It All Knits Together

Some days just seem to unravel. You can never predict what a perfectly planned day in Mozambique will produce. Though I'd like to follow a simple pattern it isn't long before the threads get tangled and I want to give up and cut them off. Then God steps in and reminds me the tapestry is His, not mine.

This whole week has been a tangle of threads for me until I met Zita. She is a new recipient in Project Life and has AIDS. She has four children, including a three-year-old who can't walk, talk or eat by himself. She rents a mud home that is falling apart and the roof leaks. Her husband goes from field to field offering his services as a gardener so their family of six can eat. As I sat down to visit with her I watched her hands skillfully forming symmetric loops into a pattern of a child's hat. Her knitting needles were two gangly long wires twisted into a knot on one end. She unraveled thread from an old sweater that was dirty and worn and wound it into a ball; it was her only source of yarn. My heart skipped a beat as I recognized a hand on a pattern much larger than this tiny child's hat. 

Before I had come to Mozambique, a woman I had just met asked if she could send with me a large bag of knitting needles and yarn. Usually I take a number of items but never have I included knitting needles and yarn. Crochet needles are my preference because they are small and take up less space in my suitcase. Besides, the women I knew in the project only crocheted. At the time I wondered why in the world I needed to take this large bulky bag to Mozambique and I almost took it out of my suitcase because of its weight. Now, watching Zita made me laugh at God's sense of humor and goodness to both of us.

I asked Zita how I could pray for her. She didn't ask for a new house, more food, new clothes or a better job for her husband.  She asked for healing for her three-year-old son. I saw her mother's heart. If God cared enough to provide her with new needles and yarn from someone 10,000 miles away, He certainly cared for her son. After we prayed she agreed to teach the other women in Project Life to knit. It would be a great way for her to earn a little money. We were both blessed in our own special way. It never ceases to amaze me how God can knit everything together for our good.