The next few weeks went by quickly. School was soon to start. Pearl would come by the store with her friends and taunt Angie as she swept and cleaned shelves. Pearl was careful not to come by when Angie’s father was there for fear of being disciplined by him. Once in a while George would chase them out of his store and they would run away laughing, calling Angie unkind names as they left. But Angie was sure to keep her mouth closed and her responses to herself. It was difficult for her, but her mother’s words kept running through her mind.
Angie had now accumulated enough yarn to begin her crocheted blanket. She was bringing her last skein of yarn home with her that day.
“Mother, I have all the yarn I need now!” Angie yelled to the kitchen when she entered the house.
Her mother came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “That’s wonderful, my dear. George and Elma have been very good to you, allowing you to work for them. Be sure to thank them.”
“I did,” Angie smiled as she laid the latest skein on top of the others.
“No, a very special thank you,” Faith corrected her. “No one else has been so kind to you. You must be sure they know how much you appreciate their help.”
“What should I do?” Angie asked her mother.
“You think on it,” her mother smiled. “Something will come to you.”
Angie then changed the subject, “Momma, can I borrow your crochet needle?”
“Yes, of course,” her mother answered, “but you must take very good care of it and don’t lose it. It’s very difficult to replace.”
“Can you show me how to crochet now?” Angie grew excited.
“After dinner and our chores are done, then I’ll show you how to begin,” Faith answered as she left to return to the kitchen. “Come and help me.”
Anxious for her first lesson to begin, Angie was waiting for her mother in the living room. Billy was demanding Faith’s attention and it was irritating Angie. She began pacing back and forth across the room, each minute seeming to stretch beyond Angie’s patience.
“Alright,” her mother said as she entered the room. “Let me get my crocheting needle and we can begin.”
Angie sat down with her first skein of yarn on her lap, eagerly watching her mother. Faith sat down next to Angie and began to show Angie how to purl each stitch, and then she had Angie take over. Carefully counting until they had enough stitches to make a nice long blanket, Faith then took the yarn back to her lap and showed Angie how to crochet a beautiful design from each purl stitch. She then handed the beginnings of the blanket back to Angie. After several attempts, and many minutes of Angie trying to master the needle as well as the stitch, Angie began to have success with her design.
“I wish I could crochet as fast as you,” Angie told her mother as she struggled with each stitch.”
“Don’t worry about speed, that will come to you,” Faith smiled, “The most important part of this blanket is what you put into it.”
“What I put into it?” Angie looked confused.
“Yes. You need to fill it with blessings,” her mother suggested. “Every time you make a stitch, you also add a blessing. That way, you’ll have the most wonderful blanket of all, filled with blessings that will keep you warm.”
“Blessings?” Angie was even more confused now.
“Make a stitch,” her mother instructed and Angie did so, “Now that stitch is for love. Make another stitch.”
Angie did so.
Her mother then said, “That stitch is for peace, and the next one is for patience, and the next for kindness. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” Angie nodded. “And this one is for….umm… gentleness!”
“Very good!” Faith encouraged, “And when you can’t think of another blessing to stitch into your blanket, then you just start over. You’ll see. The blessings will make your blanket the most special blanket you’ve ever seen.”
Angie smiled to herself as she added each stitch and each blessing. She spent most of the evening working on her blanket, completing almost two whole rows.
It’s going to take a lot more work, and time, than I thought, Angie realized. That’s alright, just as long as I have it finished before the fair next year. I can do that!
Each day Angie would rush home from school, complete her homework and work on her blanket once dinner was done and evening chores were completed. Billy would sometimes sit and watch her work on the blanket, but soon became bored with the repetitious stitches and listening to Angie whispering her blessings with each one. Sometimes Billy would help her come up with new blessings, but most of them were silly, like ‘horses’ and ‘dogs’ and ‘flowers’.
“Those aren’t blessings!” Angie would reprimand him. “Those are ‘things’.”
“Well, I like them,” Billy reasoned, “They make me happy.”
Angie just shook her head and continued to think of ‘proper’ blessings.
“Let’s play a game,” Billy suggested.
“Can’t.” Angie said, “I’m busy.”
“But you’re always busy,” Billy objected, “You never have time to play with me anymore.”
“Sorry.” Angie responded.
“You’re no fun anymore,” Billy slid off the chair and headed out of the room.
Angie just continued her work on her blanket.
“Maybe you should take some time to spend with your brother,” her mother said after overhearing the conversation and entering the room.
“Can’t, momma,” Angie responded, “I have to get this blanket done and it’s going to take a lot of time.”
“Yes, I know,” her mother agreed, “But your brother needs some time as well.”
Angie started to feel bad for her little brother and finally said, “Alright, I’ll play a game with him.”
She set down her yarn reluctantly and then went upstairs to find her brother.
When she walked into her brother’s room, Billy looked up from his elementary book and his eyes grew big.
“Do you still want to play a game?” Angie asked.
Billy nodded his head.
Angie sat down on his bed and said, “Well, get the game of checkers.”
The game was old and well worn, but brought many hours of enjoyment between the children. It was the only board game they owned and they took very good care of it. Tonight they would spend the rest of the evening laughing and challenging each other until mother called to them to get ready for bed.
That Sunday, in church, Angie had another testimony to share.
“I want to give a very special thank you to Elma and George McKenna,” she announced loudly. “They helped me a lot so I could buy my yarn and make my blanket for next summer’s fair.”
She then promptly sat down and returned the McKennas’ smiles. Her mother patted her on the knee and whispered, “Very nice, dear. Very nice.”
* * * *