That has always been one of my favorite sayings and I really had to put it into action when we moved here 11 years ago. It was a really difficult transition for me to move from our beloved mountains to this flat desert. It took me a couple of years to acclimate and I was obstinate about accepting the change. God wanted to bless us here and I kept pitching a hissy fit and telling Him that I did not understand why He planted us here. But He makes no mistakes and all of His plantings are intentional...and perfect.
I wrote this a few days ago to post about this quilt today and then this morning I opened up my devotional and read this:
I am going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert...There I will give her back her vineyards. (Hosea 2:14-15) -from Streams in the Desert Devotional
The NKJ version reads:
Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
I will give her the vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Anchor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Yep, Perfect timing, once again.
I'm an optimist by nature. A glass half full kind of gal. Make the best of it. Cowboy up. Hitch up your britches and get on with it, but I struggled with this. I was still thankful for this lifestyle, and for each moment with hubby and the chiddlers, but I sure did miss those mountains.
It took a while, but soon, I began to see the beauty in this land:
The blessings that bloomed in the most unlikely places:
And so I continue to bloom where He has planted me and I've come to love this land. I am always amazed of the desert wildflowers that grow in this place of little rain and since it is really hard to grow blankets of wildflowers here, I decided to change my medium from seeds, to fabric.
For some time, I've had the hankering to make a simple wildflower patchwork quilt. I've collected floral fabric for a a few years, gathering bits and pieces that appealed to me here and there:
I finally set about cutting 5" squares from each fabric and stitching them into pairs last fall. I'm fairly certain that I had photos, but they seem to have vanished.
I wanted simple with flowers just tossed about in wild abandon and I wanted a whole mess of them:
Mission accomplished. :)
10 comments:
I love this post and can relate to being placed in an area out of a comfort zone. Finding pleasure and beauty in the new environment is the key to finding acceptance and ultimately finding happiness.
The floral fabrics are wonderful: you've created your own wildflower garden, and it's beautiful.
I figure there is always SOMETHING in the glass--water or air. Both are good things.
Love the quilt!
What a lovely post. Thank you for sharing this with us. What mountainous region did you used to call home?
Love the wild abandon of the wildflower quilt. : )
Beautiful post. Our GOD is always right on time.
You have a wonderful attitude... I've been plunked down in several places I did not like and struggled mightily... perhaps if I had been a bit older I would have coped better, but coped I did. I LOVE the flower quilt! You can never go wrong with flowers... and the quilt ones never need to be watered or weeded... a definite plus! hugs -
What a sweet testimony of a Father in Heaven who knows all and does everything for our good (whether we know or believe it or not). Your flower quilt is beautiful, Karin!
--Nancy. (ndmessier @ aol.com, joyforgrace.blogspot.com)
A wonderful post and a lesson for all of us. God is good always. The quilt makes me think I should be adding to my flower fabric collection. Thanks for sharing.
Great post Karin! I, too, would struggle very much of He set me in the desert. I love my pine trees! You have taken, and shared, many beautiful photos of the place you are in now. I'm glad you are seeing the beauty there. And I LOVE your quilt!! It's perfect, lovely flowers thrown with abondon~ just perfect :)
What a perfect post. You made me smile. Thank you for the reminder, God makes no mistakes.
Your post makes me think God intended me to stay within 20 miles of where I was born and raised!! Not to move to Montana like my husband wanted too:) Love your quilt can't wait to see it quilted and photos of it in neat locations like the rest of your quilts.
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