This gets me through...

To quote my friend Gayle (who is quoting Dr. Phil)...

"A mother is only as happy as her saddest child"

I can remember the very first time I read this little story...many years ago, and how much it helped me at the time. Whenever I am going through something really, really hard, I turn back to this story and remind myself who is in control...

God's Embroidery

When I was a little child, my mother embroidered a great deal. I can remember the time when, as I was sitting at her feet and looking up at her, I asked her what she was doing.

She informed me that she was embroidering. I remarked that it looked like a mess from where I was. As, from the underside, I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.

She looked down, smiling at me, and gently said, "My child, you go and play for now, and when I am finished, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side."

I wondered why she used some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my point of view.

Later, after some time had passed, as I was playing, I heard my Mother calling for me to come and sit on her knee. I went to her, and as I settled into the comfort and security of her lap, my mother said, "My child, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize there was a plan on the top, a design that I was following. Now look at it from my side, and you will see what I was doing." Then, when she showed me her completed work, I was surprised and thrilled to see a landscape scene full of beautiful flowers adorned by the radiant glow of a magnificent sunset.

Many times, I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and asked, "Father, what are You doing?"

He has answered, "I am embroidering your life."

I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?"

My Father gently says, "My child, you go and do My will for now, and one day, I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee, and then you will see the plan from My side."