One of my dearest friends is a 93 year old woman named Ruby. She treats me like family, and reminds me of my own grandmother, who passed away five years ago. Ruby has a church tradition--for every new baby, she makes a beautiful crocheted baby blanket. She also crochets afghans for newlyweds, too.

Her story is so sweet. She remembered sitting at her mother's feet on a little stool watching her crochet or sew. A tour of my friend's house reveals homemade curtains, blankets, doilies, and afghans that look like something from an expensive craft store. She makes the same crochet pattern for each afghan--the one her Mom taught her back in the early 1920s.  Graciously, she shared it with me.  I'm making an afghan that I hope to show her soon and get her opinion.

She has been looking for more ways to serve the Lord. While visiting a relative in a nursing home, she was deeply moved by their situation. She reasoned that folks must get cold there, waiting for someone to visit. "But,Lord, " she said while praying, "all I can do is crochet." And then the little flicker of an idea began to burn in her mind.

Then, a couple of weekends ago, she said that while she was praying, she told the Lord that she would crochet blankets to help those poor old folks [remember, she's 93].  But she had no idea how she'd get the yarn. She started figuring what she could do without on her budget to she could buy some yarn.

The very next morning, a mutual friend approached Ruby during fellowship time at church.  This friend worked estate sales and offered my friend two large garbage bags full of brand new skeins of yarn for free.  Miz Ruby raised her hand right there and tearfully said, "Thank you Lord!"

And the lesson here is that crochet and crafting is always better with a friend--especially if that friend is Jesus.