Wikipedia says: A pattern is a type of theme of recurring events of or objects. These elements repeat in a predictable manner.
I collect patterns because I'm a yarn-freak. A pattern to me is a future opportunity to have the luxurious excuse to make something from nothing, using guidelines which someone has created and found a way to successfully execute. A pattern is proof that the item, or garment, will work out as planned. You can see why I love them.
Lately I'm seeing patterns. I noticed one yesterday as I enjoyed some sweet time with a dear friend. Because of tough circumstances that she faces,it was important to clear my day and lay out a stretch of time with her that we both really needed. My life is so crammed with stuff lately because of work, the trip and the Breast Cancer 3 Day next week, that hanging out on her deck telling stories all afternoon was like a stay-cation. We sipped cold drinks, watched the birds, and topics rambled and rested on some sweet memories of our mothers. I got to watch my friend, who has not felt well in months, re inhabit her body as she told me her stories. She held her hand on her neck while she spoke, circling her necklace around her lovely fingers, and I wondered if she was comforting herself or feeling her life beat subconsciously. And I hoped for both.
So, patterns. :) My friend has a pattern of applying hope to her life. Because she has done if for so long, she is not even aware of it passing into her conversation, but she sure misses it when it's absent. Hope is a force. It breathes like the fresh morning air - reviving sleepy cells and refreshing weary old thought patterns. My patterns dictate what I'll decide to expect from my circumstances. I like my predictable paths and methods, I try not to disturb them until I am knocked off my little balance beam by a thrust of doubt. Do I have a pattern of hope? Dave has a job interview tomorrow. Why this job, why not this job? My friend needs a new treatment plan for her illness. Why this illness, why not this illness? Thought patterns offer answers, and hope offers answers, and sometimes I can't decide which ones to believe.
For me, praying is a great act of hope. It is a response and it has become one of my favorite patterns. In Luke 22, the Bible says that Jesus was facing the day when he'd be publicly tortured to become the mediator and method of reconciliation to God for anyone who believes. So, as was his pattern, he went to this place he loved going to and he spent the night before praying. Some say he was giving us a pattern. I think he was also surviving a hellish night and prayer was the method of his rescue. The power and the pattern of his life.
So I am praying today for my husband and my friend. I choose to apply a pattern of hope to my circumstances which, simultaneously changes the way I look at the world. That is the sneaky little benefit of prayer that God slips in when I'm not looking: I pray to change the world, and God responds. And by my prayer, He changes me to change my world. Huh. I think I see a pattern.
So, patterns. :) My friend has a pattern of applying hope to her life. Because she has done if for so long, she is not even aware of it passing into her conversation, but she sure misses it when it's absent. Hope is a force. It breathes like the fresh morning air - reviving sleepy cells and refreshing weary old thought patterns. My patterns dictate what I'll decide to expect from my circumstances. I like my predictable paths and methods, I try not to disturb them until I am knocked off my little balance beam by a thrust of doubt. Do I have a pattern of hope? Dave has a job interview tomorrow. Why this job, why not this job? My friend needs a new treatment plan for her illness. Why this illness, why not this illness? Thought patterns offer answers, and hope offers answers, and sometimes I can't decide which ones to believe.
For me, praying is a great act of hope. It is a response and it has become one of my favorite patterns. In Luke 22, the Bible says that Jesus was facing the day when he'd be publicly tortured to become the mediator and method of reconciliation to God for anyone who believes. So, as was his pattern, he went to this place he loved going to and he spent the night before praying. Some say he was giving us a pattern. I think he was also surviving a hellish night and prayer was the method of his rescue. The power and the pattern of his life.
So I am praying today for my husband and my friend. I choose to apply a pattern of hope to my circumstances which, simultaneously changes the way I look at the world. That is the sneaky little benefit of prayer that God slips in when I'm not looking: I pray to change the world, and God responds. And by my prayer, He changes me to change my world. Huh. I think I see a pattern.
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