Greetings from an EXTRAORDINARY place.

We arrived at Presbyterian College at 3 and hit the sack at 11. Up again this morning at 7. The Middle School youth groups (more than 300 strong) have unlimited energy and enthusiasm for running, singing, dancing like penguins, eating ice cream, throwing beach balls, praying, volunteering to participate in services and a variety show, tossing lanyards in unexpected places (that was a room key dangling from a high tree last night), wearing matching shirts and silly hats, doing the Charlie Brown, and tolerating slow grown-ups who join them marching up and down the mile-long stretch from one end of campus (our dorm) to the other (Belk Auditorium).

We're having a terrific time. Our little group is the smallest . . . some of the youth groups have traveled in chartered buses from Pennsylvania and Kentucky and there are many church vans parked hither and yon. We're taking lots of pictures and tucking away memories to savor and discuss in days and months to come.

I'm glad I'm in this happy place. We had some very sad news last evening, when our town decided it was okay to overlook procedure and code to make an expeditious decision about our neighborhood zoning issue. We'll now have to appeal to Superior Court in light of the significant errors made by the City staff (thank goodness we hired a court reporter), an added expense none of us can afford. But with a prospective 20% loss in value to our homes, as assessed by area realtors, we can't afford not to.

The fundamental lesson of this year's Middle School Retreat is that ordinary people make extraordinary differences in this world. Moses didn't speak very well. Jonah doubted the value of some people he was supposed to help. Abraham was old and tired when his life really took a left turn. Heroes are people who try to do something without a guarantee of success. It's a big idea for very young people . . . and for adults.

The kids are nearly finished with their first small group session. It's time to take out the knitting, start a prayer shawl, and focus on someone else.

A giving week

I've had a lot of fun this week!

It's been a giving week, filled with memory-making and calendar-stuffing dates.

I've chaperoned a team of 6th grade brainiacs from Peachtree Middle School during their Quiz Bowl tournament at the Westminster Schools (a surreal place, by any definition), escorted my son to a Mock Trial practice at the Georgia State School of Law (cool), worked feverishly on piecing together 42+ 8" squares for a prayer blanket due for presentation this weekend (whew), consulted on the new church website design (yay!), prepped for the Square Foot Gardening classes at Dunwoody Nature Center (fun), and knitted a few more inches of a gift for one of the kids' teachers.  Add teaching my darling Preschool Phonics friends, working at the Nature Center, and the regular cycle of household chores, and I'm feeling a tad bit breathless.

I'd been thinking about things too much, focusing energy on worries about the economy, family health, finishing a few projects . . . much better to DO something. Service keeps my focus outward, so worries about the here and now flow deeper underground and don't consume energy and attitude. 

I feel much better now. 

Knitting with care

For two years now, I've alternated "giving knitting" with projects for custom orders and myself. At first, I worked primarily on prayer shawls. The first thing I ever knitted was a prayer shawl, knitted through the long nights in the pediatric ICU while my son fought septic shock and other complications from Crohn's Disease. I've kept that one, and given every other one since to Children's Healthcare at Scottish Rite, to give to moms in the same situation. Those ICU rooms are freezing, and there's nothing like a tangible hug that warms you inside and out. That's the power of a prayer shawl. My two favorite patterns are also the easiest:

For a "trinity" patterned shawl: Cast on 99+ in any yarn, any needle size of your choosing. Knit in K3 P3 ribbing until shawl reaches from fingertip to fingertip. Add fringe. Say a prayer. And give it away.

For a triangular shawl (three sides = Trinity), follow "Grandma's Dishcloth" pattern: Cast on 4 stitches with any yarn, any needle size. Turn. Knit across. Turn. Knit 2, YO, knit across. Continue K2, YO, knit across until shawl is large enough to wrap the recipient warmly.

Then, my knitting circle started making layettes for Share Atlanta, a bereavement support group for parents of children lost during pregnancy. (Their web site, http://www.shareatlanta.org/. has lots of wonderful background information.) I had personal reasons for participating in this "giving knitting," so have tried to make at least one set of blanket, booties, & hat each month.

I've added a link to CareWear, which has the best set of patterns I've found for these ultra-tiny gifts.