Miles McPherson writes in “God in the Mirror”:

I walked out of my office one morning, and a guy I had never met was just getting off the elevator. He was about six foot four, at least 250 pounds, and he wore cut-off jeans and a sweatshirt. His body was all tatted up …. We talked down the hall together, and he told me he was going to his first ministry meeting, and he was really nervous.

[I asked], "Nervous? How come you're nervous?"

"Pastor Miles, you always encourage us to do something, so I figured I got to do something. I want to serve the Lord."

Since our church has over a hundred outreach ministries, I asked him, "What's the ministry you're joining?"

"The knitting ministry," he said.

He added, "Well, actually, I don't knit, I crochet."

Here's this huge guy who looks like he could be an NFL tackle, and he's nervous about joining a ministry that makes blankets and hats for hospitalized children.

Curious, I asked him where he learned how to crochet.

"I was in the Hell's Angels for 12 years," he told me. "I learned to crochet in prison. I know it's the one thing I can do for the Lord."

Just then the lady who heads up the knitting ministry walked toward us, said a quick hi to me, then asked the former Hell's Angels, "Are you Jim?" She gave him a big grin and took his hand. I watched them go down the hall together. It may not seem like a unique ability to crochet, but when you package that with his life, the ripple effect can push countless others out of their comfort zone to step up and stand out the way God designed them to. Imagine if Jim was worrying about what others would think about him crocheting for Jesus!