Saturday, March 7, 2015

Where is my piece?

I had so much fun this morning!!  I was doing some exploratory shopping for our bathroom redo before I headed to the WalMart for my weekly grocery shopping.  Since I was in a good mood and needed some coffee, I stopped at Panera for some breakfast.  As I sat down to eat my bagel, I looked around the room where I was sitting I saw a group of women occupying the corner.  There was about seven of them,  mostly older, with a couple who might have been more towards my age.  I continued to watch them as they chatted and passed around a phone looking at pictures.  It was then that I noticed they were all doing something, they were knitting.  Each one of them had needles and different colours of  yarn that they were working on.   I wondered what they were knitting, and who they were knitting for?  Was it for something in particular, or were they together to just visit while knitting?

As I was about to leave, one of the ladies got up and threw something away.  While she was passing by, I started a conversation with her.  She told me that a couple of them had started by knitting some prayer shawls, as they went to the same church.  She said that they expected that it would take about three months and that would be it, but that was five years ago.    Since then they have knitted more prayer shawls, scarves for our troops and even hats for babies.   The hats have been sent to Africa, Haiti and up to our children's hospital in Madera.  She said they were even going to start making some more for the new maternity wing at the hospital in town.

I loved seeing these women enjoying life.  Not only did they spend their time having fun together, but they were able to do something positive with their hobby.  She was really cute, telling me about all the knitted items they had given away.  She said that sometimes they would do something that was just for themselves, but "you know you can only have so much at home" was what she told me.  That made me laugh, as I remember all the items that my grandmother knitted that covered her home.  Or was it crochet?  I don't think I would know the difference?

It was encouraging to see their enjoyment of this little ministry.  They weren't changing the world, but what they were doing was important to each person who received their kind gifts.  It felt like an important lesson for me to see.  I think we are all worried about things we see in our world, but then we get bogged down by the enormity of it all.  These ladies knew how to do it right.   Like a large puzzle, they took a little piece where they could help and took care of it.  Makes me think that if they can do their part, I can do mine.  For me, that is encouraging!!

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Like Family.....

So it was a little harder to find where encouragement was hiding this past week.  I had gone back to work after a week away, and it was hard to get into the swing of things.  It was also a hard week for me physically, as I seem to have been carrying a lot of stress.  So between my back and my head, I felt like I was in continual pain.  Instead of wanting to encourage, I myself felt pretty discouraged.  So I kept looking for encouragement this week, but found it to be pretty elusive.  

During the week, I sat down with my husband and watched a PBS special on "Italian Americans".  Being one myself, I was interested to watch the story of the Italian immigrants who started to come to this county in the late 1800's.  Those who came to America faced prejudice, racism and a hard life in the midst of the industrial revolution.  They came though, for a better life, and while it was a hard road, they travelled it with their families, community and their faith.       I totally enjoyed the program, but I was not really encouraged by it until Saturday.  That was when I took some time to study for our Sunday lesson.

As I read through the story of the ten lepers that Jesus heals, I was struck by the one who came back to thank him.  He was a Samaritan, a foreigner.  In the Bible account, he is the only one who comes back and gives praise to God.  It is interesting that the author of the story points out the difference of his nationality.  I believe that may speak to the prejudice in Jesus' own time.  It is the same prejudice that affected my forefathers, and the same prejudice I see affecting people today.  It was in that connection, that I heard the quiet whisper of encouragement.  

What was so encouraging was Jesus example.  Instead of bypassing those who were different, He chose to heal and forgive.   He did not pay attention to the prejudice of the day whether it was based on race, nationality, sin, religion or class.   Jesus looked past all these things to the actual person.  It was exciting, even liberating.  For me, it showed a freedom to ignore the classifications that society puts on people.  The freedom to treat everyone as if they were just like me, even if they don't seem like it.    That is the freedom that Jesus gives us.  To accept the foreigner as if he were family.