Calling All Quitters! Today’s Your Day!

Calling All Quitters! Today's Your Day! by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)
Calling All Quitters! Today's Your Day! by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)
photo credit Johanna Froese

Calling All Quitters! Today’s Your Day! This was the subject heading of an email I received. I did a double take before realizing I misread it. (Must’ve needed another cup of coffee that morning.) It actually said “calling all QUILTERS” and was advertising a sale at a well-known fabric store. That one letter L makes a big difference!

I think we are all like that letter L. We each make a big difference, even if we don’t immediately see or feel it. You might be the difference that prevents somebody from quitting their calling. Your voice, your perspective, your words, your quiet deeds, your unseen prayers might be exactly what someone else needs today.

So what if our work seems the same as someone else’s? We each do it differently. And we each reach a different block of community, even if there’s some overlap. How much more beautiful is an entire quilt than one lonesome scrap?

I think a big lie we swallow is that somehow one person’s success means our own success becomes that much harder to attain. As if we’re all standing in line at the checkout counter of success and each time someone is given more likes, more attention, more money, more fill-in-the-blank than I currently have, we just fall further and further behind in line. Competition.

I’ve thought in the past that we are standing in a line. Side-by-side, however, fighting the same battle for the same commander-in-chief. But perhaps it’s more complicated than that. Formations of soldiers obviously consist of more than one line.

A quilt actually makes a good analogy. Comfort, economy, heirloom. What comes to mind when you think of quilts?

If we are each a piece of a quilt, we do more good and are more beautiful as a whole. We enhance each other. We bring glory to the quilt-maker, the One who sews our lives together. History is stitched to new. Over the whole of it, a design is embroidered, further emphasizing unity. Together we purpose to bring warmth and beauty to those who benefit from that unity.

When we feel frayed, we don’t have to be afraid. We won’t be undone when the One in control is stitching together all loose ends for one end.

The next time you feel like holding your index finger and thumb to your forehead (you know, the “loser” sign?), just remember this: the letter L is the difference between quit and quilt. You are that difference.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

18 thoughts on “Calling All Quitters! Today’s Your Day!

  1. I second Rebekah’s comment. I can’t like this post enough, and I’m reading it way after the fact! Your play on words always makes me smile by the way. If people are groaning, then they’d groan at me too. Of course, I’ve had a lot of people groan at my sense of humor. So maybe we’re in good company.

    1. Carmen, it makes my heart so happy to read God encouraged you through my post! May He continue to give you just what you need when you need it. Hugs!

  2. May I tell you a story of an over eager mama on Black Friday from two years ago?… she bought fabric for three quilts because it was such a good price. Only one of them has been completed in that time, and though quilt kinda feels like quit right now, I am encouraged by your post and reminded that there are different kinds of stitches that have been woven into the fabric of my family and church in those last two years. My prayer is that those stitches will count for much more than the ones my machine could make. Besides flannel doesn’t work too well for summer!
    As always, I appreciate your encouragement Pearl. Thank you for making spiritual concepts so vivid!

    1. Rachel, I love your story! Beautifully shared. Those stitches definitely count for a lot more than physical stitches in tangible quilts. (And hey, you still made one!) And I hope you know, you are a beautiful example of being connected to others. Hugs sweet sister!

  3. LOVED this! So now on days when that “QUIT” urge creeps in, this post is going to come to mind and provide that well needed “L” to help me understand my place in this world. Thank you for words of encouragement Pearl : ) .

    1. Awww, thanks Mama, the lovely and talented photographer! 🙂 Your quilt photo fit perfectly. Thanks for being amazing! I remembered you making quilts while I wrote. We’ll keep reminding each other we’re quilt pieces! Hugs!

  4. What a lovely post! Yes, I get sucked into the competition game when I check how many followers I have on Twitter, as if having tens of thousands would make Twitter more personally engaging. Not!

    Now, if I think in terms of your quilt analogy, I can say that the center piece might be surrounded by a few dozen others, but it doesn’t make the center piece any more valuable than, say, the corner piece that touches only a few. Oh! I like your analogy.

    1. Thank you, Diane! And here I am trying to believe what I wrote and NOT check FB and be worried because only one person liked the post and maybe that means this was all just a bunch of — uh, so thanks, Diane. 😉 (I do believe what I wrote, but it’s easy to get sucked into that competition game, isn’t it?) Maybe I ought to hang a quilt next to my computer… I love your thoughts about value. 🙂

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