Consecration

 

This shawl just came off my blocking board. The pattern is called Silk Moon Crescent because the designer envisioned it made up in wonderful Silk Moon yarn and because the way it is knit causes it to form a lovely crescent shape. Isn't it pretty? I didn't have any Silk Moon yarn so I used some from my stash (now I can't find the wrapper so I can't tell you what it was!) and it turned out to be a good choice. I keep seeing RAINBOWS! 

 

I've written about our Prayer Shawl Ministry before, about how meaningful it is to me and the others who participate. We always seem to receive the greatest blessing in the end. This one is going to someone who just happens to need a bit of prayer right now. It always works out that way -- when I start a project, I think, "I don't know anyone who needs a shawl right now but I'll just get started and see what happens." Sure enough, it always turns out that the need arises! A certain friend of mine has had a recurrence of cancer, and I think she is due a soft and cuddly, rainbow-colored, prayer-infused prayer shawl to help her along the path of treatment and recovery.

 

 

Just as soon as I unpinned Silk Moon Crescent from my blocking board (a very professional-looking folded-out cardboard box), I immediately pinned this blue one onto it. It's called Gill's Rock, named for a place on the northern tip of Door County, Wisconsin, looking out on beautiful Lake Michigan. We had a wonderful trip up there last fall, and when I found this pattern named for that place, I knew I had to make it. What better color than blue for a place known for its far-reaching blue views? The yarn was AWESOME! It's called Finch, made by Quince & Co., and it knit up into a springy, soft and touchable shawl that is fairly small -- what is called a shawlette.

 

Today I don't know who will receive by Michigan Blue Gill's Rock, but it won't be long.

 

I titled this post Consecration because it is a word I've been thinking about. Our Sunday School lesson last week was about consecrating our talents, time and tithes to God. I've always loved handwork of all kinds -- embroidery, needlepoint, cross-stitch, quilting, knitting -- all my life, I've wanted -- NEEDED -- to be working on something. But there are just so many samplers I can hang on the well-covered walls of my home, and there are only so many scarves I can give to my well-scarfed friends, and there are only so many quilts I can give to my well-blanketed grandchildren.

 

So when I learned, a couple of years ago, about the Prayer Shawl Ministry it immediately turned a huge lightbulb on in my head! What a perfect way to enjoy handwork while doing it for someone else, someone who really needs the prayers and the caring that goes into the making of each one. All I had to do was mention this idea to some loving, caring women in my church, and our very own Prayer Shawl Ministry was born.

 

The stitching we do -- whether it is knitted or crocheted or pieced and quilted -- is consecrated work. That means it is set aside or dedicated for a sacred purpose. When I look at the LONG list of people who've been our recipients in the two years we've been doing this, it is astounding to me. We live in a small, rural community -- who would have dreamed so many events would occur to create such a need for shawls and the prayers and the hugs they hold.

 

I'm not saying all this to brag on myself. I do so little compared to so many! But it is something I can do, and it is something I love to do. I write to ask if there is some work or gift you have that you should consecrate to God. I hope that by sharing what I'm doing someone else will be inspired. Be creative and think outside the usual box of possibilities -- one doesn't have to go dig a well in a third-world country or dish up bowls of soup in an inner-city soup kitchen to have a ministry.

 

What could you consecrate today?