A Labor of Love!

Our amazing church family at Cornerstone gave Keith and I the biggest surprise...EVER on Sunday. They presented us with a quilt for our bed which had been made by several of the ladies in our church. Every family who wanted to was able to make a quilt square for their family. There are over 60 personalized squares on the quilt! It is an amazing labor of love and Keith and I are completely overwhelmed. We were also given a pillow from each of the missionary families that the church supports. I'll share the testimonies of one of them later!

Here are some pictures of the quilt. I realize you can't see it well... but you get the idea. Fantastic, isn't it! I wish you could see each square! I could sit and look at it for a long time. Every time I come back to it I see something I didn't see before.

I'm overwhelmed that they would give such a gift and I'll always treasure it. It means so much in so many ways. There is even one square on the quilt from a friend who went to be with the Lord in September. I'm SO grateful I have her square!

I'm not sure whether to be amazed or concerned at the ability of our church family to keep a secret. Apparently this project has been in the works for over a year now and I knew NOTHING. I was completely surprised. My own mother was part of the sewing and, of course, made a square... not a clue!

There's a neat story behind the pillow from one of our missionary families in China. This image was made by her husband to represent righteousness. Here's an excerpt from her letter.

"Robert designed the script. It is the Chinese character for 'righteousness'. The
top part stands for 'lamb' and the bottom section is 'me'. When the lamb's blood
covers me, then I am declared righteous! The character is a neat way to begin
sharing the Gospel here.

My dear Chinese friend is a seamstress. She looked at
my piece of silk and finally decided that the only way to place it on the fabric
was to sew it on by hand. It took her a long time and was given with love and
free of charge. Our friend is now a believer too...declared righteous because of
the Lamb. God is so good!"

I love this quilt and it will always be a treasure... but I feel undeserving. Thank you to all who gave a piece of themselves and their time. God is so good!