Love

I got a wonderful gift for Christmas this year. I mentioned to my mom that I thought it would be neat to have a quilt rack. A couple of years before I was born, my mom's mom was dying of cancer. My mom had only been married for a couple of years when my grandmother was diagnosed. My grandmother knew that she would never know her grandchildren but while she was still alive, she made a quilt for her first grandchild. She gave that quilt to my mom with a note pinned to it that said "to my grandchild -- a baby I will never get to hold or love".

I was the first grandchild to my grandmother. I was born a couple years after her death. My mom never let me use that quilt as a baby -- afraid that the gift that my grandmother so carefully put her time and love in to would be stained or ruined. I had known about it growing up, but I never had an opportunity to use it as a blanket. I finally asked my mom this past year if I could have a quilt rack and finally have the quilt.

My mom gave me the quilt along with a croched blanket my grandmother had made. I put both of them together on the quilt rack and it sits in our bedroom now in front of the window so the sun shines on it and it reminds of me of the love that my grandmother had for me before I was even conceived.

It is very humbling to think about the time she put into it. She put each piece together and sewed them and thought of a little baby she could never meet. I bet that broke her heart. It's amazing to me to look at the quilt and know that I was loved before I was even born.

It reminds me of the love God has for us. Christ died for us while we were still sinners -- He died for us so long before we were even thought of. But He knew us then and He loved us then. Before any of us even came into this world, he had prepared a gift for us -- the gift of salvation, of eternal life.

I didn't have to do anything to deserve the gift my grandmother gave me. I didn't giggle for her or smile at her. She didn't know if I would be a girl or a boy. She didn't know the type of person I would be or the mistakes I would make, but she loved me any way, and she wanted to make sure that I knew that love, even though she couldn't give it to me in this world. I think that is amazing it its own right. But what is even more amazing is that Christ knew the person I would be and the mistakes I would make. And He still thought I was worth it -- that YOU were worth it. He died on the cross to pay for my sins, for your sins. What a wonderful gift of love.


In loving memory of my grandmother - a woman of faith I never met

-Amber