The first Lent after I became single again, money was as scarce as hope for the future. The Lenten tradition is to give up something, but there wasn’t anything else I could give – all had been taken from me anyway, or so it seemed.
I decided to contribute instead, somehow multiplying a small donation.
As a child I learned to crochet. It always brought me joy to make things. I knew our local anti-abortion clinic gives away baby booties to expecting moms, so, with a burst of Lenten inspiration, I bought some yarn and started crocheting.
The first few were simple but later became more creative with blue ribbons and pink roses. I made one pair each evening. It was relaxing, lifting my mind off my problems. That Lent I donated 40 pairs of booties. What a great feeling!
As single Catholics, sometimes we need to be more proactive in seeking sources of meaning and purpose. In this Lenten gig, I had found one.
I have continued crocheting, donating by now more than 800 pairs.
Three years ago, while paused at an intersection, I noticed a car alongside mine: a woman driving two boys who were laughing and playing. From the rearview mirror hung a pair of baby booties – a pair I had made!
A surge of adrenaline rushed from my toes to my ears, wanting to jump out, run to ask if the booties were her sons’ or another child she was pregnant with.
Instead I just sat motionless, overcome with emotion.
As the light turned green, we went on our ways, never meeting again.
That day God gave me a gift, saying, “Keep doing what you’re doing; it does make a difference.”
I never met any of the children whose lives were spared because a scared pregnant woman was given a pair of baby booties, a dainty symbol of the beautiful life inside her. But God knows who they are, and that’s all that matters.
Reflection question: What difference do you imagine you’re making?
Editor’s note
Read more Lenten reflections written by CatholicMatch members:
- Day 24 – Elizabeth-521570: 'Pleading With God: Why Am I Still Single?'
- Day 23 – Dan-139782: 'I'm Rolling With The Dating Disappointments'
- Day 22 – Judith-575655: ‘Dating Seems Like Its Own Form Of Penance’
- Day 21 – Jaime-361203: ‘I Want To Seek First The Kingdom Of God’
- Day 20 – Diane-173836: ‘Single Life Is Not A Barren Spiritual Desert’
- Day 19 – Michelle-629774: ‘Let Us Fast From Comparisons’
- Day 18 – Darrell-622889: ‘Single Life, Followed By Easter Joy’
- Day 17 – Rosalia-544329: ‘Amazingly, I Feel Saved’
- Day 16 – Sherry-118409: ‘My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?’
- Day 15 – Matthew-695017: ‘Lent Is Not A Dark & Gloomy Time’
- Day 14 – Dawn-58330: ‘I want To Have Faith Like A Child’
- Day 13 – Dan-595920: ‘I Always Find Excuses’
- Day 12 – Annette-639693: ‘In The Quiet I Hear God’s Voice Clearly’
- Day 11 – Ron-40989: ‘Remember We Are Purifying Our Love’
- Day 10 – Linda-504414: ‘God Might Be Trying To Teach Us Something Vital’
- Day 9 – Andy-246798: ‘I’m Happy To Take A Break From Dating Women’
- Day 8 – Marci-365801: ‘I’m Worried I Have Drifted Off Course’
- Day 7 – Tina-401203: ‘Waiting For Our Lives To Begin’
- Day 6 – Erik-215414: ‘No One Said This Was Going To Be Easy’
- Day 5 – Cate-291547: ‘I Felt Stuck In A Second Adolescence’
- Day 4 – Ryan-672439: ‘God Loves A Good Comeback’
- Day 3 – Theresa-630252: ‘I Think Of This As Preparation Time’
- Day 2 – Barb-505508: ‘We Have To Read Between The Lines’
- Day 1 – Richard-632838: ‘I Recognize How Much I Need God’s Grace’
