Tuesday, July 19, 2011

You are a quilt


Up to this point in my life I haven't really enjoyed quilts. I like things a certain way with an easily identifiable color scheme. Quilts are usually straight crazy and made up of every color and pattern imaginable. But what I am learning about quilts is that they are almost always full of love and memories. Kels grandma made us one and it is a typical rainbow explosion type quilt, and I have no idea where to put it since doesn't really "go" in any room. I have taken to using it as a blanket for our kids to play on and it goes perfectly with their multicolored toys and serves as a reminder of how much I need to un-bunch my neurotic panties. I mean seriously.

The thing is that life is like a quilt, it is also like a box of chocolates, but today we are talking about how it's like a quilt. You can't pick one person on earth to pattern your life after and you shouldn't have just one mentor to learn from. Life gives us a variety of people and sources from which we glean knowledge. This is just one of the things that makes us exquisitely unique.

Case in point, I have a fabulous friend named Jenni, and I love to gather advice from her for many different areas of life from kids to cooking to marriage. God has given me a beautiful friend and mentor in her. Jenni and I both arrived home in the last 24 hours from long road trips. As I was nearing home I asked her how she was liking being home, and she said something to the effect of home is where her family is and that she would travel all the time if she could. At first I thought that since I respect Jenni's opinion perhaps I should love travelling more. But you know what? No. I have found that I like to travel sin between stretches of steady routine at home. I need a routine to break, otherwise I get anxious and irritable. I am not trying to be a Jenni clone, God doesn't need another Jenni. So I take our conversations and quilt some of it into my life.

My life philosophy is a quilting of many different sources from friends and family to books and songs and they all make up the texture of my life. I enjoy identifying and appreciating my sources. And, I hope, I am contributing to the quilts of those around me. And so in this way we are all growing side by side in rich and vibrant ways.

So who are your sources for patterns and textures? And who is taking scraps of you into your life? Take a quiet moment to be thankful and intentional for these sources. If it is a person, thank them and if it is a book or song, pass it on. What comes to your mind? I would love to hear about your quilt.

1 comment:

Just Mama Jenni said...

The world does need a Leanne Penny. Go and make a gorgeous quilt!!!