Scripture: John 13:34-36
“Amy’s Hands”
The music of her needles sang
as yarn intertwined into place.
Amy’s stitches were made by fingers
bent by time and overflowing with love.
Gently, rhythmically, a pattern emerged
as row upon row was added.
Amy’s hands made every stitch a place
where her love merged with God’s.
She knit her creations to give away,
in answer to the special call Jesus gave her.
Through each one,
Amy loved another as Jesus loved her,
abundantly and with grace.
She expected nothing in return.
All who knew her, knew Amy was His disciple.
© Robin Lybeck
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-36
God’s encouragement…
Jesus gives us a high calling with this passage of scripture: the world will know we are His through the way we love one another. I take Him at His word. Love has the amazing ability to be a gift not only to the one who receives it, but also to the one who gives it. Love brings joy and kindness. Love softens hearts. Love creates deep connections.
My mother-in-law Amy loved this way. She is home with the Lord now, but one way she lived out His high calling was through her hands. She knitted and crocheted things. Beautiful and practical things like baby booties, blankets, hats, scarves, sweaters, mittens and gloves. Each one was a work of art. Her hands were never idle. The basket containing her projects was always within reach.
I am the blessed recipient of her creations. She still “hugs” me when I nap, snuggled under an afghan she made. I feel her touch when my hands are protected from a cold winter wind by a pair of red and white mittens she knit. And when we hang an unfinished baby bootie on our Christmas tree each year—the one she was working on when she was called home to God—she is with us. Amy’s hands “spoke” His love as she wrapped us with her testimony.
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Image: graphite pencil drawing by Robin Lybeck: Amy’s Hands
