Sewing machine....

Sewing machine...

This is a family story...

My sewing machine of 39 years died this last month...it cranked out its last stitches wearily until it stopped going forward and only went into reverse with a lot of pressure.   I took it to the repairman and he shook his head and sadly said, "I can't help you this time". At the last repair and maintenance place, they had warned me that there was terminal problems, but they patched it up and I was able to use it for three more years...longer than expected...

Both of my grandmothers sewed, my mother as well.   It was part of my life..I received my first sewing machine at 7 years old...a little Singer hand crank one..(it still works!)...I made a lot of doll clothes on it and it reposes in its original box amongst my memorabilia of life...

One of my grandmothers taught me to use her singer treadmill machine...it was smooth working...I remember the soft " swish, swish" sound of the foot pedal going back and forth, up and down as the machine did its work of sewing one piece of cloth to another...such fun, both to sew and spend time with grandma...we had lots of discussions over that machine...

My mother had an electric Singer machine that had a fold out cabinet.  She sewed most of my clothing and hers as well...I don't know when she got it, but it was her pride and joy until she moved into her last home and purchased a little portable electric one.  On the old one, she made baby clothes for me to my high school formals with hundreds of outfits In between. It was still going strong as my children reached adulthood...

My high school graduation present was a sewing machine...we shopped until just the right one came in sale...my father was reluctant to purchase it because he thought I wouldn't study in college, but sew instead...it was a stress releaser for me...it lasted for 10 years until it, too, wore out..

Then when my oldest daughter was one year old, I purchased this latest one...I was sooooo thrilled to be getting such a fancy one, and a twenty-five year warranty.   ( I remember thinking "25 years, that's a life time away").
One of my daughters told me she always remembered where ever we lived, I had my Sewing machine set up, ready to go.  And indeed, when I looked at or built homes, there was an area specifically designed for a sewing area.

While sewing, I could pray, think through problems, meditate...it was not just about sewing...it was my "closet", my "war room"...my creative outlet as well...

When I look at family pictures over the years, articles of clothing for each child portray the hours at the sewing machine...or gifts sewn with so very much love into each stitch...

And those 25 years have come and flown by...adding many more for extra measure...a generation ...

Thank YOU for that creativity and the love You have shown me...you have given me a lifetime of pleasure, answered problems, prayers...over those millions of stitches...I have cried at that machine when I couldn't do any things else...when the life closed in with its events...and I have rejoiced as well...so I am giving over the machine to the repairman's "bone pile" to be used to bring similar machines back to life...an "organ donor"...

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.
Psalm 145:13-17

The Lord has been faithful over the years...he repairs, builds up, uses us for His praise...he prays over us, gives us many years, cries over us...died for us that we Might live...until we join Him in our eternal home...we are his delight...thank YOU...