The Weekly Yarn - June 2nd

Meeting Notes:  As you may have noticed, you have a substitute author for “The Weekly Yarn”.  Ellen is taking some time off over the next few months to catch up on things.  Please bear with me again as I write the weekly updates.  The leadership will be shared among myself, Dana, and Barbara.

It’s a time of exciting things going on, even in “the good old summer time” so don’t miss a moment!  While our meeting was small in number, it was mighty in activity.  Barbara brought in three “manly” afghans that she made.  Zena’s hands are getting better, so she couldn’t resist finishing a few Prayer Cloths while she was there tonight.  Dana brought in a myriad of new afghans from her travels with her mother.  I managed to complete the first Prayer Shrug, but it takes practice to wear it!  Susan brought in three beautiful Prayer Shawls – a pink one, an ivory one with beige trim, and a beige one – such wonderful work.  Carla, a member of the Financial Peace University class across the hall from our meeting, came in to say she would like to join us and be an off-site member.

Our Lord blessed us with an abundance of Prayer Shawls and Prayer Cloths to pray over.  The cabinet was organized and stocked, with overflow in our storage closet!  Four baby blankets were placed on Nancy’s desk to go to Children’s Hospital for the Critical Intensive Care Unit or the Cardiac Step Down Unit.  The next thing we need to work for is a larger Prayer Shawl Cabinet.

A huge box of yarn was donated by Mrs. V. containing knitting worsted of all shades, Simply Soft, and several other varieties of yarn.  We have such a stash of yarn that we hope you shop in our storage closet before you purchase new yarn for your next project.  God is so good to the Ministry!  We come to Him in faith, and He provides.

Update on Alex:  Alex, who was injured in an accident a couple of weeks ago, is waiting for a spot to open at Shepherd in Atlanta.  The family thinks that a spot is opening soon but is waiting for final confirmation.  As you can probably imagine, the waiting is very hard as they get their hopes up and then get delayed.

Update on Dee:  Dee is home from the hospital and doing much better.  She still suffers from vertigo and goes to physical therapy to correct that.  We hope to see her at one of our meetings very soon.

Communion Sunday:  Please mark your calendar to help arrange the Prayer Shawls and Prayer Cloths at 7:45 for the 8:00 service, 9:15 for the 9:30 service, at 10:45 for the 11:00 service, and fold and put away the shawls at 12:15 on June 20^th.  As you know, the Prayer Shawls and Prayer Cloths have been greatly appreciated on Communion Sundays and disappear quickly.  Please let me know which service you will be available to assist with the items.  Thanks.

Fall Festival:  Remember how much fun the Fall Festival was last year?  It will be Oct. 24^th this year from 2:30-5:30!   We will have the same cabin and the theme will be the same, basically just an old fashioned Fall Harvest Festival.  So mark your calendar, prepare to share the Prayer Shawls, Prayer Cloths, and other items we make with those who don’t know us.  The fudge will be there again, and any other yummy handouts you want to make available!  And anyone who wants to volunteer to display old quilts, embroidery, or crochet and knit on the porch – let’s do it up right again, ladies!  Put your thinking caps on.  Let me know what you want to volunteer to do or to bring.

 

Reflections: In a Women’s Devotional Bible, I read this quote by Mother Teresa which pretty well sums up the work we do in the Prayer Shawl Ministry:

“Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of himself.  Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive him and to keep him as your own.  Wherever God has put you, that is your vocation.  It is not what we do but how much love we put into it.”

We often talk about making and delivering Prayer Shawls, or putting them out on the altar rail on Communion Sunday and watching them disappear.  Spreading God’s comfort through these items is such a privilege and a blessing to us.  Sharing tears with the recipients is such an honor.  It is not what we say or how we do it, but the love we put into the sharing that makes the difference. 

When I look back on my lifetime of experiences, I see how God has worked to give me skills that fit into this Ministry of His.  He trains each of us to have the skills to meet the needs in the season of our lives.  We just need to understand “His thoughts are not our thoughts” and be patient enough to see His plan.

Just A Note:  Even in the summertime, the Prayer Shawl Ministry meets every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30 in rooms 308 & 309.  Please join us for fellowship, laughter, and stories!  You can work on your current project, make Prayer Cloths (we need 50 every week), peruse the pattern books (thanks to Jane, we have a ton!), or encourage the rest of us. 

· If you’re bored with your pattern, we have new ones!

· If you’re stuck on a pattern or a stitch, we’ll help!

· If you’ve lost your knitting needles or crochet hook, we have more!

· If you need new yarn, we have it!

· If you need an excuse, you’re out of luck because we need you!

Why do you have to be so far away?  We miss you! And hope to see you soon.

 

Love and Blessings,

Beverly

“May the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful.  Yes, make our efforts successful!” – Psalm 90:17