KristyWes

Choice

Hidden away on the 5th floor of an old office building in New York's Financial District is Seaport Yarn, a store specializing in - you guessed it - yarn. Skeins of yarn in every color and fiber imaginable are piled onto shelves lining the rooms & hallways of this former office suite. When I go there, I am overwhelmed by the potential presented by each skein - it could become a scarf for a friend, a sweater for a dog, a hat for a baby. Too many choices.

My parents had given me a gift certificate to the store for my birthday, several months back, but I delayed visiting Seaport until recently. Partly because all my crafty powers were presently focused on the Pope, but mostly because I feared I would be stymied by indecision once inside Seaport's doors. What to make? What yarn to use? The limitless choices stressed me out, so I chose avoidance instead.

Eventually I decided to just get it over with, so a couple of weekends ago I headed downtown. Once inside the store, a smiling employee asked if I needed help. Yes, please! As I started to explain my lack of direction, she interupted to explain that Lily Chin was there completing a book-signing, and she might be able to help. The employee then ushered me into the next room and delivered me to Ms. Chin.

Not being an avid knitter, I had never before heard of Lily Chin, but apparently she is something of a big deal. She has written several books on knitting, has her own line of yarn, and my mom informed me later that she has seen knitting shows on TV featuring Lily. (There are knitting TV shows?!) According to her website, Lily is also the reigning Fastest Crocheter in the world. Yowzer.

I became a Lily fan right away. After I explained that I was a beginning knitter looking for a project, Lily processed me through a series of questions to determine what might work best. Can you do a garter stitch? Yes. Can you knit in the round? No. Are you project-oriented or do you knit just to relax and not think? Relaxing/not thinking, definitely. Do you have a preference for type of yarn? I'm adverse to wool. Spring and Summer are coming; are you looking for a seasonal project, or are you ok with working on cold-weather apparel? Something seasonal, I think.

Armed with this information, Lily began sketching a pattern and scribbling instructions on a piece of paper. She disappeared into a back room and returned with several skeins of pretty light pink ribbon yarn and a pair of knitting needles. Coaching me through the first few rows of stitches until she was confident I could handle the rest, Lily got me started on what will eventually become a super-cute shawl/capelet-type-thing.

I left Seaport satisfied; my choices had been made for me! Lily picked the pattern, Lily picked the yarn, and they were perfect for me. Then I thought: Wouldn't it be great to have a Lily Chin in all areas of my life? Someone to make decisions for me, to tell me what to do - what a relief that would be!

I mean, it's great that God gives us free will and wide berth to figure out how we're going to live our lives, but sometimes the responsibility of that freedom can feel overwhelming. I often wish He would just tell me what to do. Obedience I can handle; it's discernment that is giving me trouble lately.

I try to trust that even though I can't see/feel/hear God guiding me in the way Lily Chin did, He is somehow guiding me nonetheless. And the process of discernment will no doubt be better for me in the long run than if I were blindly following orders; certainly there are lessons to be learned about myself and God whilst wrestling with indecision. Still, part of me wishes that my major life decisions could be sewn up as neatly as my pretty pink shawl/capelet-type-thing.