I’m into sewing and quilting on these blistering hot summer afternoons. It’s an escape into a cool, air-conditioned cave where I put my head down and get lost in fitting together color, shape, and a story.

For me, quilting is channeled prayer, because I’m consistently and intently focused on the person for whom I’m making the quilt, interceding for each quirky corner of their lives. Quilting is piecing stories together; some are real memories and some are future “please God, let them happen” hoped for memories.

Quilting can be like those repetitious prayers we say over and over again, a mantra for that certain person for whom I’m making the quilt. Maybe, if I voice it often enough, it’ll become a realized truth, like the finished quilt showing off its pattern. I like to visualize that the quilts I make are pieced together prayer hugs that will cover the intended recipient with comforting security.

I don’t make random quilts. My quilts are inspired by the lives of the ones for whom they are intended, sewn together with love and prayers.

Whose name has God placed on your heart to intercede for today?