It was finally mine—the quilt I first loved at my grandmother’s house, draped over her bed on chilly winter nights. I adored its colors: small fabric patches, hand-sewn into careful geometric designs against an off-white field.

When my grandmother died, my mother inherited the quilt and stored it away in a cedar chest. To my knowledge, she never took it out. I forgot about it until Mom passed and my sister and I sorted through her belongings. The quilt was stained and yellowed, its backing torn—its former beauty nearly gone. But to me, the tiny stitches my great-grandmother had sewn with love made it a treasure.

“I’ll take this old quilt,” I told my sister. “Fine,” she said. I knew she was thinking, Why would anyone want that old rag?

I wanted it to be as lovely on my bed as it had been on my grandmother’s, so I researched how to restore a stained heirloom. I found a product that promised to remove the discoloration and followed the instructions: “Soak for up to two days.” Praying it wouldn’t damage the quilt, I laid it in my bathtub and checked it often. When I finally removed it and let it dry, it looked almost new. All it needed was a new backing. A seamstress replaced it, and just like that, the quilt was ready—a covering of love from my great-grandmother to a great-granddaughter she had never met.

I had redeemed what looked like a throwaway, and it made me love it even more. The quilt reminded me of God’s redeeming love. From the Old Testament forward, God is a God of redemption. After the final plague in Egypt, He instructed His people to redeem their firstborn sons so they might live. The psalmist writes, “He redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with steadfast love and mercy.” We fail and stumble, but God redeems us.

Jesus redeemed many during His earthly ministry—Mary Magdalene, Matthew, Zacchaeus, the woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery. By His death, He redeemed us from our hopeless, sinful condition.

A friend of mine, Victoria, once worked as a stripper. Though she had money and nice things, she felt empty and used. One night, a group came into the club with gift baskets and told her about a God who loved her and a Savior who died for her sins. They invited her to church, where she found Jesus. With the support of new friends, she left the club and eventually began her own ministry, Victoria’s Friends, reaching out to women still working there. God redeemed a broken girl and transformed her into a mighty woman of God.

That old quilt speaks to me of God’s redeeming love. He takes our mess, our brokenness, our grief and pain, and restores us with healing, purpose, peace, and joy.

Thank you, Great Granny. Thank you, Precious Lord.