Prayer Shawl Ministry – A New Stitch in Time

KRISTI DURST CONFESSES AN ADDICTION AND ASKS FOR YOUR HELP!
If you missed worship last Sunday, you missed this Temple Talk from Kristi Durst:
I have an addiction and I need help from you. My addiction is crocheting. I find it in my hands at red lights, traffic jams, on the employee bus at the airport, and I could go on and on! I always have a project with me in case I have a free moment for just one more stitch!

God has played a big part in my addiction. He just won’t let me quit. So I’ve asked why and he has answered: it is time for me to start a prayer shawl ministry. Since the inception of the prayer shawl ministry in 1998, many in this organization have lovingly donated their time and talent to create hand-knit and crocheted shawls for those in need.

Over the past couple of years, I personally have made four prayer shawls. The first was for a friend and her twin sister, with whom I work. Connie’s son died unexpectedly on Mother’s Day two years ago of a heart illness. He was 11 years old. This literally broke her heart. I was overwhelmed with prayer for both of them. I presented Connie and Vicki with their prayer shawls one month later. It was a time of tears, love and prayer. Even today they tell me how their shawls comfort them. They feel God’s arms wrapped around them.

Months later I was asked at work to assist with a family coming into the Admirals Club. They were traveling to their son’s funeral. He had been serving in the Marines, so of course this situation really hit me in the heart. The mother wanted to share pictures and a bulletin board the family had made. We talked, laughed and cried. I listened to her anguish and I knew what had to be done next. As we parted I asked her for her address, and a week later I sent her a Marine Corps blue prayer shawl. The letter I received from her left me in peace, knowing that God was giving her strength.
I have a close friend at work who is undergoing chemo treatments for her second bout with breast cancer. I crocheted her a soft pink shawl you could literally melt into. She takes it to wear at her treatments because they keep the office area so cold. Many have asked her where she got her shawl. She tells them an angel from God made it for her. Vicki continues with treatments, and I continue with prayer.

You see, the added blessing in a prayer shawl ministry is that those who make the shawls pray for the recipient as they are making them. The promise is that this praying for one another will continue after the shawl has been presented.

Prayer shawls can also be presented to those experiencing one of life’s joys. Baptismal shawls, confirmation, high school graduation, new mothers; and right now I am working on a wedding prayer shawl for my daughter-in-law, Brittany. June 26 is Casey and Brittany’s first wedding anniversary. Casey has been deployed more than he has been at home in their first year of marriage. With this shawl I will include a prayer for love.

Do you like to crochet or knit? Would you like to learn? Contact Kristi if you would like to be a part of this ministry: kristi_durst@yahoo.com
If anyone who does not crochet or knit, and who, after reading this heart-felt “confession,” would still like to help Kristi other ways in her addiction, she will gladly accept yarn donations. You may drop off your donations at the church office or give directly to Kristi on Sundays.