A tapestry is a finely woven piece of material. Each thread is uniquely different and important to the pattern of the finished product. It is the same with our lives. Each thread that makes up our existence is uniquely different and important. And we, as individuals threads in that world-wide tapestry called the body of Christ are unique and necessary for God's grand and final design to be complete. This letter will be full of articles, quotes and information just for women of purpose— women who want the final product of their lives to match God's grand design!

Good Example versus Horrible Warning 

We play a crucial role as lead characters in our children’s real-life video, teaching by the words we choose, the actions we take, the expressions of our faces, the time we spend with family and even the very tone of our voice. Think about this – when you yawn – what happens? Often, the people around you will yawn. Our actions are powerful! Our children are watching us. They are emulating our actions! The Bible commands that we should be “an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” I Timothy 4:12 

Author and comedienne Gilda Radner told this moving story about a mongrel hound that gave birth to six puppies. The six were all healthy, playful, and happy, but they shared a strange manner of movement. 

The pups’ walking style had been determined prior to their birth. Seems a human family had adopted the vagrant hound, which soon got pregnant. One day as the dog’s new master was mowing his lawn, the pet scampered and played by chasing the lawn mower. On one dash toward the thrashing machine, the dog couldn’t stop in time, and her rear legs slid under the mower. The whirring blade whacked them off. 

The dog’s owner scooped up the hound and her limbs and rushed to the veterinarian. “I can sew her up,” said the vet, “or you can put her to sleep if you want. But the puppies are okay. She’ll be able to deliver the puppies.” 

The veterinarian decided to do even more than that. He reattached the dog’s hind legs and sent her home to recover. The old dog was forced to try to learn a new trick: how to walk again. Problem was she couldn’t get the hang of the newly sewn rear legs. She would put one front leg forward, then the other; but do nothing with the reattached hind legs. Instead, she’d take two steps, flip up her rump, and move forward. 

In a week or so, the puppies were born. The mother hound nursed and weaned them. But when the six dogs learned to walk, they followed the pattern of their mother. The human family would chuckle as they watched the parade of the old dog and her pups: seven dogs with four legs using only the front two and flipping up their rumps. (End of article) 

Human parents, too, often pass their good traits and their bad traits to our children. We give birth to children who, though they’ve not been sucked under the “lawn mower,” develop patterns of living as if they had.  

It may not be possible to teach old dogs new tricks, but it is possible for parents to overcome and grow into positive fathers and mothers who pass strength and wholeness to their children. 

I love this quote – “If you can’t be a good example—then you’ll just have to serve as a horrible warning.” (Catherine Aird) I pray that we as parents, youth leaders and ministers will never serve as horrible warnings.