As I sat looking around my office recently, my eyes rested on a gift I received some years ago from Sue White's class. It is a stole, created as part of their expression of what they were learning and doing in Sunday School, and when it was complete, they presented it to me, explaining what the symbols meant and what they had learned as they made it. Cathy very obligingly modeled it so I could add this photo to the Blog! Thank you, Cathy!
That's when it struck me. We aren't seeking to begin a new ministry, we are simply looking for ways to broaden and expand it. I have a shawl that was created in love and given with pride and with the hope that it would touch me as its creation had touched them. I was honoured and awed. The first prayer shawl was made before we even knew to name it such.
Helping Hands, a quilting group at LRUC, makes cuddle quilts for police and emergency service personnel to give to children at times of distress, hoping to bring them comfort and security when it is most needed. They also make quilts for the new homeowners through Habitat for Humanity.
Every fall the mitten tree is covered with mittens with the hope and the prayer that little hands will not be cold this winter.
Creating shawls, whether through knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing, weaving or creative stitching, is simply one more way in which we can reach out to someone to celebrate their joy or to bring comfort in a time of distress, a way in which we can offer hugs when we can't always be there in person, a way of saying: never forget, you're not alone, wrap yourself in this and remember someone cares.
Dawn
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