In 2005, ladies from Grace Bible Church began a blanket ministry, sending a soft blanket of comfort to anyone who was sick or grieving the loss of a loved one.¹ They also encouraged their church to pray for those they were reaching. And the ministry grew.

So they enlisted more ladies to help make blankets and become the prayer group for those receiving them. Enter the group known as the Knit Wits.² Soon they were knitting caps for newborns, comfort squares for babies in NICU, and shawls for chemo patients.³

In 2020, the Knit Wits partnered with Blessing Love Box, a ministry effort reaching women with Bulbar Onset ALS.⁴ The Knit Wits supply blankets as a means of comfort and pray for each lady by name each week, including Sharon Colwell author of A Living Savior, a devotional for those with ALS.

What greater love can we show the world…

Jesus said, There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.⁵ The Greek word for friends is also interpreted as neighbors. And we know from the Parable of the Good Samaritan our neighbor is pretty much everyone.⁶

There’s something else about that Greater Love passage. The phrase to lay down is much broader than what is often assumed. All my life I’ve heard and been taught this refers to dying…giving up one’s life for another. But to lay down is not so restricted.

It also includes to set aside. When we study Jesus’ words under that light, we see that He was saying that Greater Love is found when we set aside the self-serving needs, wants, desires, and priorities of our own lives for the benefit of another.

…than the love of Jesus Christ unfurled!

The world is filled with trouble and hardships. So God told us to love and encourage each other. But often I hear, “I don’t know what to do?” So here’s what to do. Take the knowledge, skills and talents you have, and do for others what you would want done for you.

That’s what Ann and Kay did when they started Blessing Love Box. That’s what Sharon Colwell did when she wrote A Living Savior. That’s what the Knit Wits do when they make and share gifts of comfort, which have gone out across the United States and even one to Russia.

Each of these ladies has set aside (laid down) their lives, sacrificing what is most precious…her personal time…to reach out, care for, and encourage others, even those they don’t know and may never meet in this life. Ah, what Greater Love!

 

To Ann, Kay, Sharon & the Knit Wits…Ciloa Forever!

 

Chuck

 

 

 

Chuck Graham is Founder and Executive Director of Ciloa, an international ministry devoted to encouraging others and teaching them how to encourage one another. He is also an author and speaker. Chuck and his wife, Beverly, live in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. Learn more about Chuck and Ciloa at www.Ciloa.org where you can also read the Notes of Encouragement about Blessing Love Box (Outside the Box: Part 1…Ann & Kay) and A Living Savior (Outside the Box: Part 2…Sharon).

 

 

 

Footnotes: (1) This effort was led by Clara McRae. Her church, Grace Bible Church, is located in Mountain City, Georgia. (2) In 2012, these ladies began meeting and knitting together, calling themselves the Knit Wits (one of the greatest names ever). The name is a play on nitwit, a slow-witted or foolish person, which these clever ladies are NOT! (3) NICU refers to Newborn Intensive Care Unit, which has specially trained personnel who provide 24/7 care to sick and premature babies. (4) ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. (5) Read John 15:13, presented here in the NLT version. (6) Read Luke 10:25-37.

 

Pictures: Banner: The Knit Wits of Grace Bible Church. 1^st: Making Blankets. 2^nd: More Knit Wits. 3^rd: Joy in the Journey…a finished blanket.