A Divinely Appointed Quilt

It was Saturday evening three weeks ago.  The kids had been put in bed and my husband and I were sitting down to watch a movie--"Precious" Here is a bit of a summary from Wikipedia:

 "In 1987, obese, illiterate, 16-year-old Claireece P. "Precious" Jones lives in the ghetto of Harlem with her dysfunctional and abusive mother, Mary. She has been impregnated twice by her father, Carl, and suffers long-term physical, sexual, and mental abuse from her unemployed mother. The family resides in a Section 8 tenement and subsists on welfare. Her first child, is being cared for by Precious' grandmother, though Mary forces the family to pretend the child lives with her and Precious so she can receive extra money from the government.

Following the discovery of Precious' second pregnancy, she is expelled from school. Her junior high school principal arranges to have her attend an alternative school, which she hopes can help Precious change her life's direction. Precious finds a way out of her traumatic daily existence through imagination and fantasy. In her mind, there is another world where she is loved and appreciated."

If you have ever seen this movie, you know how difficult it was for me to watch.  At one point, about 20 minutes into the movie, I turned to my husband and said, "I can't watch this anymore".  The language was terrible and the abuse was disturbing. 

As I was watching the movie I had a dialogue going on in my head. 

'No one can possibly be that mean towards a child--this is an exaggeration.'

'No, it's not. Children are living like this every day.'

'A mother couldn't treat a child like that'

'Yes, a mother could'

'It's just a movie Carin'

'Is it?'

And then......

my husband got up to get a snack and my computer dinged--signaling a new message in my email inbox. I popped over and read this comment that Susan had just left on our blog for the 'Fall into Fall Giveaway":

"I know a little girl in a hopeless home situation. She has no father; in fact, no one knows who her father is. Her mother has openly said that she only keeps the little girl because she gets welfare money for her. This little girl spends every afternoon and all day Sundays with my friend and her husband, who are showing her what a true family is all about. I'd like to win the quilt for her to use at their house to remind her that there are people in this world who love her for who she is. I can guarantee that the girl would receive the quilt and be the only one to use it!"

I just about fell out of my seat. 

God was speaking to me and showing me a child who needed HOPE. 

The parallels between Precious and this girl that Susan nominated became obvious to me-

Two young girls around the age of 13

Two young girls being used by their mother for welfare money

Two young girls looking for a different world filled with the love of a family

Two young girls needing HOPE and comfort.

The difference was--one was FICTIONAL and one was REAL.

A couple of days later, I contacted Susan and told her that I would like to make a quilt for this girl--I didn't want to wait to see if she would win because I had received a divine appointment to make a quilt of HOPE for Patricia.  Susan shared that Patricia likes bright colors, especially lime green.

So I went to work on Patricia's quilt. 

Yesterday I finished it.

Susan asked me to add a label with the following Bible verse on it:

 Psalm 139:14 . . . "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."