Covered By Joy

Covered by Joy
by Penny Wright,
edited by Bob Chaffin

It was 2:00 a.m. when I crept into her hospital room and saw her there, looking like a child, curled up, sound asleep with her “blankie” snuggled up in her arms. She was tired, and rightfully so, because she had brought a precious new soul into the world that day. She had borne our son. Of course, technically he wasn’t ours yet, not legally, but in our hearts he already held a special place as did, I shall call her “Amy.” The blankie was not a blanket at all but a quilt that had been made especially for Amy by Margret (Maggie) Wright, my husband’s grandmother. My “grandmother-in-love”, “Nanny” we called her, loved to make patchwork quilts and she had a special gift for the craft. Making quilts brought her Joy and although she could have made a handsome sum selling what she pieced together, she declared she would never sell a quilt. They were too personal, too much love, too much of herself, went into each one. No they were never sold, they were always given away to commemorate some special event or some special person in her life. So it was with our son’s birthmother, Amy.
I know that Amy’s life had been difficult with no father or mother to “train up this child in the way she should go” and she struggled with many of her own personal demons, perhaps as a result of feeling no one cared for her on this earth. The quilt, picked especially for her to commemorate this great event in her life, this unselfish act of deferring to the welfare of her baby, rather than seeking her own good; was a sign to her that someone cared and that someone approved, at last, of a choice she had made.
I had received one other of Nanny’s quilts earlier and it will retain a life-long special place in my heart. We knew we could not have children by birth and so had tried to adopt for many years, sometimes with heart breaking outcomes. Nanny had made us a baby quilt as a sign of her faith that we would one day have a baby of our own to love and cherish. Even when I lost hope on occasion, I could look at the quilt know that Nanny’s faith remained strong, and that she was always in prayer on our behalf. She remained Joyful and confident that God had a plan for us and that His plan would, in His good time, unfold at just the right moment. The baby quilt not only eventually covered our baby, many times it also covered our fears and our discouragement with Nanny’s love and optimism.
While quilt making and giving was a unique gift in this unusual woman, Nanny found Joy in all things. She found Joy in family, friends and often even strangers. Giving gave her more Joy than receiving, but it was her love and happiness in grandchildren and great grandchildren that provided the centerpiece of Nanny’s Joy. Her home contained some unique decorations, for here and there were crayon scribbled art, obviously the work of a child. “Oh no, “ she would say, “I wouldn’t clean that off, why I remember the day he did that.’
So it is that when I think of the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and a person who represents those qualities, I think of Nanny. I have to admit that picking a single element to focus on is difficult, but overall I think she is best described by JOY. Although she truly embodied many of the elements of that Fruit, the inescapable truth is that all she did, she did with Joy in her heart, while placing Joy in the hearts of others.
I pray that I have just a touch of the Joy Nanny possessed, and that I develop the ability to be joyful and faithful in all things, no matter how simple or how small. She was a shining example and a great blessing to all, not only in our family but to all who knew her. Nanny went to be with the Lord a few years ago now, and last night Pa went to join her. It has given me Joy just knowing she will be there to meet him with a laugh, a smile, and a twinkle in her eye.
I wish all of you Joy like Maggie Wright possessed. Penny