In Romania, we had a new team for one month before going into our final month on the Camino. This was so that all of the guys on our squad could do ministry together, but in order to do that they had to take them from the co-ed teams, so the 6 girls from the 2 co-ed teams became a team in Romania. It was a little odd going into the month with a team we knew would only last for a month, but I tried going into it thinking of what I could do to love them in the short time we had together.
A project I’ve been working on all year is a knitted scarf with yarn from every country, and the colors signify something that stuck out to me about that month, (it’s the scarf I’m wearing in my profile picture!) and with the leftover yarn, I usually make a gift to leave with someone at the ministry sites or with people we ministered to. Some countries were a lot easier to find yarn than others. In South America I didn’t have too much of a problem, in India I had to use sari trim, and in Africa I had to get creative, too. But I think I hit the mother-load in Romania. We went to a grocery store that had an AWESOME sale on yarn, so I got a ton with the plan of making gifts for everyone on my team. Then, I found a little dollar store with even CHEAPER yarn, and they had so much of it, so I got even more! I ended up having quite the stash of yarn in our house, and I sort of took over one of the rooms as my knitting room.
I LOVE knitting so much, and I was really excited to knit with all of this yarn, but I quickly discovered that I had more yarn than I knew what to do with (it was actually quite obvious if I was looking. I was just so excited!) So I knew there were members of our squad who were still fundraising; some for future trips, and some were still fundraising for this trip, so I offered to knit anyone anything they wanted and whatever they would have been willing to pay to be made as a donation to anyone still fundraising. I few people reached out to me and asked me to make them things. I finished a few of them and I’m still working on a few others, but I loved being able to share my gift of knitting that I have been using all year to bless my teammates and squad mates.
This just goes to show that God can use any and all skills and talents we have, and He gave them to us for a reason. Even though knitting just seems like a fun hobby, you can use it to bless others, and that’s true for just about everything. People who love sports can minister to people while play. People who love playing games can share the love of Christ while fellowshipping with others. People who love to cook can serve their friends, families, and even strangers with the food they make. Every gift is valuable and useful, and we should not take any gift for granted. This is exactly why we need the body of Christ, and we can use every gift to lift up and serve that body.
