Last night, as I was sewing, I was thinking about "why" I was sewing and this morning, I opened a word document that contains a talk I gave on an Emmaus walk. This is just a brief section from that talk with a few additions:

We, as Christians, must step out and show Christ to others. We must be the body of Christ – serving up pop tarts and wiping runny noses for the children at Birmingham Hospitality network, cooking dinner at the Firehouse Shelter, delivering water to the Church of the Reconciler on a hot day – whatever it takes. There is a lady in our church who is about 80 years old. She heard about a need at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham and at Cooper Green. There are many premature babies born in those two hospitals. She started a ministry called Baby Love where we make teeny tiny diaper shirts that fasten with Velcro on the shoulders and tie in front so that the nurses and doctors can have easy access to all the tubes and paraphernalia. We make hundreds of diaper shirts and matching blankets each year and package them with a scripture about God’s love – the scripture is in English on one side and Spanish on the other side. She saw a need and found a way to meet it. We extend the love of Christ to these families in a tangible way.

As the body of Christ, we are all a part. What part are you? Sometimes I think that I’m the belly button, but that’s not so. I think that right now my hands are an active part of the body of Christ. I told you about the 80 year old lady, Jane, in our church who started the Baby Love ministry. I am also a part of that ministry. I love to sew for those babies – as a matter of fact, I’m passionate about it. I sew an average of 20 or so of those diaper shirts a month – this summer a few less than that – and all this sewing takes place in my spare time of course! As I sew and handle the tiny shirts, I also pray for those babies that will be wearing the shirts and I pray for their mommas and daddies. I’m so passionate about this project, that two years ago, I even bought Alabama and Auburn fabric and cut out bunches of shirts and sewed them. Some of these babies may grow up big and strong and leave the hospital and have the opportunity to experience many game days. Y'all know that we live in Alabama and the Iron Bowl is huge. We know what fun it is to dress our babies up in our “colors.” Some of those babies will never leave the hospital to experience all the craziness. The nurses and the parents enjoy having the chance to take pictures of the babies in school colors. The parents love having the sweet matching outfits – a cute diaper shirt and a soft warm blanket.

Jane had an idea. She knew about a need. She made a plan. She met with folks in charge – at the church and the hospital. She identified her gifts and resources – she loves to sew and had a sewing machine. She sought out the support of others – that’s where I come into the story. We are a part of a team of women who sew faithfully every month. We are an active part of the body of Christ – reaching out and touching others with the hands of Jesus. When those babies are dressed in their shirts, wrapped in their blankets – they are wrapped in the arms of Jesus.

Oh, and just a little note about Jane - she never had children of her own and now her health is failing and she can't communicate verbally anymore and she can't participate in this ministry - BUT the ministry continues because of the Body of Christ!!

So, if I were to ask you right now, "What part are you?" What would your answer be? How are you living out your call to be a part of the body of Christ?