There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. –Philippians 1:6, The Message

I got into quilting sometime in 2007. It was something my mom did and I always swore I couldn’t (wouldn’t) quilt because I didn’t have the patience. And then I decided I wanted to try something and I was absolutely hooked. I loved picking out fabric and learning how to cut fabric to make the blocks needed for the project. Like most hobbies, my skills grew as I learned more things. Recently, I’ve been reading more about the stories behind certain quilt blocks. Most traditional quilt blocks have names (there are variations of the themes, too). Many block names reflect what they represented from nature, like the flying geese block or the bear claw block. Some blocks are somewhat newer, like the card trick block which was created in the 1970’s. There are also some incredible stories about how quilt blocks were used by people who navigated the Underground Railroad to escape slavery. Each block had a different meaning It’s amazing how stories can be anywhere.

Stories are what ground and connect us as a people. Stories remind us who we are and where we come from. Stories are healing. Stories are enlightening. We use stories as teaching tools and we use stories for entertainment. Our scriptures are filled with stories that remind us of who God is and what God does with and through God’s people.

You have a story, too. You have a story of what God is doing in and through you. And your story is still being written. I love this part of Paul’s letter to Philippians where he writes in Phil 1:6, from The Message, “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” I’ve always believed that means God isn’t done with us. God is still creating in and through us. Our stories aren’t done.

We are, to use a quilter’s acronym, WIPs: Works In Progress.

So, what’s God up to in your story now? Aren’t you curious? Doesn’t it make you wonder? I hope so. I hope you lean into that curiosity and wonder, in the same way you might lean into a good story or a warm quilt, trusting that our Creating God is still working in ways we have yet to see.