Just as a weaver works the yarn and creates the fabric, so too are we uniquely woven pieces of art produced from the breath of God. Each thread of our humanity is set in his image. Unlike the human weaver, God's calculations are perfect. There are no mistakes, oversights, or uneven salvages. We are precious and loved because he has formed us. In her inspirational weekly devotional, author Ann Marie Bezayiff continues to share her spiritual journey, but his time with her loom and yarn. Her insights of faith in everyday life are like the creative process and skill of hand weaving. Drawing upon her experiences as a writer of words, a life-long teacher, and weaver of cloth, her stories are reminiscent of our own personal walk with Christ in our busy, complicated lives. As we work the yarns of life and weave together our experiences and understandings, her insights remind us that no matter the shape, texture, or design we create, each of us is uniquely woven by the hand of God. Ann Marie uses fifty-two funny and inspirational life stories to illustrate that Weaving a Spiritual Life is a step-by-step process whose finished result is worth the wait.

With more than 120 beautiful color photos, this guide introduces how the simple art of weaving can help each of us--whether we are weavers or not--to build our inner life. The goal is to recognize, receive, and live in harmony with your own deepest truths. Using a system of seven "keyforms" that span cultures, ranging from an amulet to a mask to a belt of power, the growth process is explored in depth. Instructions for seven symbolic keyform projects help beginners to use tapestry weaving techniques, and help seasoned weavers to find new dimensions in their work. To put it in weaving terms, the inner life is like the vertical warp on a loom. The weft of our daily activities weaves through our inner values and beliefs with each moment. The Weaving a Life process has been used successfully by weavers and spinners, psychotherapists, nurses, hospice workers, educators, artists, and youth leaders, as well as by countless individuals who seek a deeper vision for their lives.

Most books are like visitors. They come and go. This book can be a long-term companion and assistant as you weave prayer into the tapestry of your life. Weaving Prayer Into the Tapestry of Life pictures each of us as a weaver at a loom, creating in every moment our lifes tapestry. The transformative thread of prayer is always available to be woven into our lifes design. In this weaving, we experience in wonder the creative presence of God. The chapters of this book gives an overview of Christian understanding and practice of prayer. The author combines Scripture, voices and sources from the tradition of the church, poetry, stories, and accounts of personal experience to explore ten of the most familiar ways Christians pray. These are: centering, praise, confession, meditative reading of Scripture, petition, intercession, dedication, silence, and benediction. Nine sets of Prayer Prompts, one with each chapter, invite you to move from thinking to doing. They provide a framework for personal devotion that includes all of the dimensions of Christian prayer discussed in the chapters. Resources from Scripture, prayers of the church, and contemporary materials offer structure and stimulus for expressing the prayers of your heart. These Prayer Prompts are adaptable for repeated use. Members of a prayer group or spiritual growth group may enjoy sharing experiences with this book. Martha Rowlett deeply understands Christian thinking, Christian living, Christian prayer, and, dare I say it, God. She shares her wisdom with utmost simplicity. Those who use her book will find themselves becoming better Christians. John Cobb, professor emeritus, Claremont School of Theology

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Hand-Loom Weaving: A Manual for School and Home" by Mattie Phipps Todd. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Weaving a Way Home will appeal to those deeply interested in knowing how we forge relationships with places and how that shapes who we are."--BOOK JACKET.

For the Yaka of Southwestern Zaire, infertility is a tear in the fabric of life, and the Khita fertility ritual is a trusted way of reweaving the damaged strands. In Weaving the Threads of Life Rene Devisch offers an extended analysis of the Khita cult, which leads to an original account of the workings of ritual healing. Drawing on many years among urban and rural Yaka, Devisch analyzes their understanding of existence as a fabric of firmly but delicately interwoven threads of nature, body, and society. The fertility healing ritual calls forth forces, feelings, and meanings that allow women to rejoin themselves to the complex pattern of social and cosmic life. These elaborate rites—whether simulating mortal agony and rebirth, gestation and delivery, or flowering and decay; using music and dance, steambath or massage, dream messages or scarification—are not based on symbols of traditional beliefs. Rather, Devisch shows, the rites themselves generate forces and meaning, creating and shaping the cosmic, physical, and social world of their participants. In contrast to current theoretical methods such as postmodern or symbolical interpretation, Devisch's praxiological approach is unique in also using phenomenological insights into the intent and results of anthropological fieldwork. This innovative work will have ramifications beyond African studies, reaching into the anthropology of medicine and the body, comparative religious history, and women's studies.