The (Un)Forgettable Blueberry Dress
28 kojministries.org Issue 4 2017
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by Cherie Shaw
My new role as a stay-at-home mom
felt awkward at first. I was thankful for the
opportunity to care for my girls, but I couldn’t
shake the lingering feeling that I was supposed
to be somewhere or doing something else. My
remedy for this nagging unsettledness was to
take up sewing. It was both enjoyable and
practical. It kept me engaged and gave me a
sense of accomplishment, while providing me
with a creative outlet. I loved it!
My youngest was two years old, and I had
sewn several sleeveless dresses for her that
summer. But fall was approaching, and the
weather was shifting. I decided to attempt
a dress with sleeves. This more elaborate
pattern required techniques I had not yet
practiced, but I felt confident that if I took my
time and approached each step methodically,
I could produce a well-made garment.
I settled on a blueberry print for the skirt,
sleeves, and collar. To make it more suitable
for autumn, I chose a fine, blue corduroy for
the bodice and cuffs on the sleeves. Even now
as I describe it, I remember my love for that
blueberry dress. Well, I remember the love I
had for the dress I imagined I would sew.
Something went wrong around the time I
attached the tiny sleeves to the armholes. It had
seemed perfect while I was working, but once
all the pieces were assembled, I discovered I’d
made a rookie mistake. I’d attached one sleeve
backward…or maybe I’d made two right
sleeves? I’m not sure, but it looked backward
to me. The discovery deflated me completely.
I didn’t know what I had done wrong, which
meant I had no idea how to fix it. I placed it on
the table and walked away.
I came back to it several times over the next
few days, pondering how I could rectify my
error, but instead of ever fixing it, I eventually
placed it in a bin of fabric scraps. It’s still there
today. My daughter is now almost twenty. For
eighteen years, that little blueberry dress has
been tucked away, unfinished. I was so in love
with what it could have been, I simply couldn’t
throw it away. I stopped sewing clothes after
that. I just couldn’t forget the failure of the
unforgettable dress.
Over the years. I’ve often thought of that
failed attempt. Too often maybe, but recently
I felt God reminding me of Isaiah 43:18–19:
“Remember not the former things, nor
consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing
a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not
perceive it?” (ESV).
As I prayed about how this promise God had
made to the Israelites could have any relevance
to me and that unfinished dress, I realized two
things. One, what I thought was a failed attempt
was actually a completed attempt—which, of
course, is different from a successful attempt.
I had attempted something new and difficult,
and it was worth celebrating. Not everything we
attempt is going to be executed spectacularly,
but the attempt is still valuable and can help us
grow if we let it. Second, I’ve learned to see my
mistakes for what they are. Mistakes. Now I can
release them and move on to the new things
God has for me.
That unforgettable blueberry dress has
come to represent the areas of my life where
I think I’ve failed. But instead of allowing me
to continue packing up the failures, giving up,
and berating myself for them, God, who is so
merciful, asks me to forget those things that I
feel are unforgettable. He knows that I can’t
move on to new things if I’m stuck in the past.
It’s an important lesson to learn. We
cannot allow the results of our first attempt at
something to keep us anchored to the past.
God calls us to more than that. His plan for
my life—and for yours as well—is that we move
forward, despite our problems. We can no
longer allow the past to derail our future.
It’s time to forget the unforgettable and
move forward into new things.
He knows that I
can’t move on to
new things if I’m
stuck in the past.
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