Meeting the Deadline

The Mystery Quilt is quilted, bound, washed and in the dryer on a very low setting.  Tomorrow night it will be one of the silent auctions at a fundraiser for youth.  The binding was hand stitched on this morning as I watched the Canada – USA men’s semi-final hockey game at the Sochi Olympics.  Our boys dominated.   It was a good game, worthy of being a final game for gold.  Our women won gold in hockey against the USA yesterday.  A nail biter, we were trailing 2-0 with four minutes left in the third.  They tied it up with less than a minute to go, and scored a beauty to win in overtime.

A seminary classmate recently became a Canadian citizen.  We exchanged comments on facebook the day of his swearing in.  He said he felt conflicted over which country to cheer for since he now has dual citizenship.  It got me to thinking about loyalty and what binds us.  He has been an American all his life.  We graduated from seminary at the same time.  He had married while he was studying and recently he and his wife were blessed with a beautiful baby girl.  Are relationships the glue, the possibilities provided through education opportunities, the ability to build a good life, freedom to make choices, love?  What is it that forms and shapes our loyalty and love for country.  Is it nostalgia, because this is the place of first breaths and discovery of the world’s wonder, the taste of fresh wild strawberries, the sound of the robin’s praise from the top of the maple tree bright with spring green leaves?  Is it learning the national anthem through a daily repetition with classmates, to swim in clean, cool waters, to fall asleep to rain’s gurgle and drip on the roof?  What is it that spawns patriotism?

Proverbs personifies loyalty and faithfulness.  There appears to be some chance that they are fickle, able to forsake.  Somehow we are to bind them to ourselves, absorb them into our being and live them for life abundant.

In life’s marvelous quirks and twists, I flip over the corner of the quilt for its portrait and I am reminded of maple leaves.  “God keep our land.”

Proverbs 3:3  Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

 

MQ Sandwiched

Mystery Quilt top – finished.  It is called The Cat’s Meow by Debbie Caffery.  I brought it down to the church this week to stretch and now am trying to find the motivation to get it quilted.  I have five days.  My prayer is to have it finished in time for a fundraiser on Saturday!