Pumpkin Hat Delivery

Today I dropped off the pumpkin hats that were the special project we worked on for Johnny's First Birthday. In all, Jennifer (one of our Tiny Blessings "Workers") and I made 33 hats plus 1 for Johnny to wear. We made a variety of sizes, all the way from micro preemie to 0-3 month and they have been so fun to work on, imagining the different babies that will be born on Halloween this year and praying for them and their families. We also had some donations of other items to take with us!

I love how each hat, although made from similar patterns, had their own personality. Some vines were yielding, others were not, some vines went to the left, others to the right, some went all over the place. Some hats with the same number of stitches looked better with 5 rows of orange, others looked best with 6. The hats are all as unique and perfect as the babies that will wear them. 

Dropping this batch off was kind of hard, I (and Jennifer) poured a lot into this full set of hats. It stressed me out to try to estimate how many of each size we needed. I really felt compelled to make my last extra hat this morning and then felt at ease with what we had done. Hopefully, each of those 33 hats will be exactly what is needed, in a God led ministry, how could it not? I also had a small amount of stress when one of the nurses in the NICU immediately grabbed hats to put on twins that are staying there. Even though I had a certain vision for how I thought things should be done, I had to remind myself that each of those hats serves a purpose beyond what I do and what I imagine it for and that the nurses take care of actually covering each head as they see fit. 

It was great timing as they were preparing some of our other hats for "birthday cakes" for each of the NICU rooms. It was so fulfilling to see what they try to do with the hats after they leave our hands. At Methodist Willowbrook, they make a little diaper cake with some of the essentials that the parents will need during their stay for their little guys and gals. When possible, they try to include one of our hats. 

I told them to let us know what else they may need or want, I love serving their needs in this ministry as well.

For as much as I poured into this project, I was rewarded with a very special visit from one of my favorite people when I dropped off the hats. Not only did we get to see our NICU nurse that took care of Johnny and tell her a personal thank you, but we got to see my L&D nurse that has helped me so much over the past two and a half years. Johnny reached for her as soon as he could and it was so nice to see him with the woman who delivered him almost a year ago. She is an amazing nurse and a wonderful friend AND the reason we have expanded this project so much. We were initially thinking of just making a handful of hats for the NICU and she asked us to consider fulfilling more needs than that. My heart is overflowing with the satisfaction of delivering hats and with seeing people that are very dear to me and my family. Thank you, God, for this ministry and for a wonderful evening!