Sew Far, Sew Good!

I was so grumpy. Hand in splint, couldn’t drive [or knit] “Be positive! You need fresh air” said Bob, and offered to drop me and my trolley in the town on his way to the church. I could sign up with the GP, return library books, then stroll home. By 9.10am I’d left the surgery, and found the library – shut till 9.30am. Decided to have a coffee “I am fed up, God. Please send me someone to have coffee with” I scanned the shoppers’ faces hoping to see somebody from church. Nobody! I went over to the charity shop. At the door of the CS, everything changed.

I encountered an older lady, struggling to open the heavy door. She, with her walking aid, and me with my trolley, somehow got it open between us and stumbled giggling into the shop. We got chatting – she’d not lived in Dorset long, recently widowed now living with her daughter. I suggested we had a coffee together, and Ann liked that idea. “Let’s have 10 minutes looking round the shop first” she said.

At the back of the shop there was some kerfuffle – a young woman had just tried on a wedding dress and was about to buy it. Her friend had just finished making a dress, which didn’t fit, the wedding was less than 2 weeks away - hence the last minute purchase. As the staff were packing it into a box, one of them spotted a missing button – right in the middle of a row of about 20 satin covered ones - then another assistant noticed the back seam coming unstitched at the base of the zip. It would have to be fixed immediately. Someone suggested a local alterations place, they might have a button to match. But the time, and the cost – the bride was very stressed, and i could see she was near to tears.

I just had to speak up. “Excuse me – if you move the bottom button up to fill the gap, and then when you repair the seam, sew it a little higher, it will all look perfect again” … “But I can’t sew!” … “I have a needle and thread in my bag- I teach sewing. If you let me sit in the Changing Room I could fix it in five minutes”

Which is why, dear friends, I was in the Cancer Research Shop with a gorgeous satin gown draped across my knees, and my little sewing kit out, mending Amy’s wedding dress last week. Everyone was intrigued. “You said you’ve only just moved here- why did you come to Ferndown” “My husband’s job” “What does he do?” “Well, amongst other thing, he marries young women!” ….and I explained he was the new pastor at UCF. One assistant said she’d read about Bob’s Induction in the paper. We chatted about what happens at UCF

Another said how wonderful it was I’d been there at exactly the right moment. “I guess God knew what he was doing this morning” I said…And then Ann and I went over to Costa [Amy insisted on paying for our coffee before she went home]. We chatted and agreed to meet again sometime. Which just goes to show that we may feel frustrated that the day is going to plan – but in reality God has a better plan, we just need to wait for him to show us. [The pictures show Ann looking in on my progress, and Amy the bride]