Category: Uncategorized

We recently participated in the YWCA 2 Minute 5K. This was our third time to register and second time to actually do it 🙂

It was not easy to do. It  was a lot of walking at one time for me, as my longest stretches of walking these days involve chasing an active 2 1/2 year old. It was cold and windy and it didn’t take long for my feet (unaccustomed to serious walking) to start hurting.

As we were walking the 5K I found some similarities between participating in it and my experience of recovering from rape that seemed worth sharing…

“This is hard” I heard myself whine at one point. We were walking kind of fast into some pretty strong wind and I just didn’t find it enjoyable. Well, recovering from rape has been hard too.

“I don’t wanna keep going, but turning around won’t help because the car is up there at the finish line” It’s true I wanted the walking in the wind to be finished, to not have to deal with it. I wanted to sit down somewhere nice and warm instead of walk a few more cold windy miles. Redefining my life following the assault hasn’t always been easy. There have been times that I didn’t want to keep dealing with the new reality, but since I can’t turn back time and undo the event I keep going forward.

Other participants were cheering for us. The fast ones who ran and were passing us on their way to the finish line before we even made it half way spoke encouraging words. Volunteers were there to give out water, smiles, and “you can do it’s”. A crowd was at the finish line with medals and cheers. My recovery journey has included lots of people in lots of places who have walked alongside me and cheered me on. Each time I’ve needed a boost, it’s been there just waiting for me to seek it out.

It felt good to cross the finish line. Even though we came in last with a time of one hour and seven minutes, I felt a sense of joy and accomplishment as I crossed the line and received my medal. (this moment was a bit sweeter knowing that we’d beaten our previous time by about 5 minutes) Each time I’ve overcome a hurdle that was a result of the assault I’ve felt a sense of accomplishment and joy. I’ve had moments of victory over challenges that are a direct result of being raped. Those moments of victory feel good.

Walking the whole 5K wasn’t easy, but it was possible, I did it. And, I’m here to tell you that recovering from rape isn’t easy, but it’s possible, I’ve done it!

I’m thankful for each person that has assisted me along the way and I’m hopeful that I can provide that same encouragement for someone who comes along after me and finds themselves in need.

We are excited to announce that the YWCA has planned a yarn party for us!

This is an opportunity to visit with others who care about the work we are doing together, enjoy some yummy food, and gather up yarn for us to use to make more scarves.

Everyone is welcome to come Tuesday night, March 18th. Details are in the photo and on our Facebook event page.

 

If you’d like to donate some yarn and are wondering what kind is best to give, we do have a favorite. It’s called “I Love this Yarn” and is available at Hobby Lobby for $3.99. There is almost always a coupon available online at Hobby Lobby and available on their app that you can use to get 40% off.  Other brands are great as well, but for several of us this one is our favorite to use for the scarves.

In January two of us made scarves for the Crochet Crowd’s Shimmery Heart Scarf Crochet Along contest.  You can see our completed ones to the left.

Though neither of us won the random drawing, we both enjoyed making a new pattern. There’s something pretty special about working on a project together, and not only knowing the two of us were making this pattern, but so were hundreds of others.

You can check out all the completed ones in The Crochet Crowd’s gallery.

We have rescheduled the February Work Day. Our new date is Sunday, February 9th.  We’ll be meeting in our usual location, room A111 at the Memorial Road Church of Christ from 2-5 PM. Hope to see you there!

The work day for 2/2 has been cancelled due to the weather. We’ll update the blog with any updates if we’re able to reschedule.

The YWCA Oklahoma City has a 5K in April to raise awareness and funds for services they provide. They call it the 2 Minute 5K because every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted.

We have created a team and hope that you’ll  join us for the YWCA’s 2 Minute 5K.  You can register online  to join our team.

The event is April 12, 2014 at Stars and Stripes Park in OKC.

This will be our 4th year to participate in the event, and we’re looking forward to it. Some of us will be walking and we hope that some runners will join us as well. So, there’s a place for you, whatever your athletic ability.

 

The start of a new year is always a good time to try something new, right? This opportunity is 2 new things at once!

The Crochet Crowd is offering an opportunity to crochet along with them and make a Shimmery Hearts Scarf from January 21st – January 28th. Anyone who enters a completed scarf according to the  Red Heart pattern during this time has a chance to win a ball winder.  Crocheting the scarf requires following a pattern that includes a graph rather than word-for-word instructions.

For me, participating in this crochet along is giving me the chance to experience 2 new things.  One is learning to read a new type of pattern, – following the graph to create the pictures has been a fun skill to learn. The second new thing is the chance to enter to win a prize from the Crochet Crowd. They have monthly challenges that include winning opportunities, but I’ve not participated in one before.

I’m excited about these 2 new things and hope you will be too.  Be sure to let us know if you decide to participate, we’d love to feature a photo of your scarf. I’m looking forward to finishing my scarf soon and packaging it at our February Work Day.

We started 2014 out with a great work day. Here are a few of the highlights:

• We had eight people present for some part of the time.
• Four people had delivered scarves for us to package.
• Several of us started working on new scarves while we were together.
• We enjoyed visiting with one another and catching up how we spent the holidays and survived the icy weather.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• We have one of these each month, and we’d love to see you at our next one!

We have planned work days for the first part of 2014.

Everyone is welcome to join us, whether you are just learning to knit or crochet, or you’re very experienced.

In addition to working on making scarves we also take time to package completed ones and sort any donated yarn.

Here are the 2014 dates, please mark you calendar and join us:

• January 12
• February 2
• March 2
• April 6
• May 4
• June 1

We’ll be in room A111 at the Memorial Road church of Christ in Edmond. We’re there from 2-5 and will be glad to see you for a few minutes or the whole 3 hours.

When we started this chapter of Threads of Compassion almost 4 years ago, we had no idea what to expect. We saw a great opportunity and stepped out in faith that others would join us. It has worked!

Just yesterday we spent part of our work day sorting through yarn donated by 2 different people. It’s so reassuring to know that others are joining us.

I love watching it all come together! We have people who crochet scarves, people who knit scarves, people who teach others to knit or crochet, people who donate yarn, people who tell others about Threads of Compassion so they can join us, and people who volunteer with the YWCA and give the scarves to survivors. There truly is a place for everyone in this organization.

Thank you to those who have joined us already, we sure appreciate your partnership.

To those who haven’t yet joined but are interested, consider yourself invited we’d love to have your help!