Valley of Craftsmen Nehemiah 11

The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns, at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, Hazor, Ramah, Gittiam, Hadid, Aeboim, Neballat, Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. Nehemiah 11:31-35

It is a new year at the time I type this. Every year I ponder the ways of God. I wonder as I wander through this world what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It was an easier thing to think on when the kids were home. We homeschooled. I spent my days keeping them in schoolwork and school activities, cooking, cleaning, and running people to and fro. And I was a craftswoman. It seemed to be a natural part of who I was. I wanted to make things, to experiment with color and texture, techniques and shortcuts. I wanted to try new patterns and rulers and was anxious to share these new-found skills with anyone who wanted to learn.

Well, the last of the kids is in college and I still wonder if I am wasting my life sewing. Isn't that a sad thing to say? If it's “all going to burn,” then why do I do this? The quilt I made in high school is wearing out, and several others that I have downstairs are used and wearing, along with the ones made by my mother-in-law. The only ones that do not fade are those that are never used, tucked away from sun and friction of being pulled on night after night, day after day.

Then I read verses like these and am encouraged. There was a place called the valley of the craftsmen. They were artist colonies, of sorts. They were skilled in carving, weaving, sewing of curtains and tents, skilled in hewing and decorating. Even the great cities and buildings of their day were built, used, and eventually destroyed. But they were, and they served their purpose for the time that they existed. As a people made in God's image, we need beauty. There is the rugged beauty of the outdoors, and there is the gentle beauty of it. From the clefts of the Rockies and the Grand Canyon to the placid scenes of oceans and plains of grasses, the world is a beautiful place. Then there are flowers, grasses, trees with their many-shaped leaves. There are the curly shells, and the ones that look like angel wings. The colors of fruits from red and green and yellow apples to the bluest of berries and purplest of plums, there is a rainbow on the earth as well as in the sky. And man was created to appreciate all of these things. Man was created creative, like the God who made him. And if not given the gift ourselves, we can appreciate the gifts of others. I may not be able to paint a picture (and believe me, I CAN'T!), but I can stare for hours at the paintings of others, some bringing me to tears, some to laughter, and some to shear puzzlement. Creativeness touches us in our emotions. This is what makes us human. Put a canvas painting on the floor and a cat will sleep on it, a dog will pee on it, and a person will pick it up off the floor, study it, and hang it on a wall. It is who we are.

So I guess God has placed me in the valley of the craftswoman. I am surrounded by artists in the fabric world. I know personally people who design fabric and bring it to life in various quilts and other fibercraft. I work for a shopowner who selects the fabric bolts that she think would suit her clientele. I belong to a guild that teaches new techniques and encourages charity in handmade goods. Fibercraft is encouraged and used for the benefit of mankind, be it veterans, homeless children, struggling families, or various patients needing help paying their bills. Even though every single item will someday become a rag, for the time that it is needed, it is a useful, helpful, thoughtful gesture of love that will complete its task for the days it which it is needed.

God has gifted us with the desire to be like Him, and creativity is one of those ways. What does being a craftswoman teach me?

1. Some things go together, and some do not.
   There are colors and shades that simply work together, and others do not. There is blending or clashing. It is not the piece of fabric's fault if it doesn't “go with” the item next to it. It is what it is. But there is a way to make things work together: cut them smaller and put all sorts of things together...the more variety, the easier it is work with all types, styles, and colors of fabric. The thing that makes scrap quilt work is there is not coordination to the point that one piece stands out. We are all so different from one another in:interests, tastes, intelligence, creativeness, areas of expertise, and jobs. But all of that makes us work together to make the church of Christ a beautiful thing.

Shall we continue this tomorrow? What do I learn by being a creative woman so made by God?