When you think about the fabric of your life lived so far, what colour threads do you see? Which are the dominant colours? What patterns are evident in your tapestry? If every experience is a stitch in the intricately woven fabric of your life, then how have you been stitched together by the fibres of your experiences? What does your life tapestry look like?

Fabric is an interweaving of many different strands of thread. The thread itself is made of many different fibres twisted together. Some threads run in one direction and the others at right angles to them.

So it is with life. Moving through life is the weaving. Some things remain constant, but sometimes the pattern changes and evolves as our life situation changes as well.

Some seasons are pleasant, others are downright difficult and challenging. But how do these different seasons of our lives help create our life’s fabric?

What things remain constant through life’s ups and downs? And what are the ones that change?

The foundation of our life’s fabric, the strong beliefs, clear visions, inner strength, and determination, is established from the outset and held stationary. They make the vertical pattern and must be strong enough to withstand high tension. They are what carry us through time.

Whereas the horizontal threads, they are woven around, drawn through, over and under. They can be variable or uniform, fragile or strong, dark or bright, thick or thin. They are our experiences, memories, and emotions we collect along the way. It’s what creates the pattern.

Yet it’s the combination of the two that creates the richness of the fabric’s texture.

If I had a choice, I would choose bright and warm colours for my life’s tapestry, like orange for positive emotions such as joy and happiness, combine it with stimulating red and the cheerfulness of yellow. My fabric would have warm undertones and the depth of auburn or brown.

Yet, I study the fabric of my life lived so far and I see a mixture of dark colours woven into it. There are colours like black and grey, that have appeared time and time again during the darkest of my days, that I would never have chosen had I had the choice.

But as I take a step back and with my mind’s eyes, study the fabric from a distance, I am surprised at the immense beauty of the colours and patterns.

Yes, I see many bright colours of happy family dinners, of babies being born, of sunflowers, giggles, and laughter.

But I also see colours of sorrow like cancer, divorce, brain and spinal tumours, times of tears, sadness, and heartbreak.

But the foundation of my life’s fabric, established from the outset, is the word of God, and His love for me. It’s enough to give me the inner strength needed to withstand even the highest of tension and has carried me to this point and will do so until the day I finally close my eyes.    

Lastly, I see a horizontal golden threat that fills my heart with love and my eyes with unshed tears. I see my children holding my hand at the hospital after my spinal cord surgery, I see the love of my friends making a prayer quilt during my breast cancer days. I see a loving friend driving me to a radiation therapy session. I see my friends praying for me during my darkest hours.

And I conclude, the combination of the foundational vertical patterns together with the variable horizontal threats, has indeed created the richness of my fabric’s texture, as God has woven together the fabric of my life up to this point. And when it is all finished, it will become apparent, it was never random.