Ups and Downs

Ecc 3:1 To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the heaven:
 :2 a time to be born, and a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
:3 a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
:4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
:5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 
:6 a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
:7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
:8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Most of us would agree life has its ups and downs. David was called "a man after God's own heart." Yet his life illustrates how life is filled with seasons of ups and downs.

We do a disservice to ourselves and others. When we act like the Christian life as peaceful and happy all the time. The Bible shows the believers life having ups and downs. 

In what season are you right now?

Whether a time of joy or sadness, each season should motivate us to seek the Lord and trust Him.

Every season needs faith to get us through it.

Is 64:8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand.

I love quilting and knitting. Here are a few of my favorite things.

1. Fabric
For quilting we use a variety of fabrics, usually cotton but for crazy quilting you use different types of fabrics. Knitting uses many different types of yarn. Cotton, wool, acrylic.

That's how it is with Christian women. We come in all different varieties as well. It would be boring to only use one type of fabric or yarn. The body of Christ would be boring if we were all the same. The body of Christ needs different textures, patterns also.

2. Adhesive
In applique some use adhesive for machine applique. There are different thicknesses, one sided, two sided, etc.

What adhesive do you use to hold yourself together? Some good ones are God's love, His strength, fellowship with other Christians, joy, and faith. Some require a generous amount. 

3. Marking tools
Marking tools are very important to quilters. We use them to mark quilting lines, to draw applique shapes. It gives us guides to follow.

As Christians we need guidelines too. We have a "pattern" to follow. The Bible gives us great boundaries to live by. We need to place the right things in our lives in the right spot. Maybe that's marking your morning by prayer and Bible study before starting your day.

When we put our time into quilting or knitting, we are looking forward to the outcome of the project. Our work is important to us and we want to have good results and have our projects come out pretty and nice.

When the Lord works on us that is how He wants us to turn out. Sometimes He uses tools on us too. God has some favorite things He likes to use on us. Sometimes He handles us gently, and sometimes not so gently. But it is always for our good.