Stories

Knit Together In Love

Littleton Adventist Hospital Volunteers Make Every Stitch a Prayer

The young mother-to-be lay quietly on the hospital bed, eyes wide and worried, hands folded across her belly. Complications had placed her 20-week pregnancy in serious jeopardy, and now doctors at Littleton Adventist Hospital were trying to save her unborn child.

In a nearby office, Chaplain Jordana Solari was pondering how best to provide comfort in this difficult situation. She recalled a newly adopted Littleton program called Prayer Shawls, where volunteers knit colorful cloaks for patients in special need. It seemed like a perfect match.

“The mission of this ministry is to cover patients and families with a tangible symbol of care and prayer,” says Solari, “and it hit me that this young woman would be an ideal recipient.” She chose a beautiful green and blue creation, feeling the lush fabric in her hands and admiring the craftsmanship as she walked to the hospital room.

There at the woman’s bedside, Solari slowly unfolded the shawl, a piece of compassionate handiwork representing more than 30 hours of careful knitting. “When I told her what it was, she started to cry,” recalls Solari. She stretched it from the patient’s chin to her toes, symbolically covering the little bump of struggling life with prayer. “When I left that day, her eyes were closed and I could see she was at peace.”

The idea for prayer shawls started with a small group of volunteers who were already knitting tiny hats for Littleton’s newborns. The proposal was embraced by the hospital’s pastoral care staff, which chooses recipients they believe represent the greatest potential for impact. “We look for patients who most need a special intervention in their healing,” says Solari.

The knitting group is now up to 10 volunteers and growing, according to program coordinator Ginny Altemus. The group has managed to turn out 19 shawls in just the first four months of the program. Each is made from homespun yarn, about six feet long in a variety of patterns and colors—and large enough to wrap around the shoulders for comfort or be placed over the part of the body that aches or requires healing. A note expressing concern and support is attached and signed by the person who knitted the shawl.

Creating these one-of-a-kind cloaks is particularly meaningful for Altemus, who at age 78 is still driven by her faith to serve others in any way possible. “As I knit, I’m thinking about the person who will receive this and what their circumstances might be,” she says. “We never know who they are, but we pray that they’ll be wrapped in God’s love and care.”

A week after that first visit, Solari got the phone call she’d been dreading—the young mother had lost her precious baby. When she entered the dimly lit hospital room, the woman had tears in her eyes and pointed to a bassinet near her bed, where her son lay still and covered in the prayer shawl. They cried together, and at the patient’s request, Solari held the baby in her arms and dedicated him to God.

“The beautiful part is that for her, the cloak was a symbol of peace and comfort—exactly as it was intended,” says Solari. “She took it home with her, and will always have it as a memory of her little boy.”

For Littleton’s volunteer knitters, such experiences are the ultimate reward, and the motivation to continue a ministry where every shawl is a masterpiece, and every stitch a prayer.

This article is submitted by Stephen King, senior vice president for mission and ministry for Colorado’s Adventist hospitals, and written by CMBell Company.