A Hand-Made Tale
By Sara Davison

I learned a new skill recently: how to bake a pie. The class was fun, but I’m still not sure how worthwhile it is to go to all that trouble. I tried to tell the teacher that Tenderflake makes an excellent, ready-made crust that you can bring home and slip into your own glass pie plate so no one is the wiser, but she didn’t seem terribly impressed with the information.

A while ago, someone asked me if I ever knitted mitts. Apparently she was attempting to make a pair and needed advice on how to set up the yarn on four needles. She could have been speaking Chinese, the language (and the concept) was so completely foreign to me. Again, I helpfully pointed out that one can actually buy that sort of thing already made and by-pass the whole four needle route altogether. She didn’t appear to have any intention of acting on that information either.

For people who love to bake or sew or knit, buying something ready-made kind of misses the point. I guess I can see where they’re coming from. After all, I’m neck-deep in the writing of my fourth novel. I’m sure there are many who would look at me blankly and say, “You know you can just go to a store and buy those things already written, right?”

With the Christmas season upon us, the ability to create takes on even more value. What greater blessing can you bestow on someone than to give them an item you have taken the time to make, lovingly investing yourself, your love, your creative ability, and your own effort to craft. While other gifts may soon be tossed away or forgotten, a hand-made item is one that will be cherished, maybe even passed down from generation to generation, connecting the one who made it in a very tangible way to those in her family she may never even meet.

So knit on, my industrious friend. And for those of you who are so inclined, make that pie from scratch. Paint that picture, make your homemade cards, polish up that beautiful wood carving, or embroider a scene on that pillow. If I cannot quite jump onto the crafting bandwagon with you, know that I (and countless others) will still deeply admire and appreciate the work of your hands when we unwrap your gift on Christmas morning.

I will be packaging up quite a few of my books to pass along to others this Christmas as well. And my hope and prayer is that they will not only enjoy the story, but they will be able to read in every word just how much of my heart was poured into the writing, and they will be blessed.

About this Contributor:

Sara Davison has been a finalist for three national writing awards: Best New Canadian Christian Author; Best Column – Single; and Best Novel – Mystery or Suspense. Davison is a member of three different writers’ groups, two of which she helped to found. Her favourite way to spend the days (and nights) is drinking coffee – a running theme throughout her novels – and making stuff up.

Visit Sara’s website: Choose to Press On
Twitter: @sarajdavison
Facebook: Author Sara Davison