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This fall a friend of mine started a prayer shawl ministry. So I picked up some yarn and crochet hooks and started re-learning how to crochet. Now I’m hooked! Pun intended. I have been working on something ever since. There always seems to be someone needing prayer and comfort. But I never expected it to be a colleague from my past.
Ten years ago I was teaching at an Episcopal elementary school. When I left the school, I lost contact with many of my colleagues. That was not intentional, of course, but it happens, especially when I live in a different area than the school. Just after Thanksgiving, I got an odd friend request on FB from the sister of one of my former co-teachers. We taught third grade together for 5 or so years. I remembered her sister, so I accepted the request. That’s when I saw her recent posts about Stacey’s breast cancer and chemo treatments. I immediately messaged Stacey’s sister and emailed Stacey.
We really should not wait for tragedy or illness to get in touch with former friends, but sometimes that’s what it takes. I knew I needed to crochet a shawl for her. I had just purchased some blue yarn and was unsuccessfully attempting a scarf. Switch perspective and it became a shawl–for Stacey.
I love this ministry. I can meditate while I stitch. I can say a mantra, a prayer, or merely count my double-crochets, but I am present in the moment doing something for someone else.
The shawl carries with it this presence. I know Stacey felt it as soon as she put it on. Her tired face perked up, and she began to glow. Stacey still has quite a battle ahead of her, five (out of 8) rounds of chemo left and then surgery. With the shawl on her shoulders, she will know the hope that God offers and the love of a longtime friend.
Stacey wrapped in the prayer shawl and her daughter, Erin.
Why Knot? is the clever name my husband has given our ministry. He says it will start a conversation. I agree. Why knot?
Reflections on the Teche 