The Blessings Guild: The Beginning

One out of a series...

Emmaline slammed her knitting onto the table. I can't do it! she thought.

The phone rang persistently.

"Are you going to get that, Em?" Adam yelled.

Emmaline sighed. Brothers. "Yeah, I guess." She picked up the reciever. "Hello?"

"Em, want to come over?" Emmaline's best friend chattered. Jamie was never one to waste time with preambles. "I just learned a new stitch – and I have a great idea!"

"Only if I don't have to bring that afghan," Emmaline groaned. "It's going to take me years to make it at the rate I'm going!"

Jamie laughed. "Bring it, and I'll work on it a bit for you!"

Fifteen minutes later, Emmaline tossed the afghan into Jamie's lap – then untangled the skein of yarn from her wheelchair.

"Sorry about that," Jamie apologized. "That old thing just gets in the way of everything."

"You can't help that; don't feel sorry," Emmaline consoled. "What's all the clay on the table for?"

"I'm making beads." Jamie rolled her wheelchair closer to the table. "There's a girl at church; she likes to make jewelry and can't afford nice beads. So I decided to surprise her and make her some pretty ones."

"Cool." Emmaline sat down. "Can I make beads and you knit?"

"Sure. Actually, this was part of my idea." Jamie smiled. "Let's start a club. We can call it the Blessings Guild, and make blessings to give to other people."

"Like what you're doing with the beads?" Emmaline eyed the clay.

Jamie nodded. "I even made up little badges for us! See? Mini knitting needles in a ball of clay 'yarn'!"

So it was decided. Jamie and Emmaline made a dozen badges in all colors. After church the next day, Emmaline dropped a sack of beads in the window of the car belonging to the girl who needed beads. Meanwhile, Jamie gathered nearly all the girls in church around her wheelchair in the parking lot.

"Are you with me?" she called out to the others as Emmaline jogged up.

The lot resounded with the girls' cheers.

Note to all readers: sorry about the formatting issues; I can't seem to fix them! I'll try again next post. :)