Prayer Shawl Meeting, November 18

What a blessing to be able to participate in the prayer service for our men and women serving in the armed forces. 

Thanks, Sheri, for such a moving time of worship on Wednesday night.  Thanks also to all of you who made helmet liners, scarves and prayer cloths, and brought candy and beany babies to send to our folks in uniform.

Later, we prayed over three shawls and a prayer cloth to add to our cabinet, and welcomed another generous donation of yarn for our stash!

A number of our group were missing due to illnesses that are circulating. Hopefully, everyone will feel better after the holidays. 

We look forward to seeing you all back soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Ellen Carey

The Weekly Yarn - November 18th - Thanks be to God!

Calendar Reminders:

November 25^th:  There will not be a meeting.  The next meeting will be on December 6^th.

November 29^th:  Prayer shawls and Prayer Blankets will be on the altar rail on Sunday the 29^th.  Please join me at 9:15 outside the Parlor if you can help arrange the items on the altar rail prior to the 9:30 service, and at 10:45 prior to the 11:00 service, and at 12:15 to fold and return the items to the cabinet after the 11:00 service.  Thank you for all you do.

Generosity:  As we begin the holiday times, gifts to be given and gotten are on our minds, parties to attend, and a host of other activities.  Generosity can be elusive as we get caught up in the hustle and bustle. 

Davis outlined four requirements of generosity on Sunday, the 22^nd, in his sermon.

1. Generosity is an act of grace. Grace is an attitude of gratitude.

2. Generosity can occur in scarcity, as in abundance.

3. Generosity cannot be coerced, but it is a voluntary act.

4. Generosity is defined by the Incarnation.

You are all guilty of being generous – generous with your time, love, care and concern for those who are in desperate situations, those who are hurting, and those who need the comfort and healing power of God’s love.  You never have enough time, sometimes, not enough money, but you’re always there.  You give voluntarily, not because you are coerced.  You give because you are a member of the Body of Christ.  Thank you. 

You cannot imagine the changes you make in other’s lives, and your own, until you deliver a Prayer Shawl and share the tears of joy, grief, and relief.  Promise yourself you will step out of your comfort zone and share one of these precious moments in 2010.  We’ll have a practice session in one of our meetings in the first quarter if you like.

Care Packages:  Packing will be done at 10:30 on Tuesday in the Church Office conference room.  Please be there if you can.  I realize this is very short notice.

Other items needed for the packages are:

Ink pens
Notepads of paper

Hot cocoa mix

Individually-wrapped licorice
Microwave popcorn
Ramen noodles
Macaroni & cheese

Toothbrushes

Playing Cards

Body Powder

Deodorant

Socks

Tip of the Week:  I read this in a newsletter recently.  It’s a good storage option for those of us who tend to buy yarn before we need it and keep a store of it on hand in case we have a brilliant idea in the middle of the night.  You know who you are!

“I have finally found the perfect storage solution for the huge amount of yarn which I have amassed during my 50 plus years of knitting. I store them in a closet in hanging sweater garment bags which have several cube-like compartments. The yarn is sorted by type and color in plastic bags in the compartments and is easy to see and retrieve at first glance.” - Jennifer M.

God’s Plan:  I have to share a story with you – a God moment.  When I was at church this morning, straightening the Prayer Shawl cabinet and doing other tasks, I realized there were a couple of Prayer Aghans on the bottom shelf that had been purchased about six months ago at Goodwill, when we were desperate for anything to fill the cabinet.  Almost immediately after they were purchased, and added to the cabinet, beautiful handmade shawls started coming in, and the cabinet overflowed again.  These two blankets continued to be pushed to the bottom and to the back of the cabinet without an owner.

Today, as I straightened the cabinet, and realized the cabinet was still comfortably full, I made the decision to take them with me and donate them back to Goodwill.  I dawdled around a bit and did a few more little tasks before I left.  As I walked out the door, a very upset woman walked up to me, saying her mother was very ill, supposed to go to surgery, had no money for a cab, but they had taken a cab to the church, and the cab driver was calling the police.  She continued to say her mother was nearly naked and cold, and she couldn’t get in the church, but she knew Reverend Allen and named a couple of other people, and knew that I could get her in. 

I was taken aback to say the least…what should I do?  All of the warnings we’d heard about what not to do when someone confronts you in the parking lot went through my head!  My first response was to give her the two blankets and say, “Wrap your mother in these two blankets!”  The church door was locked so I went to the buzzer, and said “There is a lady out here looking for Reverend Allen” and the receptionist said “he’s on his way out”, as the door opened and Allen stepped out. 

Reverend Sheri was walking up the sidewalk as tears started down my face!  The two blankets that I thought were give-aways had someone’s name on them.  God just needed hands and feet to take them outside at precisely the right moment to hand them over! 

Never doubt God has a plan for all that we do.

Happy Thanksgiving: 

We have so much for which to be thankful.  God has blessed us with abundance. I pray you are blessed with a Thanksgiving that is filled with all of the blessings you deserve.

Thank you for all of the blessings you have brought to the Prayer Shawl Ministry.

Blessings and love,

Beverly

“A smile is the light in your window that lets other know there is a caring person inside.” – Dennis Waitley

The Weekly Yarn - November 11th

God is so generous in his blessings and peace.  We had a fairly full house, but we were unusually quiet!  In fact, everyone commented on how quiet we were.  Maybe we were contemplating the hues of the yarn or the Holy Spirit was talking to each and every one of us as our needles and hooks clicked away.  Who knows…it was a peaceful time with our patterns, yarn, and each other.

Two beautiful prayer shawls were turned in – one brilliant gold and one silky deep blue, along with a blond chemo cap, a pink baby cap, 3 more helmet liners, wool scarves, and several prayer cloths. 

This is a  picture of one of the prayer cloths.  

Here is the pattern:

Crocheted Cross Prayer Cloth

Materials Needed:

MC = Main Color, size 4 yarn Color B, size 4 yarn Size F crochet hook

Completed size: 5”x5” The gauge can be changed by selecting a different size yarn or hook.

Changing colors: Pull new color through last loop of old color.

Carrying colors: Lay old color on top of row and crochet over it.

Instructions:

Chain 24. Row 1: With MC, in the second chain from the hook, sc and sc in each remaining chain. Chain 1 and turn.

Row 2: Sc in top of each sc in row 1. Chain 1 and turn. Rows 3 – 4: Repeat Row 2.

Row 5: Sc in the first 9 sc. Join color B to MC. With color B, sc in next 5 sc. Carry MC under 5 color B sc. Change to MC in last loop of 5^th sc and sc to end of row with MC. Chain 1 and turn.

Row 6 through 17: Repeat Row 5.

Row 18: Sc in the first 9 sc. Join color B to MC. With color B, sc in next 5 sc. Carry MC under 5 color B sc. Change to MC in last loop of 5^th sc, but continue to carry color B along top of row for 4 more stitches. Sc to end of row with MC. Chain 1 and turn.

Row 19: Sc in the first 5 stitches. Change to color B in the last loop of the 5^th sc. Carry MC along top of row as you sc in the next 12 sc in color B. Pull up MC in last loop of 12^th sc and sc in MC to end of row. Chain 1 and turn.

Row 21 through 23: Sc in the first 5 stitches. Change to color B in the last loop of the 5^th sc. Carry MC along top of row as you sc in the next 12 sc in color B. Pull up MC in last loop of 12^th sc and sc in MC to end of row. Chain 1 and turn.

Row 24 through 27: Repeat row 5. Row 28 through 29: Repeat row 2. Do not cut off.

Edging: 3 sc in each corner stitch, in each sc across top, sc in each edge row, sc in each chain along the bottom. Join with a slip stitch to first sc. Cut off and weave in.

 

If you have a problem with the pattern – yes, it’s one I made up and I’ve never written out a pattern I made up before please contact me.

Help Needed, November 17th:  Tuesday morning at 10:00 a short work time will take place to put each helmet liner and wool scarf in a plastic bag with washing instructions and a card that says it is from the Prayer Shawl Ministry.  The prayer cloths are already in plastic bags with cards, but we’ll verify they are ready to go too.  This should take an hour or less to prepare for the Prayer Service on the 18^th in the Upper Room at 6:30. 

Any donations we want to make of hard candies, other food items, Beanie Babies, cards or letters, can be brought then and stored in our closet to be taken up at the same time on the 18^th.  We will meet at the storage closet at 10:00 AM on the 17^th.

November 18^th Meeting:  It will begin in Rooms 308 and 309 at 5:30, and at 6:20 we’ll go to the Upper Room to pray over the helmet liners, scarves, and prayer cloths that will be sent to the members of the Armed Services who are stationed overseas.  They will be included in Care Packages along with other items being sent to these individuals. 

In addition to the items we have to contribute to the Care Packages, donations are being accepted from the congregation for hard candies, granola bars, and other commercially packaged treats (no peanut butter, or anything that can melt or be crushed in shipping).  Beanie Babies will be included to be given to local children as a goodwill gesture.  Most importantly, cards and letters will be appreciated to let the soldiers know they are loved and remembered.  Soldiers are prohibited from accepting homemade foods.

There will not be a meeting on November 25^th.  Enjoy Thanksgiving with your families. 

November 29^th is Communion Sunday.  Please let me know if you can help arrange the shawls prior to the 9:30 service, add shawls if needed prior to the 11:00 service, and fold and put the shawls away at noon.  So far I’m the only one signed up for this project.

Prayer Cloth Bowl: A crystal bowl holds the Prayer Cloths in the Upper Room.  One of the members of the congregation has volunteered to etch a Bible verse on the bowl and we have the opportunity to suggest the verse we would like to have on the bowl.  Please pray about it and send suggestions.

Love and blessings,

Beverly

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12: 9