Unfinished
Tapestry
By John W. Vander Velden
There are times when I
look back over the years of my life. I sometimes consider the life I have lived
as some intricate piece of fabric...a tapestry perhaps...yet unfinished. So as
I think on this I understand that loom continues to work each day, contributing
cords old and new to the tapestry which is my life. So I must thank the Lord of
the Loom, God, Master of the Universe, Master of my life, for the careful
selections of the cords, the strands that come together and make my life. I
thank God, not because my tapestry is only bindings of joyful experiences, for
it is not. I thank God because even during the most difficult, dark portions of
my fabric, even during illness, and pain, even during loss and failure, the
loom continues. Thread by thread, cord by cord, line by line, my God has always
been there, even those days I do not notice His presence.
Today as I look back upon
the fabric of my life, I clearly see an abrupt change. For thirty-one years ago
many new cords were added. Strands that twist and flow through each part of my
tapestry since that day. Those strands add color. They add strength. They add
purpose. They add to me! Who could have foreseen it? Who knew how much events
of that day would add to my tapestry? I am confident that the Lord of the Loom
knew, and among all that I have to thank God for, which is a grand quantity, I
thank him for bringing my beloved into my life and twisting the strands of her
tapestry with mine.
So I understand that my
tapestry remains incomplete. It will not be finished until the Lord of the Loom
stitches the final cords. He will decide if, in the end, my life was good. But
I strive to take the cords I have been given, to use them as best as I am able,
for I have some influence over how my tapestry grows. For you see the Lord of
the Loom gives me freedom to choose. To pick up strands, to lay others aside, a
power to shape my life day by day. And yet the loom moves, the tapestry grows.
I thank the fact my
tapestry is yet incomplete. I thank my God that opportunities yet lay ahead of
me. I thank Jackie for selflessly binding her life with mine thirty- one years
ago and each day since.
So I continue to look
forward to adding threads to my unfinished tapestry.
(427 Words) 3-17-2020
John, your writings always up lift me, the only thing that would be bette, would be hearing you read it, you have a gifted way of reading out loud that most people don't have. I think you could make my grocerie list sound interesting!
ReplyDeleteThanks Phyllis. You are always kind with your words. It is easy to read words that you believe in. Perhaps one day when this crisis is passed and I might be able to resume my author's events you might have the opportunity to come and I will read to to you once again.
ReplyDelete