I'm not a quilt maker, but I sure do admire the beauty of the quilt a person takes the time to make! I personally know the time that goes into it, I have a friend who has made some real beauties! I got ambitious once and ordered some really nice quilt squares, all black & white and decided I would at least make a miniature quilt to hang on the wall. When I got all my stuff I tried to sew it and put it together, but I could not get the patterns to line up, no matter how hard I tried it would not line up! The other day I was thinking about the Lord when the thought came to me, the church is like a quilt! We are all different! Different backgrounds, cultures, colors, Christian walks, but yet God has put us all together! Yes, there are some people that will be more like you than others, but God has called us to line up with them all so we can be sewn together! Take for example one hue of a fabric, there all different shades of that hue, but still it is the same color, we are all accepted by God, therefore we have to accept others as they are...In our life's there will be people that rub us the wrong way, but you know what? Every person you come across in your life can teach you something, and honestly it may be how not to be, but if you keep that attitude you will end up learning a lot of cool lessons from the people God sends your way! In a church setting we must value others no matter what they bring to the table! I think the most beautiful quilt I have ever seen was a rainbow colored one, I just loved seeing all the colors represented! I'm not only referring to skin color, I mean peoples ministries, their cultures, and their ideas too, As children we are often taught that blues go together, reds go together..etc, but there is so much more beauty in a rainbow! Really the easy way out is “grouping” yourself together with someone who is like you, but you know in my life I have learned so much from people that weren't “just like me” my biggest blessings have come from those situations! A quilt would look really weird if one square was missing, it just wouldn't be finished, just as our church is not complete if all are not valued or in their proper place! Quilts have to be double sometimes triple sewn together so they can hold up to being used regularly, the same goes for us, we have to be strongly bound together with our brothers and sisters so we can stand and “stay” together when the storms come and the winds blow, and when the devil tries to rip us apart!! Look around the church see the beauty, not the problems, because God has put us where we are for a reason, ..stay “sewn” together with them, enjoy their “colors” , learn the lessons you are meant to learn from them! Enjoy God's quilt!! I love y'all...