Sew I Made a Mistake

I looked down at the finished sampler. It was perfect...well close enough for me anyway; after being washed, starched, and tossed onto the back of a chair, the ripped-out and resewn seams would be but memories.
And then I saw it. It glared at me from the finished "Grassroots Americana" samplier, so named for the red-white-blue-and-green color scheme. It is still there, in the top left block, do you see it?  That one misplaced star point?  


I took a deep breath. And then another. Breathe Coach Kelly, take some of your own advice. Breathe. Breathe. BREATHE! As I calculated the tedious process of ripping the quilted blocks apart, I knew it was doable. The mistake was one that most quilters, if they are honest, have experienced. And the exact reason Mrs. Kessel, our high school home economics teacher, stressed the importance of a good seam ripper! As I glared back at the block's imperfection, something changed. Maybe it was the deep breathing, maybe it was the Holy Spirit, maybe I was just tired of ripping seams, whatever the reason, instead of becoming irritated (I had hit that point after my 1000th ripped stitch), I was inspired to use the quilt as teaching material. I would add it to my expanding Coaching Toolbox, coaching tool expansion happens quickly when you screw up as often as I do.


With yet another deep breath, I forced a grin onto my face, and in a childish move, stuck my tongue out at the quilt saying out loud "Take that! I choose to see the big picture." And then I decided that "Grassroots Americana" was indeed pleasant to behold.  An imperfectly beautiful quilt that has a lot in common with real life. 


Grabbing my laptop (maybe that's why it is stored under my sewing machine?) I started blogging about a misplaced star point!  The more I typed, the bigger I smiled...and the glaring star point, which in all reality was nothing more than a chopped up square, seemed to lose its power over me, the glare became more of a glint, and after a while, it humbly faded back into the pattern of the semi-perfect quilt.  It was a great learning moment for me as a woman. 

I have noticed that when we separate the many facets of what composes life real, its easy to see those glaring "mistakes" that taunt and mock us. Those moments when we lose our temper, subtract wrong in our checkbook; the moments when spilled milk really does make us cry.  When we choose to focus on the misplaced star point which is meant to catapult our lives into the "out of control" zone, life doesn't appear to be that great.  But then I glanced at the whole quilt and I genuinely smiled.

Although my life has had many glaring moments, mistakes I made either on purpose or by accident, I have a choice.  I can choose to add real life experiences to my tool belt, tighten that thing up and take control of my perspective, or I can let them continue to glare at me, robbing me of my joy. I have options. As do we all.

I think it is past time to put away my life-sized seam ripper. To see the big picture and stop ripping my life apart at the seams. Those open seams reveal past financial woes, a broken marriage, an alcoholic father, a depressed mother, sibling that I swear sometimes forget I exist. But when I look at the big picture of what is my life, I see a life full of lessons learned, a big and loving family, Christian values and morals passed down generation-by-generation, and siblings that have always been there for me and my children. But enough about me! What about your life? 

Are there things in your life that have the power to make you smile in spite of their imperfections? If so, I encourage you to look at the big picture and see beauty instead of mistakes, to seek joy instead of perfection, to simply learn to see the beauty in your life!

What a freeing concept! And, for me, the realization came about through one misplaced, chopped up square which I will forever see as a guiding star point.

Have a blessed Thursday everyone,

In Christ with love and compassion,

Coach Kelly

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