Following directions

Okay, this one is NOT about scripture. I’ll give you that.

But as an “older woman” I find more and more, that there are moments in my life that illustrate the difficulties we face as we walk the Christian walk.

One is, how do I go about following the Holy Spirit? I mean really, it’s one thing to talk about, and another thing to actually do. So, after three weeks on the boat, I come home with this picture. I hope it creates an “ah-ha” moment for you.

I had plenty of time to knit on the boat. Finished a baby sweater for a Very Important Someone who shall arrive this fall. And, I knit four dish cloths. And, I worked on a sweater for one of my children. (I do a scandinavian sweater when they graduate from High School. This one child, however, couldn’t make up her mind about a pattern until this last winter — eleven years after graduation from HS!)

Now for those of you who don’t know, a Scandinavian sweater is made of color work, where the knitter uses two yarns at the same time on every row. In the end, the sweater is marked by stars or flowers or patterns throughout the body and/or bodice of the garment. Some are strikingly beautiful, brilliant, while others are more subtle. All show an elaborate use of color and pattern.

The trick for the knitter is to put these dots of yarn color in exactly the right places at the right time. After all, you only knit one stitch at a time, one row at a time. You cannot see ahead, really; the row after this one does not yet exist.  You cannot see the pattern in the fabric as you make it. Instead, you must trust the designer.

Did you hear that? Trust the designer.

Not much different than walking the walk, is it?

As a knitter, I must count my stitches, check that number against the pattern and trust (and I must emphasize the importance of this step) that the dots of color will work together to make something beautiful in the end.

It takes concentration. It takes commitment. You must put in the stitches, one by one, bit by bit, row by row, using the colors as the instructed faithfully, accurately.

I was struggling with the cuff of this particular pattern. I wanted to KNOW that the dots would come out to be the stars I had designed. But I couldn’t see it. I had no way of knowing if they would fit, if I had put the dots in the right places.

More than once, as I knit, I had to take a deep breath and plunge forward. “Trust the designer,” I told myself out loud.

And then it hit me. Just like walking the walk. You have to take a deep breath and plunge forward. One stitch at a time. Knit them as they come.

Follow the Lord as he instructs. One step at a time. Trust the design. Trust the designer. Don’t think NOW about the pattern as it appears. Just obey. Obey.

One step at a time.

Bette