"Ministry Making" and Using Canva for Gift-Giving

 

Hello there.

I decided to put on my "vulnerable" hat today and let you see inside a personal project that I rarely talk about. Something other than what I'm working on or what pattern I'm designing. I want to talk to you today about being a gift-giving crocheter. Plus, I'm going to tell you about a simple way that you can bump up your gift-giving (if you want to) rather economically. 

I have been working on some personal projects over the last year or so involving "ministry making." Let me explain what that is (just in case you aren't familiar with it). I grew up in church. My dad has been a Pastor for 30+ years. So, I view gift-giving as a sort of ministry sometimes. When I feel a person on my heart I will pray for them while I crochet them something. Sometimes I go to great lengths to find just the right pattern and just the right yarn, while other times it is just taking a WIP that was previously unfinished and completing it for them. It's all in how I'm feeling led for that person. Also, it depends on where I am financially. God does not always put a person on my heart when I'm "swimming" in money (is that ever really a thing?) and it becomes all about how can I bless this person with what I have? Either way, my purpose is always to pray a blessing over the item so that whoever receives it will feel loved and cared for and seen. 

picture credit julielefebure.com

In all of that, I also wanted to tell them why I made this item for them with something written so that they knew that I wasn't just being nice, but that God put them on my heart. But, my handwriting has gotten so wonky and messy over the years from all the carpal issues and lack of strength in my fingers, and arthritis. (When my Grandpa said, "getting old is not for wimps" he wasn't kidding.) So, one day when I was perusing Canva for something else I saw "create a postcard" in their list. Wait...what? Create a postcard? Let's go! 

Sure as shooting, I was able to create a perfectly sized, beautiful card that said everything that I wanted to say. Everything that I felt was on my heart. Here's why I'm excited about it...when I went to save the picture a prompt to have them printed popped up. I normally never look at that stuff, but knowing that my home printer was just not set up for something like that I thought I would find out what they would charge. Crazy thing is that it's not horribly expensive. I know that we are all having to pinch our pennies, but I was able to get 50 cards for $15...beautifully printed and I was able to pick them up the same day. I chose to have them printed at the local FedEx office (who knew they printed?). I did not get additional envelopes because it wasn't in my budget that day- but you can order envelopes to go with them so you can mail them out like a regular card! 

Why is this so cool? Because, while I had $15 of discretionary funds I was able to get a pile of cards I can now use for my ministry giving without having to go purchase another card or worry about whether my hands will hold out long enough to write legibly. I spent $.30/card and I have them for 50 gifts! Maybe I'm just an office supply goober? But, they are pretty! And the backs are blank so I can write something personalized and sign it! Fun stuff!

Below are my designs for both men recipients as well as women. They both say the same thing because I wanted to say the same thing to both men and women of God. Maybe this isn't your cup of tea and you would do something different? But, I'm finding the blessing in the little thing here. So little for what I felt was so much. If you like them, you are welcome to use them!

Click here for a customizable template. Both cards are in the same template.

Dear Woman of God postcard

Dear Man of God postcard

This is by no means an affiliate plug for Canva. I do have the professional version which is like $12/month or something like that, but I use mine for multiple things. There is a free version of Canva that you can use- or they will let you pay a small fee to use the PRO graphics on your one project. If you are looking for something to enhance your ministry giving or gift-giving, I would give Canva a try. They have so many templates and they are pretty foolproof. Don't like what you're doing? Start over. That's what I do. LOL

Alright, blessings- I hope that you have found something useful in this post. 

Know this, it doesn't matter to me whether or not you are a churchgoer or a follower of Christ, I love you just the same. If this post was a little too Jesus for you, I apologize if there was any offense, but I don't apologize for Jesus. He's been too good to me. Have an amazing day, my friend!