A Precious Gift

Five years ago today, my mother-in-law passed away from the effects of Multiple Sclerosis. She battled it for many years. In fact, in all the years that I have known my husband, I never knew Linda without a wheelchair. She was only 61 years old when she died and she was the closest person to a saint that I have ever known.

(Linda with one of her granddaughters, Julie, my Daughter #1)

Today in my early morning scripture class (we're studying the New Testament) we were discussing the story of Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus anointing the feet of Jesus Christ with a costly ointment. (St. John 12)The students and I talked about gifts that people have given us that were significant and precious to us. The most special gifts we discussed were those that were given us by special people. I brought to class the painted wooden plaque you see at the beginning of this blog post.

To many of the quilters who visit me in my quilt studio, they think it is a plaque that one of my children made me. It hangs near my longarm machine so I can see it as I quilt. But it was not from one of my children. Instead it was given to me by my mother-in-law Linda. She painted it many years ago and it is very precious to me.
You see, from the effects of MS, Linda only had the use of one of her hands. And so I know painting it took many hours to complete. I wrote about Linda last year on Mothers Day. Please go visit that entry again, if you have a minute. It's an experience I had where I learned how much she loved me. Follow this link: Hats Off To Mothers.

This is a scripture from the New Testament that reminds me of Linda: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."--2 Timothy 4:7

She is dearly missed by her family, escpecially by her eldest son, my dear husband. And me.

I hope that you take the time to reflect on precious gifts that special people have given you. Sometimes they are gifts that don't cost very much, but when they remind us of special people, they become priceless to us.

"The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious."--Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Pictured below are a couple of scrappy quilts I worked on recently I wanted to share with you. I see more and more scrappy quilts these days.
Do you think it's because in this economy, quilters are using more and more of their stash? Perhaps.

Have a good day, blogging friends!