Sometimes seemingly-small ideas make a big impact. One of the deacons on our outreach team is a
seamstress/quilter and had a brainstorm about a year ago to create a ministry
called Creative Hands. The purpose of
the group she formed is to create quilts, shawls, caps, and other hand-made
items and make sure they are given to people who need them. There’s a lot of quilters and fabric-minded
people here at FPC, so the group got off to a running start.
Then something remarkable happened a few weeks ago. The group brought shawls, baby blankets,
caps, and other hand-made items to the Pregnancy Center and to Latimer House,
the latter of which is a shelter for abused women and children. Both ministries play a huge role in caring
for the needs of a vulnerable group of people in our community, and both were
thrilled to receive lovingly-crafted gifts from Creative Hands. The thing that became remarkable was a simple
sentence on a thank-you note from the groups who received these gifts. It reads, “Most of the women we serve have never owned anything hand-made.”
Take that line in for a moment. I simply can’t imagine my two children’s
lives without hand-made gifts of love.
My sister-in-law made my son a quilt with a huge Texas flag on it. One of FPC’s elders made a rug for our
nursery based on the color pallet Jill picked out for the room. Another friend threw us a baby shower after
Hadley was born, and the on-site craft at the party was making headbands for
our daughter with special notes of love and blessings attached to each
one. It’s hard for me to get my head
around any kid in our community who is missing loving, hand-made gifts. Creative Hands is demonstrating the love of
Christ to people outside the walls of our church.
Thanks be to God!
Travis
