wellness check on my sister the day I did because of her having fallen. I believe God had me not start my new job and had my father’s allotment be more than usual this time because He knew I’d be needed by my sister. I call them “God things”, but what ever you want to call them, if you BELIEVE GOD, CHRIST AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GET YOU THERE what ever you face. Christ was asking His disciples to believe and that’s what we need to pass on to those around us. Nothing, NO NOTHING, is IMPOSSIBLE with the Triune by your side and your BELIEVE. So sisters are we ready to walk the walk and show those around what it means to be a True Believer in God and Christ.
My sister is going to rehab today, please pray she will do well. My sister’s and my friend and I are going to her house to pick up some things for her later today pray all goes well with my nephew. I get to see and hold Baby George today also :). Busy day for me.
Sorry for the long post.
Be blessed and BELIEVE AND WALK THE WALK sisters.