I don’t know how to crochet and I don’t think I want to try to learn at this point. However, I truly appreciate the beauty and talent represented in crocheted items. Both my mom and mother-in-law crocheted afghans for us in the early 1980s and I still cherish them. I can only make potholders with those stretchy-nylon weaving loops and they‘re too little to keep me warm.

In Old Testament times, it was a disgrace for a wife to be childless. Hannah had been incapable of conceiving a child for several years. Her husband Elkana tried to comfort her with these words, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:8 ESV).  She was too sweet and gracious to answer aloud, but she probably thought, “Nope.”

Because she was barren, Hannah was in the temple of the Lord at Shiloh weeping bitterly, deeply distressed, and praying for a baby boy. Her prayer was so fervent that Eli the priest wrongly assumed that she was drunk. She woefully explained that she was troubled in spirit and simply pouring out her soul to the Lord. Eli then responded, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to Him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad” (1 Samuel 1:17,18 ESV).

Hannah received peace and believed that her prayer would be answered. We might say she left the temple with a photo of her baby in the picture frame of her heart.  She entered the temple in an inconceivable physical condition, but she left conceiving (in her mind) a baby of her own. In reality, Hannah entered and exited the temple in the same physical condition, but her heart had made a radical turnaround. She traded her sad face for a happy face, and exchanged anxiety for peace. Hannah quit acting like she’d lost her last best friend and started crocheting a blue baby afghan. In due time, she conceived and delivered a baby boy with joy.

Hannah is a sterling example of an individual shaking off the mulligrubs. Her  emotional pain drove her to seek help from Jehovah-Jireh (the God who provides).  Mothers must remember it’s not our responsibility to worry and fret, or try to play God by taking into our own hands situations that should be left to Him alone. But it is our responsibility to cast our care upon Jesus, trust Him, and pray without worry. Hannah received into her heart what Eli said, and believers need to receive what God says through His Word. There are thousands of promises in the Bible, and if we’ll truly believe them, we can live joyfully as a child of the King.

Hannah illustrates the nature of faith as taught in the New Testament. She was utterly  convinced that God answered her prayer as she left the temple. Jesus said, “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours” (Mark 11:24 NLT). Hannah was no longer sad, even though there was no hard evidence that her petition was granted. “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT).     

The Key: Mothers who pray in faith are teaching their children to trust God.

Community Foundation

Bourbon County is fortunate to have one of only three community foundations in Southeast Kansas; the other two are in Crawford County.  In 2007, a number of citizens of our county had the foresight to establish The Fort Scott Area Community Foundation (“FSACF”) in order to encourage long-term investments in our area.  Since then, the organization has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to schools, governments and charities all across Bourbon County, thanks to the vision of a number of donors.

What is a community foundation?  The purpose is to create legacy investments in a city, county or region by accumulating donations, investing those dollars, and awarding grants based on the return on the investments.  While donations of all sizes are accepted and appreciated, the FSACF also provides a path for individuals who have accumulated assets over a lifetime of hard work to make a planned gift that will benefit the community they love long after they are gone.

You might ask, “Why accumulate these dollars; why not donate the money as it comes in?”  The answer is ongoing growth and building a legacy that continues well into the future.  Some donors choose to have the principal preserved, and then direct how the annual interest that is earned will be used.  Those donations allow the FSACF to support our community for many years to come; it is designed for the long-term.

During the annual grant process, the FSACF provides funds to help multiple community organizations meet the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. Truly, some of those grants are working to change lives every single day in Bourbon County.

In addition to those grants, perhaps one of the most important roles of the FSACF is collaboration.  We are more effective when governments, charities, businesses and individuals work together to solve problems and fill needs.  FSACF looks to create partnerships that pull all these elements together into a program that can address significant quality of life issues such as housing and parks.

I am so glad that many organizers and donors of every stripe loved our community enough to make the investment of their time, talent and treasure on a volunteer basis to FSACF.  This type of collaborative effort is impressive; it gives credibility to our community and helps put us on the economic development map.