I have been crocheting seriously for several months. I laid down my knitting needles to see what joy the crochet hook could offer.
The way of crochet I am learning is creative and full of joy.
I taught Kristin, my Executive Assistant and the Director of Global Outreach, how to crochet on a plane a month ago. She said immediately she could feel the meditative powers and feel her anxiety lesson.
Crocheting is way more forgiving than knitting, which screams every misplaced stitch.
I have learned to crochet granny squares while walking. I have yarn inside my hoodie front pocket. People smile when they pass. Crocheting dismantles judgment with colorful yarn knotted into a fanciful gift for a loved one.
You can create as you go along in crocheting. Patterns are a guide more than a dogma.
I wish all religious practices offered that kind of freedom. In truth, I could write a book on the way of crochet, but I want to go and crochet with some amazing women in Brazil and Peru first!
Life Lately:
Last month I had the honor to marry my son Caney and his partner Katherine.
No one can tell you what birth will feel like. No matter how descriptive, no one can prepare you for what it feels like when your child crosses all the milestones of life.
No one could have explained the joy of having all the family gathered in a sacred space and witness your son make his life vows to an amazing woman. It is one of life's great crowning moments.
One memory of Caney, our middle son was seeing him alone in the side chapel before we walked out together and stood at the altar and watched the procession.
It was pretty quiet except for the beautiful organ music as you could hear the muffled sounds of people being escorted and whispered greetings. Caney lit a candle and then knelt at the small altar. When he looked he saw that above the altar was a mural of Jesus surrounded by a series of clouds in different colors.
Caney is an oil painter who has spent the last two years painting visions in clouds. His solo art show at the Lequire Gallery was all of cloud dreams. When he saw the mural he looked at me and said, "I've been hoping for a sign."
Sometimes it all just comes together and we can celebrate the miracle that love is required and all we dream about comes to life.
-- Becca Stevens
Originally published 4/21/24