A true survivor

Again God has responded to my request that He show me who to send prayer shawls to. While reading the local paper this week I learned of an amazing young woman who by incredible courage, persistance, and the sheer grace of God, escaped an horrific attack by her boyfriend. I won't go into the sordid details here, but if you're interested, click here to read more about this amazing young woman and what she went through.

I contacted the local police department and was put in touch with a detective who is working closely with her. He's offered to deliver the shawl to her next week. While I was writing a letter to her, God also laid it on my heart to ask her if she was a knitter, and if not, to offer to teach her to knit once she's feeling better. Who knows if she'll take me up on that offer, but in the process, I realized that just as Jesus instructed his disciples to teach men (and women) to fish, as soulful knitters, we also have an opportunity to spread the joy and comfort we gain from our craft, as well as the love of God, with other women we meet along the way.

The other thing God placed on my heart is the opportunity we have to reach out into our respective communities and find the women we're to bless with these chawls by keeping our eyes and ears open to what's happening in our own back yards. So, I'm asking you to be the eyes and ears of SKM. If you read or hear about women who are survivors of sexual and/or domestic violence that we might be able to bless with a shawl, please let me know. Of course, there are many more women who fit this category than we can knit possibly shawls for, so sadly, I won't be able to fulfill every request, but we'll do what we can. When you submit a request, please provide as much information as you can about the situation, as well as contact information.

And of course, in order to make this happen, please continue to send your yarn donations - no amount of yarn is too small. We receive new yarns, but we also receive partial skeins and even small balls of yarn leftover from various knitting projects. I can't think of a better stash-buster, can you? My only caveat on yarn is that I've found that chenille-type yarns don't work well for the shawls. I think because they're knit with larger needles (to compensate for the various gauges of yarns in each shawl), the chenille yarns don't seem to hold their shape as well and often create holes in the shawls. Other than that, all yarns are welcome! For those who've sent yarn before, please note the address change posted in the bottom right-hand corner of the main page.

Thanks again for all of your encouragement, prayers and donations. I know that God is going to use this ministry in amazing ways this year!