Another one stitch story: the story of Ginny and Betty.

Jim was dying. Jim knew that; so did his wife, Betty. He had his final heart attack and it was just a matter of time. Nothing else could be done. Betty had loved Jim for over forty years; it was not easy to say good bye. The CCU nurse, Ginny, also knew there was nothing she could do but help keep Jim comfortable. She brought Betty into Jim's room. She could see that Betty wanted to kiss and hold her dying husband but she was too short to reach over the bed rail. All Ginny did was lower the bed rail and give the couple a moment of privacy for a final kiss and a last embrace. Shortly afterwards Jim's tired heart gave out.

Years went by and Ginny ran into Betty in the supermarket. Betty embraced her and told Ginny she would always be grateful to her for lowering the bed rail and allowing her to kiss her husband good bye while he was still breathing. Betty had never forgotten that precious"stitch."  How great a gift does lowering a bed rail seem but for Betty it was no less a measure of God's love than the miracle of the loaves and the fish were for those who heard Christ that day and whose hunger was appeased. Betty hungered to embrace her Jim and Ginny was the miracle, the cup of God that made it happen and appeased the hunger.

Ginny certainly hadn't thought anything about her act of kindness. It was a very ordinary thing to do. She didn't imagine she was performing any great act of love or doing anything amazing. In fact  if she felt anything that day she felt helpless because as a nurse she couldn't offer more help. Yet God weaves a pattern through our lives one stitch at a time and reveals a truly miraculous tapestry, one glimpse at at time when we most need the assurance that our lives are serving, that we do make a difference.

It is the one stitches of life that change the world one heart at a time. We don't therefore have to do obvious "great" things in the world to make a difference and to change the world in positive ways. God is a master weaver. We may feel unraveled and frayed. God sees but a collection of one stitch opportunities just waiting to be connected in His Love to the tapestry of his heart.

God bless all our "one stitch" moments as both receivers and givers.