So what do folds and rolls of fabric (last post) have to do with “living more fully the Christian life”? Nothing in and of themselves, and yet…

Why Fold and Roll, Anyhow?

The reason I got into the folding and rolling was as much about cleaning up my mess, getting my whole life more organized, and improving my stewardship of what God has given me, as about a love for sewing and cloth.

Given the choice between cloth and Kingdom life with the King, I’d choose the latter, hands down. In the past I even questioned my glut of hobby interests as maybe a waste of my short earthly time, but God showed me different. (I’ll have to write a post someday about the striking way He did this.)

What we do with what we have can be more important than we realize. And whether we make order of our lives and good and creative use of our stuff not only makes good sense, but reflects and honors a creative God of order.

“Coincidental” Commentary

Interestingly, before I got to my keyboard this morning to start writing this, on a seeming whim I tuned in the kitchen radio while the coffee brewed, to hear what Chuck Swindoll might have to say today. (At 5 AM, not a daily occurrence!)

Well! Another of God’s coincidences! Swindoll’s topic: cheerful giving, with a willing spirit–but not of just money, but also skills, abilities, and creative gifts–like Exodus talks about, where, for one thing, women gave of their talents and their exquisite cloth creations, or their finely spun thread and yarn (Exd 35:25-26).

This, and his reference to Exodus chapter 28, where God speaks of “all [who are] gifted artisans” as those “whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom” (Exd 28:3), got me gratefully motivated.  Any artisanal skill is a gift from the ultimate Creator!

And An Apt Quote

Then later, in looking for a word in an old Roget’s Thesaurus, I came upon this quote about artistic beauty: “A treating of the commonplace with the feeling of the sublime” (J. F. Millet). Wow!

So now I’m revved for creative fun, and though creativity creates clutter, it functions better with the clutter cleared away. So off I go, to roll up the last of the usable scraps, and finish getting that sewing (and loom) room in usable order!