Dorcas and Me

Dedicated to Mom Eileen, who to this day loves lavender! She is surrounded by her sisters Mary and Gerry this past January.

I just finished a bit of sewing with my friend Julie. I always think of mom when I sew. I remembered that I wrote this little essay for our monthly ladies meeting this first Saturday of April so I thought I would share it with my readers today.

Musings on Dorcas

“From a woman’s soul, through a woman’s eyes, by a woman’s hands”

Acts 9:36 – In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

 

Personally, I find the real miracle in this story is not so much that Tabitha was resurrected but that she died encircled with women who loved her deeply. To me, that represents true success. What a testimony to the deep friendships of women and the power of love. Just picture the scene - girlfriends of all ages who loved Tabitha, round about her in her time of sickness and death and weeping over her when she shut her eyes in final repose. Her life had been woven into their lives just as surely as Tabitha had stitched her threads into the fabrics that they wore. She was not just their dressmaker but their friend, their sister in the Lord, their fellow disciple of Jesus Christ. She had a mixed group of friends and I would venture to say that some of the widows had not yet become disciples as the text differentiates between the believers and the widows when Peter calls them to present Tabitha alive again. How many widows became believers that very day?

 

Tabitha’s influence had affected a whole community, especially the poor and widows amongst them. We are told that she was always doing good and helping the poor. We are not told if she herself was a widow, but since there is no mention of a husband and the fact that she was a seamstress indicates that she was a single woman who was making her own living.

In Exodus 4 the Lord said to Moses,

 “What is that in your hand?”  “A staff”, he replied.

That question echoed into Dorcas’ ear centuries later, “Tabitha, what is in your hand?”

“A needle”, she replied.

Would you turn your ear to that same heavenly question, “Daughter, what is in your hand?”

What would be your reply? Think about it.

Being a servant of Jesus Christ does not require being a rocket scientist. God calls us from our unique station in life and our special gifts and talents become part of our vocation as a disciple. If we would but offer our hands to Jesus He will use them for His purposes.

I learned to sew as a young girl. My mother had six children and she would often be found at her sewing machine that was set up in her bedroom. I remember her cutting out patterns on the floor. She would always make Easter clothes for her little Catholic family out of matching fabrics. I particularly remember lavender and white stripes one year in 1963. Dad and Jeff also had shirts made. Permed hair was popular too.

(Linda and Sandy, Easter 196o-something)

Much to my chagrin, I also remember not always appreciating mom’s efforts. I would stand in front of the mirror and pull this and tuck that, in an effort to make it fit me better. Complain? Oh, yes. How many would rather have gone to J.C. Penney’s to purchase a store bought dress? As you know, daughters become mothers and the beat goes on.

Sewing to me has always been a love/hate relationship. It is often tedious and a seamstress’ best friend is called a seam ripper. But it becomes a passion and it is easy to burn the midnight oil when you have started a project.

I joined the 4-H Club in Grade 8. The four h’s in the little green clover stand for Head, Heart, Hands and Health and has been around since World War 1. My second sewing teacher was named Olive (my first one was named Eileen) and I would walk over after school to her house with my childhood friend Christie Corbett for lessons. My first project was a gathered purple flowered cotton skirt with a waistband. It did wonders for a girl’s figure. We had to model in a fashion show. I don’t think I scored very high as I’ve always been an impatient seamstress. My mom said that if I was driving a car as fast as I was pushing that sewing pedal I would get a ticket.

The summer before High School I diligently made little skirts and jumpers. Even in the hot Woodland summer afternoons I would turn down playing and riding bikes with my girlfriends to get my high school wardrobe completed. I sewed all through high school. I wasn’t a good seam finisher (there were no sergers in those days) and I would remember calling mom to come and put in my zippers for me. To this day I break out in a sweat when it comes to zippers. If there were a zipper school I would enroll.

Mom made my wedding dress. I didn’t give her much time. She had it done in a matter of days. I had been engaged for about four days when Bob and I decided to get married six days later. Yes, we had a ten -day engagement. Mom was such a good sport and as always, came through for me.

After I was married, I continued to make my hippie clothes into a more Christian version and continued sewing for my three little daughters as they came along. Hand crafts and quilting came into vogue and as you know, years later in Canada I was able to take these interests and turn them into my own business, Casa Linda where I did creative sewing for the home, especially valances and pillows.

As you can see, I can relate to our sister Dorcas. I even dressed up as her for a Bible character costume party one time. It was easy, as I had all the soft tape measures and wrist pin cushions to adorn myself.

I have to believe that Tabitha was cut from the same cloth as all seamstresses seem to be cut from. She could not have done what she did without creativity, passion, an eye for color and style and a love for fabric. I can imagine her creating something unique for each of her cliental – those who could pay and those who could not. I would imagine that she took young women under her wing and taught them her skill. (Don’t forget, sewing is a learned skill and if you have any inkling of wanting to learn how to sew, please follow that urge and sign up for a class). Creativity is inside a woman’s soul and once you have a skill the creativity has a place to flow.

Tabitha’s house must have been a hustle and a bustle of girlfriends! I know she would have had refreshments on hand. Truth be told, I always preferred the reward of sewing over cooking because it lasted longer than a cake or a cookie but being a generous woman who was always doing good Dorcas must have fed, as well as clothed the poor.

In my recent reading I found a couple of excerpts that seem to fit. In “ East of Eden” one of the women had a dress shop where no men were allowed and at any time of day you could find a handful of hens gathered to literally just be themselves and talk and talk and talk.  In “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”, a little Chinese boy during the cultural revolution watched the village women gather to get their clothes made and he observed that no matter how poor they were they never seemed to lose their sense of style and the importance of it to their self esteem.

Yes, women love clothes and they love to talk. They love their friendships with other women. Tabitha is a role model of someone who must have been more than a seamstress. I believe she was a nurturer, a true mother in God’s kingdom. No wonder the widows cried after her and showed Peter the remnants of her love that she left them in the form of garments.

Have you ever heard of the Dorcas Society? It was founded in 1834 and you will find women generally in churches, sewing clothing for the poor and needy.

Yes, the story goes on with the miracle of resurrection and it is an appropriate topic as Easter is upon us but as seamstress myself, I kind of chuckle as I picture Tabitha being called back from heaven to do more sewing on earth.

I use this story to not only challenge you, but to challenge myself in the area of using whatever skill I have to benefit others and to show love to those around us. I can just hear some of you thinking that you don’t have that kind of creativity. I think you have to look beyond your self doubt and deep into your soul and when the Lord asks, “What is in your hand?” to see with eyes of faith those talents and passions that may lie dormant. Maybe, just maybe, the Lord will RESURRECT you for His plans and purposes. "Daughter, get up!"