Spinning Fear & Pain into Gold

Welcome to October 2014 “In Word & Image”

@ The Writer’s Reverie!

Each week I explore monthly themes using Scripture combined with visuals & a devotional thought!

Ruminate with me.

Be inspired in your heart.

Be captivated by His beauty.

Be enriched in the timeless treasury of His gifts.

Be challenged to go forth with purpose and live for Him.

OCTOBER THEME: Making Masterpieces

Scorpions, rattlesnakes, black widows and tarantulas were on my mind in 1986.

Our military orders came through. My husband’s job was being transferred to a shore billet in the middle of New Mexico wild west territory. I was a young mother of an 18 month old, soon to be whisked away to live in the middle of the desert for two years, in a part of the country I knew little about.

Other than the fact that scorpions, rattlesnakes, black widows and tarantulas lived there.

My fears fed a creative imagination and I began to obsess over possible worst case scenarios of what my daily life would be like living in a desert town. To my mind, Albuquerque looked much like the western towns of the popular 1960 western TV shows I’d grown up on.

How would I manage battling killer insects and serpents everyday?
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Would I be able to protect my son? I couldn’t imagine navigating my two years there without some horrifying encounter. The pain of being separated from my beloved New England familiarity made me more anxious than adventurous.

The moving men had packed up our little home into a host of stacked boxes. I sat among them, ruminating fearfully over the future unknowns. The phone rang, startling me from my fantasy. A cheerful voice on the other end put a smile on my face. Patty wanted to do one more swing around to all our favorite New England antique shops – the place of civilized society – before I left for the wild uncertainties of the west in two days.

We set off, enjoying the drive in our quaint region of Connecticut, and came to a favorite shop.

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The owner had been unpacking a truck filled with new finds, pricing them, and placing them on the floor for sale. Surveying the scene, I was distracted from my fears with so many favorite things – antiques and old things stirring story and wonder!

Then – I saw it!

A Spinning Wheel!

Just the sight of a spinning wheel spun my imagination to bygone times and simple, unhurried days, and the peaceful repose of creating beauty and purpose from the provision of God in the sheepfold. The cleaning and carding of wool, freshly cropped from the coat of a sheep, gently spread with the fingers, stretched thin and spun into threads and yarns on a wheel – transformed for new purposes – had always fascinated me and ministered biblical truths to my heart.

Isn’t that what God does with us to make us His own for greater things? Metaphorical sheep’s wool on a spinning wheel?

I had always wanted a spinning wheel. Not that I would actually use it – but just to place in my home imparting a peaceful atmosphere of vintage days and ways. Besides, old things needed looking after so as to preserve the lessons of the past to inform our present. With a passion for history and antiques – I really needed a spinning wheel.

God knew I needed something more.
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Oh! The price of antiques in the day! Most spinning wheels I saw in the shops were very expensive – I’d never seen one under $400. So imagine my surprise when I glanced at the price of this wheel – in very good condition – and it was marked at a steal: $185!

Here’s how the scene played out:

“Um . . .” I hesitantly inquired of the shop-owner, “this spinning wheel . . . $185?”

She nodded. “Yes. $185.” Then, paused with a frown. “Wait a minute – that doesn’t sound right.” She looked down at her record book for a moment. I rolled my eyes at my friend with a knowing shake of my head. Just too good to be true.

“Oh, dear . . .” the woman groaned. “I’m so sorry. The $185 price is what I paid for it – just unloaded it off the truck. I forgot to mark it up to my shop price.”

Of course. Just as I’d thought – too good to be true.

“Since you saw it here, marked at that price,” she continued, “I shall have to give it to you at that price – if you want to buy it now. But, if you don’t, as soon as you leave, I will mark it up to the right price.”

It was a deal not to be missed – and easily absorbed in our moving expenses for which we did have a generous budget at the time. Normally, I could never indulge in such a luxury – but God had provided the extra funds for such a gift that truly ministered to my spirit right in that moment!

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Staring at that spinning wheel with a thankful heart of praise in my home, amid stacked boxes waiting for the moving truck to come, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart and melted my anxious and fearful thoughts that had been spinning about in my head with peace and hope for the new season I was entering.

My mind was stayed upon Him – all was well in Him.

At the time, I was only about two years old in the Lord. Those tender, early years growing in intimacy were so joyful and constantly full of wonder as He consistently revealed Himself to me in creative ways. As I took joy in the spinning wheel before me, I heard His promises in Matthew 6:28-29 echo through my spirit . . .

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Will He not so clothe me with peace and confidence – purpose and potential – because I am of even greater value?

Will He not so clothe me with peace and confidence – purpose and potential – because I am of even…
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Instantly, the fears and cares of my move westward – all those scorpions, rattlesnakes, black widows and tarantulas – dissipated! The sunlight of God’s watchful care and provision in all things flooded me to the core of my being. Tears flowed as I reveled in this sweet gift and truth that has, through the years, become one with my spinning wheel, making it a most cherished possession. It still keeps a prominent position in my dining room decor – right across from the chair where I curl up in the mornings for devotions – greeting me each day with His promises.

It is a brush stroke marked decisively across the canvas of my life – an indelible lesson creating one of the foundational lines in the picture of His Masterpiece – my life lived for Him.

And – as with every spool of yarn spinning through the turbulent process of the wheel, in the transformation of coarse wool turned to useful threads, great wonders are woven. Their future is full with the hope of ministering warmth and beauty – fearless – even though often through pain.

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There is purpose in the pain of being spun upside-down and around and around.
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Resting in the provision of God – be it material, physical or spiritual – requires rest in His hands, as His fingers gently separate the fibers of our coarse life and stretch them out into the fullness of beauty and purpose they have the potential to be. I know I can be confident of the same in my life when painful and fearsome trials threaten – like so many scorpions, rattlesnakes, black widows and tarantulas.

I’m in God’s hands. The hands of a Master Artist, caring for every fiber of my being.

I never did see a single scorpion, rattlesnake, or tarantula in my whole two years in Albuquerque. And, even though there were a scant few black widows that surfaced in that time, they were swiftly and fearless dealt with – then fortified against.

The pest control guy visited every month.

Jesus in my Pest Control Guy
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Jesus is my Pest Control Guy.

He visits every day.

He keeps the threats at bay –

He comforts me when I’m spinning

I can be confident in the wheel . . .

There’s purpose.

Towards His provision.

And potential –

He’s weaving

A garment of golden threads,

Shining a bright reflection of the Master,

Making His mark

As a work of art . . .

In me.

A Fellowship of Masterpieces!

We ended the month of September with the start of our new Masterpiece Fellowship home group focusing on ministering to the needs of Christians who happen to be artists, seeking to grow in their craft and their understanding of how God would use their artistic gifts to impact lives for His glory!

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Lynette is a fiber artist who takes great joy in spinning wool into yarn. She shared her gift, and our discussion explored some of the things recorded here – including my own story about how I came to possess an antique spinning wheel. It’s usefulness as a practical tool for making threads and yarns is long past. It has graduated to higher purposes in my life – the truths of which I take great joy in every day.

Next Week I’ll share one of my favorite revelations about Genesis 1 . . . meanwhile . . .

Challenge: Make time to stop, and appreciate the Masterpiece of the Lord in your life. Your rushing, crushing, crisis-prone world needs the respite. God has something to minister to you in the beauty of artistic creation – the life He is crafting in you . . .

If you humble yourself with a heart of gratitude and meet Him there . . .

With eyes to see and ears to hear . . .

And arms open wide for His embrace.

This is the 2nd installment of Word & Image October 2014: Making Masterpieces: Spinning Fear & Pain into Gold

Click below for all the posts in the series as they are published:

Making Masterpieces: Patience in the Paint

Making Masterpieces: Spinning Fear & Pain into Gold

Making Masterpieces: Genesis Revelations

Making Masterpieces: The Creative Process–Giraffe Tales