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Welcome to the CorKnits Blog! I’m so glad you decided to check this space out. My hope is to use this place to share stories. Stories about knitting (of course), past projects, future dream projects, trouble shooting, inspiration, and more. But I also hope to use this place to tell stories of people’s lives, my own and people I have met. This is the human side to CorKnits; a place to get to know me more (is this where I’m supposed to advise you to continue on at your own risk? ~_^).

That is why I will be connecting this blog to my future Etsy shop. You see the whole reason I am going to open an Etsy shop is so that I can then use the profits to be able to go on short term missions trips, and, if I’m blessed with money over what I need for the mission trips, to help others. And I wanted a place to be able to tell, and show, people how the money being earned will be used.

This space is still under construction, and as I learn more about how everything works I will add on more details and functions – please feel free to leave comments on things you’d like to see here, and I’ll take them into consideration as I build this space. Also, please don’t be startled if you visit and the design and layout has changed, just thought I’d warn you ahead of time.

So, why did I decide to start CorKnits?  Well, I have developed a passion for short term mission trips over the last several years, and as wonderful as they are, they also cost – plane tickets, fees, immunizations, and the general costs for the supplies and the organizations I go with. ANNND I have also recently developed a passion for knitting. I know I still have more to learn, but I really like learning (you can blame that on my mom and my home school background if you want), and I haven’t been able to stop knitting since I started a few years ago. This also means I am approaching that point where I will soon crossover into that crazy knitting lady who forces scarves on everyone she knows. In other words – gift giving possibilities are running out.

I’ll go into more detail in a future post how the inception of the idea of CorKnits came about, but right now I’d like to try and explain why I’ve decided to use the potential money that is made from CorKnits for short term mission trips.

I have found that short term mission trips can be a wonderful opportunity not just to share my faith, but also to help out people and a community. To come alongside the people in the thick of it every day, week, month, and year; to help where they need it and how they need it.

Every trip I have been on I get to meet people I never would have gotten to meet had I just stayed home, my story becomes a part of their story and their story becomes a part of mine. Whether it’s the people I meet at the places I go, or the other trip participants, I get to see and try and understand life from a different point of view.

I also get to see different places in the world and often truly experience another culture, not a sterilized tourist version. Yes it can be uncomfortable, leaving the comforts behind of my blessed life, but it makes me appreciate what I have. The value of people over stuff becomes starkly apparent when you see how people with so little live, often with more joy and contentment then I find in my own life.

When I come home I often have trouble talking about the trip. How do I adequately try to convey to another person something that is so much bigger then I can comprehend. Because you see it’s not about me, it’s about God. All that happens on a trip is so much bigger than me; I am just blessed to get to be a small part of it. Often the stories come in pieces, as I process through the experience I am then able to share those stories. But I still feel like I’ll never fully be able to explain it, but don’t worry I’ll try my best to tell the stories here.

If you really want to know what it’s like I strongly encourage you to take that jump and go on a mission trip for themselves, or a humanitarian aid trip, or an Eco tour. Do something to push yourself outside your comfort zone and experience life from another point of view. That’s my challenge to you, and to myself.

So, welcome to this journey. I hope you will enjoy the stories that are coming, whether about knitting, travel, organizations that care and do something about it, or my life. And maybe we will get to be a part of each others story, in any case thank you for being here.

^_^

jessica

I’d really like to hear your thoughts on short term missions trips please feel free to leave a comment.

If you’d like to you can follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CorKnits

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