I was curious to learn something new, and I wanted a snuggly craft project for those last weeks of winter weather.
With some trepidation, and excitement, I pulled up some YouTube videos for beginning knitting and gave it a try.
In truth, it was not easy--I felt like I had two left hands, and I was all thumbs!
I practiced, unraveled, started again, and unraveled. But I think I got the general gist of casting on and the basic knit stitch after a few afternoon practice sessions.
Fast-forward to THIS week.
Weather has gotten cooler, and I really want to settle in and learn how to do a small knitting project this winter. So, out came the knitting kit to give it another try.
As I was knitting, and unraveling, and starting again, my daughter sat down next to me on the couch. Before I knew it, I was surprised to hear a question flying out of my mouth--definitely half-formed and poorly thought out:
"Hey, Sunshine. Do you want to learn how to knit?"
And she immediately replied, "Really? Sure! Is it hard?," and I found myself handing over the wooden needles and florescent yarn and talking her through the basic steps.
HA! It's laughable really--ME, a beginner of all beginners, teaching my 11-year-old daughter how to knit!?
But, amazingly enough, Sunshine was off to the races and knitting row after row within a half-hour.
The following day, I asked a friend to come over to double-check my knitting skills--after all, I would hate to teach myself, and now my daughter, the WRONG way to knit! As it turns out, we were doing just fine!
Today, I was reflecting upon our experience knitting, and it dawned on me that we are called to do this very thing as Christians:
To share the gospel, as we best understand it, in this season of our lives.
Just like my knitting lesson: we don't have to wait until we understand the gospel or our Bibles perfectly.
We don't have to wait until the perfect time.
We don't have to have a whole lot to show for our faith, especially if we are new Christians!
We don't have to have a well-laid out Gospel presentation or have all the answers.
We just need to be faithful to slow down, get with another person, and share with them what we know to be true in our lives about Jesus and the truth of the gospel.
It reminds me of the blind man, who was miraculously healed by Jesus. He, and his parents, were questioned by the Pharisees. They asked him what had happened--how had Jesus healed him exactly, and what did he think about Jesus--was he a prophet or a sinner? I just love his response:
He replied, “Whether he [Jesus] is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” John 9:25 (NIV)
So I must ask: Are we faithful to share the ONE thing we DO know about Jesus with others?
Are we faithful to share about how He has changed our lives? Our hearts?
Or do we hesitate, believing we should wait until the perfect time, or until we are the perfect Christian, and have it all together, or until our theology is air-tight, before we step out in obedience to share the truth?
Oh, I hope we will NOT wait until "perfect" comes (because you and I both know it never will!), and we will be faithful to share what we DO know with the people the Lord places in our lives each day.
Oh, and here's to learning new things, this winter, and our whole life long! Blessings!
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