All His Children

Before we get into this week's devotion, did you see that registration is open for the Moments with Jesus QAL and Devotional Journey? You can get all the details in this post or this video.

Devotion for the week...

When we first moved here, the women of the various churches in town would meet a few times a year for prayer breakfasts. It's a small town, so there's only one church per denomination, and women came to the prayer breakfasts from the Catholic, United, Anglican, Pentecostal, and United Pentecostal churches, and we would pray together for our families, our community, our province, and our country. We were from different denominations, but we believed in the same God. Our church services looked different, with different customs and traditions, but we prayed to the same Father who loves us all. Our denominations have different teachings (like one saying alcohol is completely forbidden, while another has no such prohibition), but we all put our trust in the same Jesus.

Historically, people from different denominations haven't always gotten along so well (that's quite an understatement). There are famous, and very bloody, examples from around the world, but there are also smaller and more insidious examples. Things like when we lived in Igloolik, Nunavut where I helped out with a Brownies group and some of the Protestant families wouldn't allow their girls to attend because the meetings took place inside the Catholic church. 

Such divisions must grieve God. Paul wrote, "Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one God and Father of all,

who is over all, in all, and living through all" (Ephesians 4:3-6).

One body, one Spirit, one glorious hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God.

It's human nature to notice our differences and separate ourselves along party, or in this case denominational, lines. We prefer to be with those who think and act like we do, and so we prefer to group ourselves accordingly. Problems come, though, when we allow those preferences to create divisions. After all, denominations are a human invention. God simply sees us all as His children.

He calls us to unity and to peace, telling us through Paul to make every effort towards binding ourselves together. I'm grateful there seem to be fewer deep divisions between denominations today, though I don't think they're gone completely. What efforts could we make to bind ourselves together with the people of other denominations in our communities? It might be as simple as sharing a meal and prayer time together.

My First Quilt with Paul Leger

Yay, it's time for another My First Quilt interview! Today we're going to learn all about Paul Leger's first quilt 😊

Paul is a Canadian quilter, teacher (in both English and French), pattern designer, and Bernina ambassador. He is also a veteran (thank you for your service, Paul!), which figures into the story of his first quilt. 

You can connect with Paul at his website, on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

And now, here is Paul's first quilt! Isn't it fun?

What year did you make your first quilt? What prompted you to make it?

May 1990, I was in the Canadian Armed Forces stationed in Victoria, British Columbia when I started. When one of my Air Force shirts was too thread bare to be worn I knew it was time to replace all my shirts. It would never fail within the first month of my getting the new shirts, I'd stain or rip one or more. I would therefore not be allowed to wear them anymore. As I strongly believe any and all uniform clothing should not be donated, I would throw them away, but not before removing all the buttons. I followed my mother’s example, remove those buttons before throwing away clothing or turning them into cleaning rags. I still do it to this day. Normally with the buttons removed I'd throw the shirts away, but this time for some reason I did not. The next day it occurred to me, the shirts, well the fabric, was still new, I therefore decided to dissect those shirts and recuperate the larger pieces of fabrics. I had no ideas what I'd ever do with those fabrics, if anything. then two days later I remembered, "quilts use to be made using old clothing".   

I designed a block; it was supposed to give me a 10" x 10" block when finished. Well, everyone of my blocks were anything but 10"x 10". They measured anything from 8¾” x 8¾” to 9⅜” x 9⅜”, most were not even square. 

I must have enjoyed the process as 33 years later I’m still enjoying the whole process.

What techniques were used in that first quilt? Did you quilt it yourself?

Was I suppose to use techniques? I just sewed as I thought I was suppose to, remember this was my first quilt. It was also only the 2nd time I used the machine. 

It was quilted by my mother, Doris Leger.

Who taught you to make the quilt?

In 1994, while stationed in Barrie, Ontario, I took my first quilting class. The class was for beginner quilters and the teacher's name is Joan Winter. The class took place in her basement. What I learned in the class became the bases for my being where I am today.  

I remember the first thing I learned in the class; Seam allowance. Remember the 1st block I designed and made? It was anything but 10” x 10”, now I knew why, I’d never considered seam allowance in any of the quilts I’d designed. The class fee was the BEST money I ever paid for a class, even to this day. 

I’m still in touch with Joan to this day.

Are the colours you chose for your first quilt ones you would still choose today?

I'd use some of them but not all. I'm  really drawn to bright saturated colours. They make me happy.

Did you fall in love with quilting right away? Or was there a gap between making the first quilt and the next one?

I started my second quilt within days of completing the first. Over the years there are a few gaps where few quilts were made but I'm still going strong.

Where is the quilt now?

Folded away on the top shelf of my closet along with the 2nd quilt I made. 

Is there anything you wish you could go back and tell yourself as you made that first quilt?

Yes. To enjoy the process and worry less about all those rules. 

Anything else you want to share about your first quilt?

I'd do it again.

Thank you for sharing your first quilt with us, Paul! I love how you repurposed those unwearable uniform shirts!

Whose Opinion Matters More?

Before we get into this week's devotion, did you see that registration is open for the Moments with Jesus QAL and Devotional Journey? You can get all the details in this post or this video.

Devotion for the week...

This week we're looking at the story of another woman from the Bible, but this time for an example of what not to do. Her name is Sapphira and she and her husband set out to do something good, but it turned bad quickly.

Sapphira and Ananias were believers in the early church. At that time, "there were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need" (Acts 4: 34-35). What an amazing community that must have been!

Our couple make their appearance at the beginning of Acts 5: "there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest" (vv. 1-2). Did you notice how quickly their good deed went south? They sold the property and brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount! 

Ananias went to the apostles on his own to make the presentation and Peter confronted him. "Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!" (vv. 3-4). Ananias dropped dead and some of the men who were present carried him out and buried him.

When Sapphira arrived, she had no idea her husband had died. Before telling her, Peter gave her the opportunity to set the record straight: "Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?" (v. 8).

Unfortunately, Sapphira was fully committed to the lie. "Yes," she replied, "that was the price" (v. 8). 

How sad that must have made Peter. I can imagine him shaking his head as he says, "How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too" (v. 9). Immediately, Sapphira died and was carried out, just like Ananias.

The first time I read this story, I thought Sapphira and Ananias were punished for keeping some of the money back. But then I read it again and really took in what Peter told Ananias: the property was theirs. They could choose to sell it or not. They could choose how much to sell it for. Once the property was sold, the money was theirs, too. They could choose what to do with it. They were under no obligation to give any of the money to the apostles. It would have been fine if they decided to keep all of the money. It would have been fine to give all of the money to the apostles. It would also have been equally fine to give some of the money to help the needy and keep some of the money for themselves.

The problem wasn’t how much money they decided to donate, it was their decision to lie about what percentage of the money they were donating. We don’t know for certain what motivated their lie, but it’s generally accepted that they wanted to be recognized for their generosity. Donating some of the money wouldn’t have sounded as grand or as generous as donating all of it, so they decided to make themselves look as generous as they could.

The obvious lesson here is Don’t Lie. It’s a good lesson and one we should certainly take to heart.

There’s another, deeper lesson, too, though. We should be more concerned with what God thinks of us than with what people think of us. Sapphira and Ananias wanted people to admire them for their generosity, even if they had to lie to make it happen. They didn’t bother to consider what lying would do to God’s opinion of them.

While we certainly want people to think well of us, it’s unwise to make that happen by sacrificing God’s opinion of us.