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Topic: Year(s) (01/20/11)
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TITLE: When Given all the Pieces God Will Mend a Broken Heart | Previous Challenge Entry
By Barbara Mahler
01/24/11 -
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“Get out of my house,” he repeatedly shouted at me.
But I had nowhere to go, and succumbing to his intimidating threats was not a viable solution as I saw it.
As the weeks passed since it happened – the “I want a divorce,” that literally came out of nowhere, I planned my activities in the house so as to not be in his path. Spending most of my time in the small room in which I slept shielded me, for the most part, from his angry outbursts and gave me a place to work doing something I love – counted cross stitch.
“If Given all the Pieces God Will Mend a Broken Heart,” were the words on the instruction chart, but no, not ‘if,’ I discerned; the word must be changed to when – When Given all the Pieces God Will Mend a Broken Heart, and I adjusted the chart accordingly.
A quilt-like, multi-patterned heart was to be stitched in the center; on the lower left - a spool of golden thread. The chart indicated that the golden thread encircle the heart depicting thread drawn across stitchery as it is worked. Included, of course, was a stitched-in needle.
I found comfort and consolation as I stitched each cross according to its corresponding chart matching each color. Seeing the design take on more fullness with each successive stitch helped to renew my hope and trust in my Creator that He would not abandon me in my struggle. I enjoyed the brief respite that my stitching time afforded and deliberately postponed its conclusion working slowly, thoughtfully and prayerfully.
Warm sun again filled the room when I took up my needle and began to place the last few golden stitches.
Then in a language all God’s own – providing reassurance as only He can, the golden thread on the final stitch changed to yellow before my very eyes - an affirmation and an exhortation from my Lord and my God to pick up the pieces of my broken life. Of this I have no doubt!
The completed design has moved with me from place to place over several years – into some rooms in which the sun streamed in and others, not. However, the recently framed piece I now prominently display as a reminder to continue to give God “all the pieces.”
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Counted cross stitch does provide a needed release of life's stressors.