The Sewing Machine Under the Stairs: Stirring Up the Gift in a Settled Home

There is a sewing machine under the stairs. It was her mother’s, a heavy black thing with gold lettering, and for years she made the children’s Easter clothes on it, curtains for every room and a wedding dress for her niece. Then the children grew, work got busier, clothes got cheaper, and the machine went under the stairs with a cloth over it. It has been there eleven years. She thinks of it sometimes, when she is sitting in front of the television on another evening that feels like every other evening.

Settled life has many blessings. The house is paid for, or nearly. The children are launched. The crises of the early years have passed. But settledness can slide into sameness: the same bills on the same days, the same route to work, the same meals, the same quiet. Many people in this season describe a vague boredom they feel slightly guilty about. They have everything they prayed for. Why does it feel so flat?

A gift that came through the family

Paul’s second letter to Timothy begins with a family memory. “I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5, NKJV). Timothy’s faith was learned at home, from two women whose names we would not otherwise know.

Then Paul continues: “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you” (2 Timothy 1:6, NKJV). The picture is of a fire that has burned low. The coals are still there, still warm, but they need air and attention to blaze again. Timothy had not lost his gift. He had let it settle.

And Paul names what often causes that settling: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). Timothy was, it seems, a timid man. Fear had dampened the fire. Fear of getting it wrong, of being judged, of looking foolish.

The gifts under our stairs

Many homes have gifts tucked away like that machine. A man who used to build furniture and now only mends it when it breaks. A woman whose cooking once fed half the district at every wedding, who now cooks for two and doesn’t bother much. A couple who used to open their home for Bible study every Thursday and stopped when the children were small and never started again. A grandfather who grew callaloo and scallion in every corner of the yard, and whose beds are now grass.

Often these gifts, like Timothy’s faith, came through the family. Somebody taught us. A grandmother’s hands showed us how to hem, knead, plant or pray. They are part of what our homes were meant to hold.

Boredom in a settled home is sometimes a sign that those gifts are asking for air.

Fanning the flame

Stirring up a gift rarely requires a dramatic life change. It usually starts small:

• Take the cloth off the machine, oil it, and make one thing — perhaps something for a grandchild, or curtains for a neighbour who has just moved in.
• Dig one bed in the yard and plant what your father used to grow.
• Invite two people for Sunday dinner, then do it again next month.
• Offer your skill at church: teach the youth to cook, help a young couple fix up their first flat, lead a prayer meeting in your front room.
• Ask a grandchild to learn alongside you, so the gift goes one more generation.

Fear may show up. You may worry your hands have forgotten, that people won’t come, that it will look silly. That is exactly where Paul’s reminder fits. The Spirit God gives is one of power, love and a sound mind. Power to begin. Love to do it for others. A sound mind to start small and sensibly.

When the gift is faith itself

For Timothy, the gift was bound up with his calling and his faith. Some settled households find that it is faith itself that has burned low. Prayer has become routine. Church is attended but not enjoyed. The Bible stays on the shelf.

The same principle applies. Remember who taught you. Stir the coals: read one psalm at breakfast, pray aloud with your spouse before bed, sing a hymn your grandmother loved while you wash the dishes. Small breaths of air on a real fire.

For reflection

• What gift is under your stairs, literally or figuratively?
• Who in your family passed down a gift or a faith that you want to keep alive?
• What fear is keeping that gift covered up?

A prayer: Lord, thank you for the people who taught me with their hands and their faith. Forgive me for letting good gifts gather dust. Breathe on the coals again. Replace my fear with your power, your love and a sound mind, and let my settled home become a place where those gifts are used for others. Amen.

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