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Monday, October 3, 2011

Threads of the Tapestry

Have you ever asked yourself what it would look like if your life had taken some other turn, some path that you might have considered taking, years ago?  As I think about each one of my children, I wonder if they are happy with the roads they have chosen.  Are they satisfied?  Are they passionate in their relationships, jobs, career paths, school, hobbies?  Do they feel like they are giving back and contributing?  Are they happy with their story?

I like to think of my life as a tapestry.  Each person and each event (good and bad) that has touched my life is a different color thread running through the tapestry of my life.  When you weave them all together, they make up the story of me.  Have you every turned a tapestry or an embroidered picture over and looked at it from the back?  Sometimes it looks a mess with a bunch of loose threads and knots.  Sometimes you can't even recognize the picture until you turn it back around to the front and look at the whole picture, each color, each thread just where they are supposed to be.

Some people have touched my life just once and there is a tiny bit of their color woven in.  Some have had such an impact on me that their thread runs over and over in my tapestry, their contribution making delicious pops of color throughout.  Some relationships have been broken, but they are mended in a knot on the back.  Those threads run in and out of my tapestry.  But the picture would be missing something if I had not walked out the journey I have chosen.  Colors and patterns would be missing.

As a mom, I  hope that while my children are writing the stories of their lives, the result is a rich tapestry, full of vibrant colors and design.  As I have walked out my life being one who trusts the Lord to order my steps, I can only trust the same for my babies.  And as they make decisions (good or bad), the Lord will weave them into a beautifully woven life that brings them joy and peace.

So don't fret when you think you may have not lived the
life you thought you were meant to live, or made the
choices you should have made.  See how He has made
beauty out of your journey and if you need to make
adjustments to get back on the right path, He will walk with you, adding beautiful threads to your story.

From His Lap,

40 comments:

  1. Dear Erin,

    Thank you for this beautiful blog. What a wonderful 'image' you use to explain how you see life. Greetings.

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  2. Thank you, Jedidja. I hope that you have woven your life into a beautiful tapestry!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  3. Erin - I have always loved this image of the tapestry....and how the back may look knotted and distorted. Yet, when you turn the tapestry over...God has created a beautiful picture. Thankful for grace today. ~ jen

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  4. Jen,
    He is gracious to weave our lives together and make beautiful stories out of our messes! Blessings to you!
    xoxo,
    ~Erin

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  5. Erin,
    I loved this image and how you applied it to people who have touched our lives. As I read, I thought about those people who have left pops of color on my own tapestry and I wonder what those threads will look like in my own kids' tapestries. Thanks for sharing.
    God bless.
    Lori

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  6. Sometimes we forget that there need to be knots in our tapestry's in order to start another color : )

    Jen
    vB

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  7. Hi Erin - lovely way to view our lives. We may not end up with the tapestry we envisioned, but its a tapestry woven with the Lord's touch along the way, so therefore just as beautiful and just as valuable.
    God bless
    Tracy

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  8. Erin as always what a great post! I love to read your beautiful words, they always give me something to ponder. I love the metaphor of the tapestry and how the back can sometimes look like a mess even though the finished product is perfect!! Love you!!

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  9. I've often had thoughts like that. Every time I think of the mistakes I've made. Or the wrong path I've taken. Then I think about where I am, and would I be where I am if I had taken different paths? Or made different choices? I can't answer those questions so I probably wouldn't do much differently. Maybe I would have eaten better along the way...

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  10. Lori,
    Thanks for visiting! Isn't it a blessing to look back over our lives to see who's touched us and the impact they've made!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  11. Jen,
    I love that!!! Thanks so much for sharing. Sometimes there need to be knots to start another color!!! Awesome.
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  12. Amen, Tracy.
    He knows how to make the most beautiful stories out of us...even with all our hang ups, habits and hurts!
    Hugs!
    ~Erin

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  13. Kathy,
    Thank you so much for stopping by! I know, sometimes we feel like we've made the biggest mess of things, just for them to turn out more beautiful than we could have ever imagined!
    xoxo,
    ~Erin

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  14. Erica,
    It's funny how we try to imagine what we would have done differently. I'm glad that my life has turned out just the way it has, with all of it's twists and turns!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  15. I love how God weaves our story together. We don't always see the beauty until many stitches are made but it is there nonetheless.

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  16. It's amazing, Shannon! Thank you for stopping by.
    Love you, sister!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  17. Grateful that I am not the master weaver of my tapestry. It sure would be a mess!

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  18. Ain't that the truth, Mrs. Diner!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  19. I know my tapestry has many deviations on it, but like you said, their is added beauty in the Lords help!

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  20. Your tapestry is beautiful, Becky Jane!
    xoxo,
    ~Erin

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  21. I'm all thumbs when it comes to needle work or weaving, literally and figuratively. I'm so thankful that God's the master at weaving the circumstances and relationships of my life. It's so encouraging to be reminded that God is weaving the story of my children's lives as well.

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  22. I hope that I'm weaving vibrant colors in the tapestry for my family. I certainly work hard to make each experience memorable.

    Great post!

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  23. Beck,
    We are all so clumsy at life sometimes. It's only God that can untangle the threads and set us straight again. Thank you so much for visiting.
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  24. Amberr,
    You do work hard at making memorable experiences!! I know your tapestry is beautiful. I love you, sister!
    ~Erin

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  25. What a beautiful post! What a great way of looking at a person and their impact or "tapestry". Fabulous gift to everyone who reads the post. What a reminder of how GREAT God is. Stopping by from VB !

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  26. Jaqueline,
    Thank you so much for stopping by. Don't you just love vB! Thanks for the kind words about my post.
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  27. Dear Erin,
    I am so blessed you rock my tapestry colored world!
    Love ya,
    Lisa

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  28. Lisa,
    You are definitely one of the bright colored threads in my tapestry! Love you, sister!
    xoxo,
    ~Erin

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  29. Life is too short to consider the 'maybes' and to live in the past. It's always best to move forward and consider the threads will interweave at some point.
    Awesome post :)

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  30. Thanks, Barbara! You are right...nothing good comes freom dwelling on the past and what might have been!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  31. Lovely post. Very nice tapestry. I agree that it is no point thinking of the past but rather stay focus on the present and look towards the future.

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    1. Dominique, you are right. The only thing we should keep from the past are the happy memories and to learn from it!
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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  32. This is just wonderful, I love your blog when I read your passages the glory of the Lord comes through.

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    Replies
    1. Aw, Pamela! That's the best thing you could have said to me! That means so much to me. That's what I write for!
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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  33. I loved that first song - Destiny. It accompanied this beautifully. I usually turn off the music. Good song choice. I love your tapestry analogy. Now sometimes I find a quote in someone's writing that I am very drawn to and I ask them to pretty please sign my quotes guestbook with it. So will you pretty please sign my guestbook with, "Don't fret when you think you may have not lived the life you thought you were meant to live, or made the choices you should have made. See how God has made beauty out of your journey and if you need to make
    adjustments to get back on the right path, He will walk with you, adding beautiful threads to your story." I love it! www.kenyagjohnson.com/quotes

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    Replies
    1. Wow, thanks so much, Kenya! I'd be honored to sign your quote guestbook! Thank you for your kind words and for stopping by!
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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  34. Beautiful post Erin! I love the metaphor, so much truth!

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  35. I know this is an older post but it really is an ageless truth. As a mom we wonder "Did I do it right? Did I do enough? Are they happy?" But really we are looking at the back of the tapestry and God is looking at the front as he weaves it.

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    Replies
    1. I love that! Thank you for that little nugget!
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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Thank you for giving us a little nugget of truth from your heart!

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