Tapestry

A couple of weekends ago God spoke to me about my life being an intricate tapestry woven by Him. As a woman who was born on St (Dr) Luke’s day and who has just 2 ‘O’levels, English Language and Needlework, my job is to tell my story of God’s healing of my mind and to write about how the threads of my life stretch from one part of the tapestry to another, and even another. There are dark threads that the enemy of our souls has put there, but they only serve to highlight the threads that Almighty God has put there. These are just a few of the threads:

I was reminded that 19th March is St Joseph of Nazareth’s day. I was confirmed in 1965 on St Joseph of Nazareth day and apparently he is the patron saint of house buyers and sellers and travellers. Later on in 1965, as a family we had a Whitsun (Pentecost) holiday in North Wales and amongst other places we went to Llangollen on 5th June and Swallow (Water)Falls on 10th June. Many years later, I learnt that Llangollen is where my mother-in-law was born and my husband was christened on 21st May 1961.

At the time that I married John on 10th September 1988, I was working for a firm of Estate Agents (house buyers and sellers). At the time John left me I was working for a firm of Loss Adjusters, dealing with property and burglary insurance claims. It took a long time to adjust to the loss of my husband, because he was the first man that had really loved me. But I now know a greater purpose for my life.

At Grapevine in Lincoln on 26th August 1997 (3 years to the day that I had awoken in my bed in Kingston upon Thames after an overdose) someone had a word about a forget-me-not, planted on a rock, beside a waterfall and I knew that “in a spiritual sense” I was the forget-me-not that was being spoken about, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour.  I was thus reminded of my visit to Swallow Falls at Pentecost, some 3 months after my confirmation in 1965.

I had thought that St Joseph of Nazareth might be the patron saint for the homeless, but he is not. When John left me, in June 1994, our Kingston home was put up for sale and on 30th September 1994 I became homeless. Whilst working at the Nomad Trust drop-in cafe for the homeless in Lincoln in 1997 I met a volunteer called Alan, whose birthday was 30th September. On 31st October 1997, I did a sponsored sleep out for the Nomad Trust in St Botolph’s graveyard in Lincoln. A couple of weeks later, I was told that John had re-married on 31st October 1997

On 10th June 1997 (32 years after my visit to Swallow Falls in North Wales, on which holiday I had also visited God Llangollen where my husband had been christened), God had led me to the Nomad Trust drop-in cafe in Lincoln. Paul Reet, a member of my church volunteered in the cafe and Paul’s surname was a link to my wedding via the fact that on my wedding day I had become Jacqui Wilson and one of the wedding guests had told me that there was an American singer called Jackie Wilson who sang a song called “Reet Petite” (and actually Paul’s wife was quite petite).

I had said to God that if when I looked through the cafe door I could see Paul Reet, then I would know that God wanted me to volunteer in the cafe. Sure enough, I looked through the open door and there was Paul. I walked in and found there was an added confirmation – the song Power of Love by Jennifer Rush was playing and this was the song chosen by my husband for our first dance together on our wedding day, 10th September 1988.

So, as I said, my life is a tapestry woven by Almighty God. I was also thinking about the fact that I was working for men who were Chartered Surveyors on the occasion of the death of my father and my mother and the death of my marriage.

In 1977 when my father died I was working for Chartered Surveyors in Thorn Estates Department, situated in Upper St Martin’s Lane in London, opposite the theatre where the Mousetrap had first been performed on 6th October 1952 (12 days before my birthday).

In 1994 when my husband left I was working for a Chartered Surveyor at Cunningham Hart Loss Adjusters in Putney (the same town I was working in when I married him).

In 1999 when my mother died I was working for Chartered Surveyors at Smiths Gore in Lincoln and God had spoken to me about Smith being my surname and Gore being my provision as a covering (as in an umbrella) and a piece of land on which to stand.

All three were good places to work and I felt cared for by the people I worked for, so that was God’s provision during times of great loss.

Almighty God is just that “all mighty” and I believe He therefore has the power to change all of our circumstances. I don’t know if all the bad things that happened to me were bound to happen, but I do know that in the story of Job the devil had to ask permission before he could attack Job’s life and that God had a good plan for Job’s life.

I also know that God has made Psalm 37:4 and Romans 8:28 very real in my life and both of these point to first and foremost  “Delighting myself in the Lord” and “Loving the Lord” and the best will follow. I know that the road my life has taken has led me from the dominion of darkness where the devil rules into the Kingdom of Light where Jesus rules. I don’t always get it right, but I am more willing now to do life God’s way than my way or  the devil’s way. I am less likely to throw a tantrum (which I think can lead to mental ill health) when things don’t go as I think they should and more likely to be at peace (knowing that God is ultimately the winner in all the battles in my life and He wants the very best for me).