Prayer Shawl Ministry

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalm 139: 13-17 

In 1998, Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, graduates of the 1997 Women’s Leadership Institute at The Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, began a ministry as a result of their experience in this program. Their desire to extend compassion to others, and their love of knitting and crocheting, led them to combine the two into a prayerful ministry called the Shawl Ministry. The intent of this powerful outreach and spiritual practice was to reach out to those in need of comfort and solace along with those celebrating joy in their lives. The shawl maker begins each new mantle with prayers and blessings for the known or unknown recipient and these intentions are continued as the shawl takes form, is completed, and then is given away. (Source: The Prayer Shawl Ministry Homepage; http://www.shawlministry.com/)

 

Many years ago, a prayer shawl ministry was born at Eastridge Church with the hopes of continuing this special spiritual practice with our church family and beyond. This mission of compassion and love continues today with EPC members knitting, crocheting and quilting prayer shawls. Throughout the years, many shawls have been prayerfully completed and given away with the hope each recipient will feel the love and comfort of God, along with the prayers and blessings of a member of our church family, when they see their shawl or wrap it around their shoulders.  

Just as a butterfly develops slowly within its cocoon and emerges with its distinct characteristics or a baby develops slowly within the womb of her/his mother and is born a unique human being, so a shawl slowly develops too. With each tug of the yarn from the skein and the continual movement of the needle and fingers or the careful selection, cutting, placement and sewing of fabric occurring over time, each shawl takes on its own individual design with the blending of colors and stitches chosen carefully and loving by the maker. As I work on each shawl, I am constantly reminded of how God has chosen to create each of us with unique gifts and talents that allow us to be a reflection of God’s love and a blessing to others.

 

Prayer: Dear Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, we thank you for the gift of our hands and the ways in which they can be a blessing to others. We ask you to bless those who have felt your calling to knit, crochet and sew prayer shawls along with those who have received them. May these mantles be a perpetual reminder of the unfailing love and care you, and our church family, have for them. Amen.

Patty Niemann (reprinted from 2017)

Editor's note: Photo below of an Eastridge prayer shawl recipient in the hospital at Bryan West two years ago! 

Words from Psalm 150

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Psalm 150:6 

Words from Psalm 118

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 

Praise in Music

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. James 5:13

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

Music brings us together to share our joy and sorrow, to comfort us, to rouse our spirits, to celebrate, and to stir up memories. When we get together with friends of the same “era,” reminiscing about favorite tunes and lyrics tightens the bonds among us. I know a family of musicians who take their guitars and keyboards whenever they gather.  Every family reunion is ended with a bittersweet singing of Edelweiss - “May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep us forever.”

Although solos can be beautiful, the community created when a group of musicians perform is a unique experience. Just like athletes who feel a surge of energy when their team successfully defeats an opponent, choir and orchestra members feel their spirits soar when the climax of the finale is perfect.  Individuals who previously had no connection come together to achieve a mutual goal.

Sacred music holds a special place in worship. Everyone has a specific hymn that is meaningful to them. When the initial notes rise from the piano or organ, the warmth of the familiar words and melody comfort us; we join in heartily and create a community of believers sending the message to God. Cantatas and oratorios pull us into the story they are telling. The opening chorus of Beethoven’s “Messiah” can send your heart beating in anticipation of the soaring solos and choruses to come. Whether it’s a traditional hymn written by John Wesley, a stirring gospel or spiritual, or a praise song sung with guitar accompaniment, the shared experience of joining with a congregation to sing affirms our membership in a community with shared beliefs.

A study reported in the Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging, found that adults who participated in religious music activities had a greater sense of purpose and meaning in life as well as reduced evidence of anxiety and depression than others who were not involved in spiritual music. Along with the spiritual benefits of music, it can improve our learning, concentration, memory, mental fitness, and reduce pain. The benefits of music affect people of all ages.  Involving and encouraging young children and teens to join a community of music lovers exposes them to the same benefits.

Prayer: Dear God, make us aware of opportunities to sing praise to you. As we join with the community of your believers, let us sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to you.  Amen 

Carol McClain (reprinted from 2024)

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

I went to my collection of “Children’s Moments” books for an inspiration for a devotion and found one to adapt for today. Visualize two books in a bookstore, one book has a colorful cover and is blank inside. The other book has a plain cover and is colorful inside. If you saw these two books, which one would you choose to bring home and read? People are just like the two books. Our outside appearance does not always show what is inside. Sometimes people that are beautiful on the outside are not so nice on the inside and sometimes people who are not so beautiful on the outside might be very nice. You cannot judge a book by the cover and you can’t tell what someone is like on the inside by looking at their outside. God cares about the way we are on the inside—character, if we are mirthful and full of love. God does not care what kind of clothes we wear or how we fix our hair. What matters is how beautiful we are on the inside. We should not be worried about how people look but getting to know how they really are on the inside.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to not judge others by appearance, but look at their heart and character. Amen.

Susan Taylor (reprinted from the Eastridge Daily Devotional Book, 2008)

Wisdom

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.  Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:20-21

This spring marks five years since I completed graduate school. It feels like just yesterday I was spending hours every week pouring over textbooks, writing papers and finishing class projects. In those five years I have come to learn (sometimes the hard way) that it is good to ask for directions from those who have been down the path before you. As a project manager, I am responsible for working with a team to determine what work will be done, develop a plan to complete the work, and then carry out the plan and introduce the new technology. There are important lessons learned on each project and this is a job that definitely teaches a team about the dangers of making assumptions. Sometimes during a meeting, I know that the team will be annoyed or frustrated because I will ask the same question in different ways, but this is part of the wisdom that has been shared with me by my peers. From time to time, we work on plans and think that we have come up with a foolproof way to make something work, only to have it fall apart in testing. 

I always think that the second part of this verse matches with the often-seen sign, “We plan, God laughs”. I know that is meant to be tongue in cheek, but there are so many times that we plan and plan because we want something to be perfect. Sometimes we are close to what God has planned for us, other times, he needs to share his wisdom to get us back on the right path, still other times we are completely off course and God lets us learn a lesson so that next time we won’t make the same mistakes. These lessons, give us wisdom to carry forward on our own to accept instruction and also helps us to share our experience with others. While we don’t want to “wallow” in the past, it is good to know what we won’t do again and to have a plan to repeat things that have been successful.

As I was writing this devotion I reflected on the lessons I have learned throughout life and the times that I refused direction and wisdom and insisted on forging my own path. While I have certainly learned a lot, I have grown to have a lot more respect for wisdom and guidance and the need to slow down and pay attention in moments where my plan and God’s plan are not aligned.

Prayer: God who has guided us in all our lessons, help us to know when to ask for advice and wisdom, when to recognize that a lesson has been learned and to place value on those things that work well and are worth repeating.    

Christi Moock (reprinted from 2019)

Words from Romans

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. Romans 12:6