Life is Like a Tapestry

I’ve been reading The Story of The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp. It’s a great read! And she has so many life lessons to share. Yes, it’s written by the Real Life Maria. Her story, her testimony have encouraged me so much lately. One passage especially touched me. It seemed to speak to me and where I am at in life.

“It will be very interesting one day to follow the pattern of our life as it is spread out like a beautiful tapestry. As long as we live here we see only the reverse side of the weaving, and very often the pattern, with its threads running wildly, doesn’t seem to make sense. Some day, however, we shall understand.”

When life doesn’t seem to be working out the way you had planned, when you try to make sense of your circumstances, when the pieces of the puzzle of life don’t seem to fit together, it can be hard to stand back and look at the big picture.

When I’m working on a piece of embroidery, the back side will often look horrible. When you look closely, you see threads and strings criss-crossing every which way. But if I hold it out at arms length, I can get a good idea of the way the finished project will look. And then I turn it over and look again at the front. Yes! I see! It’s coming along very nicely! Not finished yet, but it’s really coming together. The colors are blending in a way that starts to bring the scene to life. The background is starting to fill in. Yes, it’ll be lovely to see hanging in the living room.

Oh, how exciting it will be to see my Lord turn my tapestry over and reveal the beauty He has woven.

Now, my job is to stop trying to tell The Weaver how to go about working his threads.