All your paths are peace
My first grandchild was born just a month ago. I flew down on a tiny 6-seater plane to visit him and his family, who live in a remote and beautiful part of the South Island of New Zealand, and to help out my daughter while she was adapting to motherhood. Friends had told me that becoming a grandparent is a life-changing experience, but I had been sceptical - surely, I thought, becoming a parent was the most life-changing experience you could have? Well, yes and no. As I held in my arms this tiny child, and marvelled again at the beauty and mystery of creation, I saw that becoming a grandparent is indeed a wondrous experience. Because a grandparent can feel and know all the joy and wonder of new birth, without the crippling anxiety, exhaustion, and sleepless nights. So joy and wonder can completely fill your heart. Adding to that joy is the absolute delight of watching your child become a parent - watching my daughter's face as she held and talked to and fed her child filled me with a happiness I can barely express.
We wrapped our baby in one of Still Water Scarves cotton modal scarves - they are a large rectangle, light and warm, and so perfect for baby swaddling. All your paths are peace is the wording on this scarf - a line adapted from Proverbs 3:17 "her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace" says the writer, speaking of wisdom. All your paths are peace. As I watched our baby sleeping in his peaceful home, loved and adored, in this peaceful country, my heart broke for the children who come into a world or a home where peace does not prevail. I thought of children in Ukraine and Yeman, born into a context of war. Girl babies born in Afghanistan. Babies born into homes where they are unwanted or surrounded by violence or where the family struggles with poverty. Children who will grow into a world where they are not free, where they are treated as nothing but commodities. How can our hearts not break?
I have struggled with this thought many times - how can we make a difference? How can we work to ensure that children are born into peace and freedom? Well, we can start by supporting the charities that are working in this area, such as Tear Fund or Hagar. And we started Still Water Scarves to support these charities - ALL our profit goes to Tear Fund. We are a small organisation, but small steps, when they come together, can lead to big changes. When you buy one of our scarves, to wrap someone you love in God's peace and love, whether that be a friend or a newborn baby, or yourself, you are also making a difference to the lives of those who really need our help. We are trying to bring peace to this world, one scarf at a time. We invite you to join us.
Lisa Emerson, co-founder of Still Water Scarves
August 2022