Sew Love
March 31, 2010
I used to drive past this old church in Grant Park every day on my way home. For months it had the same message written on its little marquee sign: SOW LOVE.
So here’s where my little creative mind took it:
-My heart is super heavy for the homeless in Atlanta. I love serving down at Safehouse and have such great admiration for what they’re doing down at Open Door.
-My whole life is about Loving God & Loving People (the two greatest commandments according to Jesus).
-I am super creative and love making things so….
Everything I sew (gloves, scarves, shirts, etc…) along with paintings, photography, other people’s artwork and whatever else will all be sold having the profits go towards homeless in Atlanta.
I got my 2nd tattoo on Monday. Even if nothing ever came of Sew Love I’d still love it as it’s all about loving God and loving His people.
So here it is…
fresh ink
so how are you sewing love lately?
tats cool.
good luck
“Sewing love” is one of my favorite pasttimes, too! It was instilled in my by my grandmother Lila as I spent many hours watching her sew garments to sell in order to earn extra money. I was enamored with the fabrics and supplies she gave me to play with, and felt enveloped by her love for me every time I wore one of the many dresses created especially for me. Today, almost fifty years later, I can still recall the details of many of them, and am instantly transported back to her tiny 3 room apartment…nowhere else did I feel so completely and unconditionally loved.
Well, now I’m a grandmother, and those memories have borne new fruit in my labors for my new grandchildren. To welcome the two girls, Mary Frances and Kennedy, into the world, I sewed their crib bedding, curtains, and accents for the extra bed each had in her room (where of course Mimi sleeps when she visits). They’re too little to appreciate the love poured into creating a room uniquely for each of them…(at 5 months, Mary Frances has yet to sleep in her own crib-still rooming with Mama & Daddy in their room)…and little Kennedy is still ripening in Mam’s belly for a little longer) Even so, their mothers realize that every hour spent and every stitch sewn was also done in love for them, and thus the seeds planted by Lila have borne fruit in three generations….what a heritage from something as simple as a needle and thread that is woven through the lives of a family, just one way of passing down love to the following generation. That’s how love is, though…demonstrated by many, many small acts and words that, just like stitches, eventually create a quilt of love that envelopes you with the warmth of assurance that you are truly special to someone.
This reminds me that God gave us that same assurance through the scarlet thread of blood woven throughout the Bible, its final product revealed in Jesus and His evidence of love for us when he died on the cross. My greatest hope is that the garments I make for my grandchildren will introduce them to human love, and through that they will one day come to realize an even greater, more perfect love from their Father, the ultimate Creator.
So, keep sewing and creating, and using those gifts to bless others the way He has blessed us….love you lots, Aunt Joanie