Cross stitching can create beautiful works of art. However, as we follow the pattern, ending one color and adding another, lots of knots and strings appear on the back and the design can be hardly recognizable from that side.
In Genesis 37 thru 50, we read the remarkable story of Joseph, who became ruler of all Egypt. The story didn’t follow Joseph’s father’s plan for him. It certainly wasn't his jealous brothers’ plans! And it wasn’t the plan of Potiphar’s lying wife. Yet, all these knotty situations were part of God’s plan for Joseph to save his father’s family and preserve the linage of Jesus Christ. Even a cursory look at Joseph’s life reveals the lengths to which God went to bless His people.
To us, the threads of His wisdom and love sometimes appear snarled or frayed but woven together they create a cross stitch whose beautiful pattern we never envisioned. Dick and I have seen that happen in our own lives many times over.
When Dick and I married, we planned to wait five years and then have two kids. Less than a year later, I was struggling with severe morning sickness that lasted the entire pregnancy. Our doctor recommended we look at other options if we wanted more children.
Disappointed but still optimistic we looked into adoption. Adoption even 50 years ago was a tedious, lengthy, and often unsuccessful process. Waiting lists were very long. Someone mentioned we try foster care while we waited. Dick and I both believe it was a nudge from God.
Who would have known that God would take that offhand suggestion to start us on a ten-year journey that allowed us to foster 19 children? Who could have guessed that our beautiful daughter would be brought to us as a 13-month-old baby through that process?
Was it an easy journey? No. It was very hard to take a child to visit a parent whose poor choices created an unsuitable and unsafe situation. It was challenging to work within a system that included both gifted, caring caseworkers and those with misguided motives. Seven years of court hearings and appeals wore on us. In the end, however, God wove us together as a family and nothing in this world can severe the heartstrings which now tie us to one another.
Did God accomplish things the neat and tidy way we planned them? No. The back of our cross stitch has lots of knots and stray threads. But when we turn it over and catch a glimpse of the finished piece, we realize the beautiful result of His handiwork.
Are you struggling through a difficult time right now? Take hope. God loves each of us and will bring about His plan for us. It may not be revealed today or even tomorrow, but one day you will be able to see the masterpiece He has stitched into your life.
Be encouraged!
©2022 Pamela D. Williams
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