My grandmother, who passed away when I was a junior in high school, was a gifted quilt-maker. Over her lifetime she filled hundreds of fabric canvases with life: flowers made of old plaid shirts, roses crocheted from scarlet yarn and dozens of scenes and stories stitched onto a square. Though all her quilts were beautiful, there was one that trumped them all: the wedding quilt.

Every time one of her grandchildren got married, she’d make a quilt just for him or her. Not only did a wedding quilt symbolize the love and prayers she poured into our lives, but it was a beautiful tapestry of faithfulness. My grandparents were married 50 years before my grandmother went to be with the Lord.

I vividly remember a season of my life when I was going through intense heartbreak. Rejection was popping up in a variety of bitter flavors—particularly in the area of my relationships. For the first time, I was seriously jealous when my girlfriends started to get engaged, and I dreaded going to weddings. But also swimming through my ever-growing pity pool, another thought crossed my mind: You don’t even get a quilt.

That reality pierced my heart like an arrow. It shouldn’t have bothered me. I had my grandmother for 17 years, and I had a set of wonderful memories with her. I didn’t need a wedding quilt to remember her. It just seemed like the cherry on top of my lonely future and added to what I’d really been thinking all along. Maybe God really doesn’t care about the details of my life, I thought to myself. Why would He put all these hopes and dreams there just to smash them in front of my face? The guy I’d waited for, prayed for and hoped for, as long as I could remember, was still out of the picture. And I didn’t even get a wedding quilt.

I forgot about just how sweet God’s timing can be.

A Surprise Twist in the Story
Last October, my grandfather passed away. About a month after his funeral, I was at his house, looking through photos.

“Oh,” my uncle said suddenly, “you need to go pick out a quilt. Dad said every grandkid got to pick one.”

We went to my grandparents’ house, and my uncle pulled out the quilts my grandmother had made. They were bundles of bright colors and beautiful work. They were each uniquely gorgeous and exquisite, but one caught my eye. It was white and had circles full of different fabric intertwined all over it.

Something about that one seemed special.

When I got home and showed it to my mom, she smiled and said, “You know what this pattern is called, don’t you? It’s called Wedding Ring. It’s the one she made for weddings.”

Even though I tried to brush it off as coincidence, I was floored. There was only one quilt like that. It’s as though it was waiting there just for me to find it.

God doesn’t just know my dreams; He put them there. He is intimately acquainted with them. Yes, He cares about details. No good quilt maker leaves out the grueling detail work. Neither does the One who created and pieced together the fabric of the universe or the fabric of my heart. His thoughts for us are good ones. His plans for us are good ones. Don’t lose heart, my lovely Brio Sisses; the stories He writes are so much better than the ones we could come up with.

Surviving V-Day
You might be bowling with a sweet guy you have a crush on this Valentine’s Day. Your boyfriend may make you brownies. You might be excited about just hanging out with your family. Or you may be in college with no ring on your left hand and starting to wonder about God’s timing. No matter the situation, I can promise you this: You are not spending Valentine’s Day alone!

It seems like every poet and songwriter tries to untangle the message of love, tries to make it all about fireworks and first kisses. Perfect love is so much deeper, more mysterious and more amazing than that. What makes Jesus such a revolutionary hero to me is that He didn’t die for a cause; He died for people. He died for me before I ever loved Him back. That perfect love is like an eternal love song planted in our hearts. You are not, and will never be, forgotten.

In Psalm 69, David feels as though God has turned His face away, as if He just doesn’t hear him when he prays. Yes, we can relate to that feeling, but I wonder if you’re where I find myself most days: forgetting His face is toward me in the first place.

You have His full attention. He knows and loves everything about who you are. You take His breath away, and you get to walk in the confidence of His perfect love. Paul tells us that same love should resonate in our lives, too, so that the words we say and the things we do for people aren’t meaningless noise but love songs back to the One who gave His life so we could be with Him forever.

Truly Loved
This Valentine’s Day I’ll be curled up in my quilt, thinking about how sweet it is to be wrapped in the dreams and prayers my grandmother prayed for me. I’ll be watching some of my favorite chick flicks. (My dad secretly likes them, too, but don’t tell him I told you!) And I’ll know regardless of whether I get roses from anyone that my dreams are safe in God’s hands.

Let His love wrap around your shoulders today. Let it heal all those broken places in your heart and inspire you to do great things. Let His love bind together your dreams and desires, and watch how beautiful those dreams become in His hands.

This Valentine’s Day, and every day, I hope you know how loved you are.