Sunday Musings - Hook-A-Rug

Do you remember hook-a-rugs? I think they might also be called latch hook rugs. While they are still created today, I remember them being very popular in the 1980s. In fact I'm pretty sure I completed several rugs in my pre-teen and early teen years, however it's the rug that I started but didn't complete that is the focus of my story today.

Sometime during middle school or early high school, I started a hook-a-rug. I finished all the letters and half of the background.

Then I packed it away in a box and moved it around with  me for the next twenty plus years - 11 homes and 9 cities! Even though it was packed away, I always knew where the rug was (of course!) - in the box with some craft supplies and a few other incomplete projects. Over the years I lost, donated, or wore out many things, but the rug was always there waiting for me.

In July of 2007, I was studying the book of First John and ran across the verse that says "God Is Love." I knew it was time to finish this project. I had lots of yarn, however it was not the pre-cut kind, so I had to cut each piece, which obviously required a great deal more work.

At first, I found it difficult to get in the groove of using the latch hook because I had forgotten how to do it over the years. However, as I worked, it became easier. The older pieces of yarn that were already hooked on the rug had been flattened over the years, so I had to move those out of the way in order to add the new pieces. The new yarn is a little different type than the original and the pieces are not all the same length, so this is definitely not a perfect piece of art . . . but it is now complete, and to me it is beautiful.

In many ways, this rug is similar to my relationship with the Lord. Just like I moved this hook-a-rug around with me all those years, God has moved with me. I have at times left Him "in the box" and not worked on my relationship, but I always knew He was there waiting for me. When I finally decided that I wanted a deeper relationship with the Lord, it took work to get back into the habits of daily Bible reading and quiet time. And I had to get some old things out of the way, like unforgiveness and bitterness and selfishness. I'm definitely no where near perfect (God's not finished with me yet!), but I know that if I continue to work on it and follow Him each day, someday I too will be complete in His glory.

After I finished the rug, Robbie framed it for me, and I hung it in our front room where every day it reminds me not to put God in a box, but to let His Light shine in my life for all to see. 

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
I John 3:1 (NKJV)