I Corinthians 1: 1-3 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I’ll admit when I joined a guild that had speakers I used to get annoyed when they would start out giving their street cred. I kinda figured they’re here so they should have street cred. I did a 180 on that when I went to a class that another quilt teacher taught. She said essentially that in the first 3 minutes the guild members should know your name, and a very quick history, not your entire CV, just enough to know that you have the cred to be here and sharing with them on this topic.
What I didn’t realize, what truly never occurred to me is that there is Scriptural precedence for this as evidenced by the quote from 1 Corinthians. Over and over again Paul does this to establish the authority given to him by God and widely accepted. Some of these letters/books are quite long. Once Paul gives his street cred he doesn’t do it again in that particular letter. Part of this is the custom of the day, many letters from ancient times begin like this.
What occurred to me recently in continued pondering on this is that this not only establishes authority, it certainly does, but it gives honor and respect to the one “hearing the message” when said with love and care. Saying, “I’m a quilter” has one response; saying, “I’m an award-winning quilter” has another. The first says yeah I’ve made a quilt or two in my day and will share with you what I know; the 2nd says that my skills have been recognized by others for having honed knowledge and skill together in a meaningful and specifically quilterly way. By giving street cred the hearer knows they can trust what their going to hear.
As a quilter I’ve got the street cred having worked hard to do what I do as a machine quilter, teacher and writer. I’ve taken classes over the years that have changed what I do as a quilter and as a teacher. I love to watch other teachers teach and each one is different. Each teacher brings something to their classroom that allows the students the opportunity to learn something new and incorporate that into their quilting. We are changed.
Doing my best as a teacher and offering you the room to grow and become more of who you are as a quilter is my goal. Your quilting is about you, about your journey. It’s not about me. I get the privilege of walking with you for a while. Whispering in your ear you can do this! Be patient it’ll come. It takes time. This is showing you the honor and respect you deserve.
You are so worth it!
Teri
PS I announced on terificreations this morning that as of March 1 I’ll be working with Generation Q Magazine. I’ll be blogging with them and doing some behind the scenes work. I’m really excited and honored to be working with an amazing group of quilters. I’ll be keeping up this blog, because I love it!
A Quilter's Heart 