From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost—Alleluia, Alleluia! — William Walsham How, For All the Saints
While this would sound extremely odd at any of the “I’m thankful for…” routines that will surely be going down (and rightly so) at thousands of dinner tables tomorrow afternoon, this year I am thankful for rejections.
People say “You never know…”, but no one wants to believe it—even Reformed people like me, who are known to acknowledge that everything is predestined for the best. My first traditionally-published pattern was accepted just over a year ago. I lost track of how many canned rejection letters came before that, and I haven’t bothered to count those that have come since. And all of them, just as I should have suspected, have been for the best. Some of the rejects deserved the cringes they most certainly received around the editorial table. Others were tedious, impracticable, and downright bizarre. A number of collaborations (also uncounted) would have been downright explosive—with all the social justice wars that have invaded the knitting world in the past months many of my designs, if they had been accepted, would have been twisted and interpreted to mean things that I never intended.
This may sound very sanctimonious; a hands-folded, head-voice uttered simper about how the glass is always half full. But I find we often sound our worst when trying to describe something that is true; so I am not going to try any more.
But I am thankful that Farthest Coast was rejected.
In 1990 Presbyterian pastor Blake Purcell and his wife Cathy moved their young family to St. Petersburg (still Leningrad at the time) and began a ministry to young Russian people overtaken with depression, listlessness, and despair. That ministry, now known as HopeRussia, aids more than a thousand members in 20 churches across an area spanning 9 time zones. HopeRussia, still under the leadership of the Purcells, engages in an incredibly broad scope of ministries—training pastors, planting churches, rebuilding families, encouraging women, equipping parents, helping former substance addicts to recover, and so much more. Rev. Purcell has a booming voice and a lively sense of humor, and is fluent in what he calls cowboy Russian. Read his blog and sign up for the HopeRussia newsletter; his stories of God’s goodness are best told in his own words.
Which brings me back to Farthest Coast, and why I am so thankful. 100% of proceeds from the sale of Farthest Coast, on both Ravelry and LoveCrafts, from today, November 27, until midnight on December 24, 2019 will be donated to HopeRussia in support of their incredible work throughout the Russian-speaking world. I am reluctant to assign a number to the amount I hope this pattern will raise; I am afraid that my faith is too small and that I will pray for too little.
Whether you purchase a copy of Farthest Coast or not, please prayerfully consider supporting HopeRussia. I am not affiliated with them in any way; their work is simply too good not to share. But I am thankful for this chance.
