When Your Plan Is Not His Plan!

When Your Plan Is Not His Plan!

A story of when prayers were needed more than hanging blinds!

This is my husband. I used an app on my phone called Cartoon Picture Converter to color him with water color pencils for his privacy. 

This photo shows him setting up Church Call Committee shop on our dinning room table preparing for a meeting, reading info about Pastors who have agreed to be considered for a Divine Call.

My plans for the afternoon was for him to help me in the guest bedroom hanging new hardware for the new blinds..and wash the top half of the windows.

Waiting for Mr. B to finish what he was doing, I sat down in the family room and checked email, and my social media accounts. That is when the plan for the afternoon changed. 30 minutes turned into an hour. I wanted to be quiet because I knew that he was reading every printed word , making notes,  making piles of yes, no, maybe. As I was looking at IG posts I came across a beautiful illustration of Philippians 4:4-7 " The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Our home is a very long cottage style ranch and on the back side of the house is our long galley style kitchen that separates the dinning from the family room.

I looked over from where I was sitting, watched him for a couple of minutes and I new that I should be praying for him and his process, rather than vacuuming or putting in a load of laundry while I was waiting for the blind hanging to begin.

The cross with flower doodles is the result of my quiet prayer time for my husband.

Research shows that visual and kinesthetic process is helpful for learning and focus. The slowing down or pause allows time for dealing with distractions and giving our thoughts to the Holy Spirit, keeping the focus on the need.
 I worry. I over think everything. I doubt. I have fears. Doodling words and objects gives me a healthy place to put my emotions.

I also find much comfort in illustrating in my Bible.
Romans 12:12 " Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Sometimes my prayers look like this. I painted and doodled this prayer card as I was preparing for an upcoming Visual Faith Ministry workshop several years ago. I think that this card is the only one that I have a photo of. I should take photos of all prayer cards as a reminder of God's presence and the work of the Holy Spirit in his people.

Prayer- that is, talking with God is a precious privilege.

So back to reason for this blog post. As the hubby was doing the Lord's work at one end of the house, I was quietly cheering him on with prayer doodles at the other.

My Call Committee Prayer Doodle with have a place in my Bible tucked between the pages of Nehemiah , Chapter 1 Verse 5 and 11. " O. Lord let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of our servants who delight to fear your name."
The white space around the cross will be a place for the names of the committee, and written prayers during this Call process

This car tag belonged to my in-laws. They were married at Concordia. In fact, the 5th generation of our family was brought to the baptismal font at Concordia in January.
I give thanks that my husband loves the Lord and the church where he grew up. I am proud of him for serving on our Call Committee. Praying for my husband was the most important work that afternoon.