The Needle Work Class

At the convent school where I studied we had needlework classes twice a week.
We started in Grade 4 right up to Grade 8 thereafter it was Home Ec.

The needle work nuns were all very stern, staid and strict. I remember Sister Maria Gouretti . She was kind. She gave me Cs when I deserved Fs.

Because of my poor eyesight to handle a needle and thread was a formidable and clumsy task . It frightened me , I felt inadequate and nervous in a midst of a roomful of clever and nimble fingered classmates. (I felt the same in the P.E. class - a headless squid)I did not fit into the classic, archetypal, regular, typical standard female mould. Remember in 'those days ' there were very few women rocket scientists. or Tomb Raiders. The epitome of femaleness were the abilities of sewing and cooking -the ones who possesed these charms were my goddesses.
The feminine skills of cooking, stitching, knitting and housekeeping etc. were expected to be inherent in the female DNA , chromosome or what have you. And if you lacked this charisma, people could either undermine you or pity you. Everyone had to fit into a prescribed box. The un-boxed ones were either weird or plain rebellious.Individuality was not encouraged. Disability was not acknowledged, specially the unseen ones.

So how did I survive in the jungle of needles and thread, paint brushes, pots , pans and laces? I plunged into the world of music,poetry and literature. I still wade into it occasionally.

God has handcrafted each one of us uniquely and has bestowed special gifts and talents to us all.It is ours to discover them and encourage others to develop their skills and abilities. This way we can help each other grow.

Psalm 139 says,

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Today the sky remained overcast, maybe a precursor of the approaching monsoons. The west coast is having heavy rainfall. We were sans electricity for 6 hours. My blogging is slow because of that and I also like to watch a bit of football- the beautiful game everyone is calling it that- Pele 's moniker. I don' t know why football is nicknamed the beautiful game -that 's a subject for another post.

PRAYER REQUEST

Please pray for my sister Namrita. She' s been having vertigo spells with some vomiting. She is confined to her bed and can hardly eat or even talk on the phone. Her school has closed for 2 weeks , so that is a relief, She has to mark test papers, but can hardly read as her head feels like a rock. Please pray for her healing and relief.