This is my purse. It was an impulse Amazon purchase on “Cyber Monday” last year. It sat in the bottom of my closet for a while because I didn’t like the handles at first. It sat there waiting. Waiting for me to decide my other purse was too small (or I just wanted a change), and I brought it out into rotation. I lost count of the compliments I get on this purse. It “goes with” everything! It’s a patchwork of many colors. Someone took scrap leather pieces and made something beautiful. I think that’s one reason I’ve always liked quilts… a patchwork of small pieces, coming together to form something beautiful.

We are like my funky purse. A mix of qualities that might not seem like much by themselves… but put together, they form something beautiful. Something unique- those qualities form you. I told someone that I felt like an odd mix of things – growing up I was a cheerleader, in drama & speech, band & choir, art, 4-h, attended church regularly, went to parties… things that contradicted each other, but mixed together created something unique – me. She said, “what if you are ALL of those things… and that’s what makes you… you.” None of it is a mistake. All of those experiences helped form me into who I am now. Who I am now will not be the same 10-20 years from now. I will have more life experiences, I will have new skills, I will have traveled to more places, met more people… and my patchwork will be different. Maybe I’ll learn to quilt by then.

As we start a new school year, I hope that my boys will add to their own patchwork. They will learn some new things, meet new people and grow as men. Their lives in 10-20 years will be drastically different. They will likely be out of our home, just visiting on weekends or holidays. They may have families of their own. Things will change, but my love for them and their father/my husband remains.

Peace be with you on your journey of enough. May you add to your patchwork this year and help someone add to theirs. We are all in this together!