As Easter approaches, I am excited to prepare for spring. There is something about Easter that gets you excited about new life, flowers blooming, and warm sunshine; even if it is still pouring down with rain for the countless day in a row. ;)
I have been blessed this week to be reading the first chapter in our new bible study called, Scouting the Devine by Margaret Feinberg. (I had mentioned it in my earlier post.) There is something precious about reading all about sheep a week before Easter. It seems perfect to be learning about Passover and the perfect lamb right now when spring is at our fingertips. I have to admit that I know nothing about sheep other than I think they are cute. ;) I don't even know anything about wool, although I wish I did. I wish I could knit and spin wool. But I can't. So, reading this chapter was really learning about sheep for the first time.
Lynn, the shepherdess that Margaret visits to learn about sheep, explained (pg. 47 of Scouting the Divine) that shepherds can't wait for the first lamb to be born and that's all they talk about. She mentions that when the first lamb comes that it is special and it means that spring has finally arrived. When God asked his people to give over the first offspring lamb as an offering to him, he was saying that he wanted our best, our first, and in turn we would be telling him that he is first in our lives.
In reading about what it meant to a shepherd to give his best to God, it made me think, "Am I doing the same in what I do?" God has given us all gifts; maybe yours is cooking, art, raising your children, quilting, or singing. This week, I met ladies from my church's quilting club. The leader is in my bible study and invited me to go upstairs with her to look at the ladies' work. I was astonished to see that they were hard at work top stitching a beautiful quilt by hand! Another couple of ladies were tying a quilt. There were no quilts being pieced together and so I asked, "Do you not sew the quilts here?" She answered, "No, we do the piecing at home and then we come here and tie and top stitch them." She was excited to get a visitor and opened all the cupboards to show me them lined with quilts waiting to be sewn. They were all beautiful. Then she began to tell me where they were all going. "Missions. These quilts are given to the poor, mission, and women's shelters. We also auction them off to raise money for those in need." It floored me that the amazing quilt being sewn by hand was going to those in need.
How many projects have I created, with the gift that I was given by God, goes to those in need? Do I give my first fruits to God? I have been inspired this week to give more to God with the talents he has given me.
