Used

"Do not fear to be busy. You are the servant of all. 'He that would be the greatest among you, let him be the servant of all.' Service is the word of my disciples...Be used. Be used by all, by the lowest, the smallest. How can you best serve? Let that be your daily seeking, not how best can you be served." The Two Listeners in God Calling

I came across this quote in God Calling some time ago, and marked it in the book with a little Post-It tag so that I could use it on this blog at some point. I liked it, because I sometimes feel "too busy" with Crafty Angels responsibilities on top of everything else I have to do and, I admit, sometimes that makes me cross and cranky (just ask Frank!). It was really nice to be reminded why the Crafty Angels are important to God, and that I should not fear being busy. Invariably God provides the strength, endurance, stamina, or "conicidential" cancellation of some other thing I'm supposed to do whenever I feel that way. It's rather amazing how it all works out, and I've learned just to trust that things will work out as they are supposed to.

The important thing I carried away from this quote was that I am to be "used." Even to the point of being "used up" -- by the lowest, the smallest. And that it is my duty to think of ways to be "used" by those we serve. Now that is heavy. While my sister Cin keeps telling me she is going to get me a t-shirt with "Stop me before I volunteer again!" printed on it, it's actually important that I be "busy." And you Angels have indeed been busy -- three packages arrived over the last couple of days!

Angel Cathy Falkenstein from Loomis, CA had emailed me to see if any of the Angels might want some sock yarn. She had purchased it, but found it hard to work with. Of course I said YES!

So, if you would like to make some socks, let me know. And I know that there are several of you who like to make socks for the families we serve! This is lovely sock yarn, and enough to make several pairs. Cathy also included some cotton chenille yarn she had tried to use for spa cloths - but found she liked Peaches and Cream yarn better. There was also one other bit of yarny goodness inside:

An absolutely perfect preemie baby hat! I tried really hard, Cathy, to get our Supervisor to wear it, but he just would not cooperate -- even with treats! Thank you, Cathy, for sharing this gift with us -- I'm betting I'll be getting emails really soon asking for your yarn!!

Angel Debbie Anderson from Auburn, IL has been VERY busy -- she sent us a BIG box of yarny goodness and all in fall colors:

"What?? You need to pack this blanket away in the big bins in the basement? I don't think so, Mom! I LIKE this blanket! Are you sure Angel Debbie didn't make it for me?!?!?"

Don't these colors just remind you so much of Halloween candy corn?!? They surely did remind me -- I craved candy corn all evening after I took these photos! The hats and scarves will be just perfect for the folks we serve at Cornerstone Community Outreach's homeless shelters -- and the blanket will be perfect for one of our senior men at Friendly Towers. Can't you just see it really brightening up a grey winter day for him? And there was more:

Another wonderful blanket for one of our senior men -- just perfect, Angel Debbie!

And a lovely baby blanket for one of our newborns at Swedish Covenant Hospital. It is so nice and soft. Thank you, Debbie, for keeping busy serving the lowest and the smallest. You are such a blessing to so many people!

We also received two boxes from Angel Hazel Lindsay in Australia from Armitage's Army. The first box has been driving Supervisor Cowboy and Princess Cody INSANE ever since it arrived, because a strand of yarn had worked its way out of the box, and hung quite tantilizingly from the box's corner. I would wake up in the middle of the night and hear the Princess whapping at it with her paw. Both cats were present at the box opening -- you can see the Supervisor's reaction in the photo up top:

Can you see his paw at the end of the table trying to grab that strand of yarn? Here's what happened next:

Needless to say, the yarn barely stayed on my dining room table long enough for me to take the photo! Princess Cody was waiting on the floor to catch the yarn as soon as it started falling down. I don't know what it was about this lovely purple yarn, but it was like catnip to the cats! They left all the other skeins alone, but were fascinated by the purple yarn. The purple yarn coordinates nicely with the multicolored yarn right underneath it -- there may even be enough to make a prayer shawl if someone combines both colorways of the yarn. The other yarn is great, too. Thank you, Hazel, for sharing this bounty with us -- and Cody and Cowboy!!

So don't be afraid to be busy, Angels. Allow God to use you for the smallest, the lowest. He will work out whatever needs to happen for you to do what He wants you to do for the families we serve. Just trust, and keep those hooks and needles going! You are changing the world!