A few weeks ago my friend, Mabeth, mentioned a prayer shawl for the second time. I had not heard of a prayer shawl and asked her about it. Being an avid crocheter and a woman of prayer it just sounded like something I should know about. Mabeth was faithful to answer back with a good description about the ministry. The comment she made that appealed to me the most was, " It speaks of God's covering of His Bride, and it really creates a little "closet" for intimacy with Him. Jesus used one . . . "
I got on line and found patterns and all sorts of stories about what is happening with all the prayer shawls women(for the most part) are crocheting and knitting.
I would say that my favorite explanation was on this site ~ http://www.hopeofisrael.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=30
I will have to tell you I got a little excited at the idea of making a prayer shawl for myself or for someone else! I started praying that God would lead me as to who to make one for and to designate the color for me to use. One of the sites I had read about it talked about the meaning of the colors(though I am not really sure how Biblical that is!)
I had some promised articles to finish up before getting started. One was actually something for myself. Gary bought an outdoor chair to put in our bedroom in the apartment in California. It works great for him to sit in and put his shoes and socks on in the morning. However, there was just something about that "outdoor" chair in my bedroom that was not sitting right with me! I determined I would make an afghan to match the bedspread to cover that chair and make it look a little more "homey". My plan was to only work on it while in Missouri and surprise Gary with it. I started it in January and was not able to finish it up with the hospital visits, the nursing home visits and the eventual passing of my dad. I finally finished it right before coming out to California a few days ago. As I was seeing that I was going to get it done I was getting very excited about who and what I was going to do about the prayer shawl!
Two things had happened that had made me even more excited about it. One is that I went shopping for yarn at WalMart and lo and behold~they have a whole pattern book dedicated to prayer shawls! I was shocked! Added to that, my friend, Margaret, had received a prayer shawl as a gift. A few days after receiving it her mother passed away. She found she was cuddling with that prayer shawl and sensed God's comfort through it. You see, the lady who had made it for her had felt led by our Father to make it for a very special purpose for Margaret and prayed over it while she made it.
As I was finishing up my little surprise afghan to bring to California it dawned on me~"Wait a minute, I don't have to follow some specific prayer shawl instruction! I have been making prayer "shawls" for years!" You see, I have made literally hundreds of afghans for others...I have prayed over the people to whom those afghans, or baby blankets were going to. I have told people that they were to use those as reminders God's love wrapped around them as they wrapped up in those afghans! I looked at the afghan I was making for myself. I had never prayed over one I made for me! This afghan was going to be on a chair I often use for my personal encounter times in the Word and with my loving Father! This afghan was going to be on the chair that my husband sits on daily before leaving for work!
When I finished the afghan I laid it across my bed and knelt beside it and prayed that God would bless it as it will be my prayer shawl in Rancho Cucamonga. I prayed that my husband would feel God's love as he sits on it in the morning.
Yes, I am out here in California now...and I have started a new project. I am making a white baby blanket. We just found out that our youngest son and wife are expecting a baby in October. Though I have prayed over all the other baby blankets I have made I have never been as specific in those prayers. In choosing white I am praying that righteosness and purity are a part of this childs identity. I am praying that innocence, peace, virtue, gentleness, perfection(holiness), reverence and humility define the kind of life this child will live.
