Wedding Ring Quilt Inspiration

Wedding Ring Quilt Inspiration

Kate shut her laptop as gently as she could considering the shock of finding out that the last available slot on the missionary building team had been given away to someone else. Kate had been fund-raising for her expenses and studying Spanish in preparation for the opportunity to make a difference to the children in Cité Soleil, Haiti. All that planning and work came together just moments too late to claim a place on the missions team.

Kate stood and paced from her desk to her bed and back again. Clearly her plan to leave  with the team in six short weeks was not going to happen. She snapped her laptop back open and sent a terse message to Hannah, her former college roommate, about her change in plans. Kate would not be stopping to visit her in Detroit before flying out of DTW with the mission team after all.

Disappointment flooded her thoughts as she signed off and closed the lid a little less gently this time around. Now what? she thought. Why couldn’t I have been able to finalize my finances just a day, even a few hours sooner? She had already set aside three weeks of her summer break from teaching to join the team, had raised the necessary financial support and applied for her travel visa. She heaved a deep sigh at the depressing thought of returning the support money to everyone.

Kate began pacing again, then flopped backwards onto her full-size bed covered in a lovingly stitched wedding ring patterned quilt, her favorite quilt inherited from her aunt. She laid there, spreading her arms out, palms down, lightly running her hands over the fabric, sensing Aunt Doris’ love in every color, texture and stitch of the quilt. What would Aunt Doris think of her dilemma?

Her aunt, technically her great-aunt, had been gone for three years now, so Kate could no longer enjoy the long-distance, long-lasting phone calls that sustained her throughout her college career. She missed Aunt Doris’ wisdom and calming conversation that helped her navigate the myriad problems every college student experienced. She could almost hear the tone of her voice responding to one of Kate’s never-ending questions.

What would Aunt Doris comfort her with if she were here now? Kate closed her eyes and listened with her heart. She could almost hear the gentle alto tones asking, “What’s wrong, Katie-did?” Kate smiled as she envisioned the conversation she would have had.

“Auntie D, I was excited that our church was sponsoring a missions group to build a school and housing in Haiti. For the first time, I would be able to take the time I’d need to attend, and I had raised just enough funds to go when someone else took the last possible slot. I can’t believe I can’t go!”

“Katie,” she would have said, “Could you volunteer for a cancellation slot in the event that someone already on the team has to cancel? And don’t forget, honey, when things don’t go as planned, it’s always a good idea to consider whether this might not be the right direction for your life right now.”

Kate thought for a moment, “They aren’t taking cancellation slots; if someone can’t make it, they will go short. They purposely overstaffed the mission personnel to make sure they would have all the workers they need even if a couple had to cancel .”

“Have you thought about finding what else you could do during the same span of time, Katie? You could seek something where you could still use your funds in a Spanish-speaking community that would welcome your time and efforts to improve their lives, even here in the states.”

Kate resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I wanted to go to Haiti! Anything else seems like…eating leftovers.” She paused in her complaining to think - what would she do during her time off? She had three weeks of her summer slated for the trip, but her plans had disappeared as fast as hot dogs from a campfire.

“Where do you suggest I find this miraculous opportunity, Auntie D?” Kate continued her conversation. “I have been planning my Haiti trip for months; now I have only a few weeks to find potential situations, submit my application and get approved. It seems impossible! I know, I know, Auntie D. ‘When God closes a door, he always opens a window.’ I have no idea where to look for the window!”

“Now Katie, we’ve talked many times about several different non-profits that do wonderful things to help those in need like Samaritan’s Purse, The Salvation Army, Hope for the Heart, and Christian Aid, to name a few. Start with contacting one of them and see where it takes you. You can’t steer a ship if it’s not moving, you know!”

“How many times have I heard you say that, Auntie D, but you are right. My moping around isn’t doing anyone any good, and I do want to help others, so I shouldn’t waste the time and money that I have available by bemoaning my loss.

“I’d better start looking at some of those non-profits; let me grab my laptop…and I’ll search some online links to Spanish-speaking services I can look into.” Kate tapped rapidly for a moment. “Here’s one for counselors, but I don’t have qualifications for that specialty. Here’s one for on-line nursing, again, I’m not certified to do that either, and I really want to work with them in person, not online. Huh, here’s one for interview coaches, technology facilitators, and ESOL teachers. I have ESL certification – I wonder if I’d be qualified, Auntie D?”

“Sounds like something worth checking into, but if I know my Katie, you’re probably already searching for it, aren’t you?” she chuckled.

“Auntie D, you know me so well. Yes, let’s see…….yes, it’s a little different from an ESL teacher because it’s not part of a K-12 environment but it appears that some organizations will prepare volunteers to use their certification in other environs. I’m asking for more information. Right. NOW!”

Kate jolted awake to find herself still lying crosswise on her bed, arms spread-eagled on her quilt. Her laptop sat on her desk where she had left it earlier. She felt a bit disoriented. Wasn’t she just researching an ESOL volunteer position on-line? She distinctly remembered discussing it with Aunt Doris, had asked for more information, and, oh! She must have fallen asleep thinking about how wonderful it would have been to talk over her conundrum with her late aunt. It certainly developed into a colorful conversation, thought Kate ruefully.

Kate was drawn to her laptop, and she lifted the lid to see if she’d heard from her friend in Detroit and to begin a search for volunteer possibilities just as Aunt Doris suggested. In her dream, that is. She, Kate, was not really talking her problem over with her deceased aunt. That would be ridiculous, impossible, even a little crazy.

Several emails sat in Kate’s inbox, so she opened up her account and looked for Hannah’s response. Three pleas for donations, one phishing email (she sent that straight into the email trash and marked it), a short note from her mom, and an invitation to consider teaching ESOL in Houston, Texas, and five invitations to join Haiti-related websites and blogs. Wait, a personal ESOL teaching invitation??

She blinked her eyes, then re-read the email. Yes, there it was, an invitation to teach English to Spanish speaking adults in the Houston area. They had just had an opening for another teacher and would she be interested? Could she complete the four-week volunteer training session prior to starting the second week of July for a three week program?

Kate blinked again, harder this time. The request fit her timeline perfectly. She wouldn’t need to worry about obtaining her visa on time. The donations for her volunteer work were exactly the amount she would need for travel and expenses.

It was her window, and she dove through it.

After sending her acceptance in, Kate slipped away from her desk to sit on the edge of her bed. She ran the palm of her hand lovingly across the quilt and whispered, “Thank you, Auntie D. It was perfect.”