Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

When a Plan Comes Together

September 15, 2011 By Sandra Heska King

Yesterday’s gray skies give way to a sea of fluffy cotton balls.

Soybeans toss and churn.

Cattails surrounding “Lake Abby” sway in the breeze.

Hummingbirds continue to feed and fight outside the window, and I watch tiny green feathers ruffle.

A Monarch flutters high while red and yellow leaves fall low, and a chickadee digs for the last morsels in browned and bowed sunflower heads.

I stare at my to-do list.

Bills to pay, slacks to hem, hair to cut, laundry to wash, photos to print, one-sheet to prepare (or not), a chapter to polish (or not), guest posts to finish, Bible study lessons to prepare, two books to complete and review by the end of the month, car tags to renew and apply by Monday, suitcases to empty and repack, grandgirls to catch as they climb and teeter on chairs, soccer practice duty, two birthdays and a company picnic this weekend, and notes to remember what I’ve forgotten.

Teeth to brush, legs to shave, nails to file, food to eat.

And I’m really thinking of another express trip north?

I leave Wednesday for the ACFW Conference in St. Louis–scheduled before my daughter registered for school and needed grandgirl help, before Dennis had an important work schedule change, and before my mom fell.

Had I known what the future held, I probably would not have signed up.

Leaving on a jet plane Wed. Waving white flag. Some things will just not get done. So. Be. It.

I posted that status on Facebook this morning.

“He’ll make sure the things He wants done are done–rest in that!” Karin commented. And messaged me that she was praying me through it all, that “He already knows the plan.”

I’ll come back from the conference the following Sunday, and then fly to Laity Lodge that Thursday for the writers’ retreat. I didn’t win, but in a turn of events, I’m going anyway. I’m black and blue from pinching myself.

Can I squeeze another trip home between the conferences?

I shared a little of my dilemma with Lyla.

“He’s had it all from the beginning,” she said. “Sometimes, I see Him like Hannibal from the A-Team, leaning back with a big ol’ cigar hanging out of his mouth in the middle of total chaos and smiling while he says “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Hannibal. AKA George Peppard. My mother went to school with him. She didn’t hang with him, but she knew him to say hi.

So I’m resting in the plan.

His plan.

The one that’s coming together.

And what I get done of my plans gets done, and what doesn’t–doesn’t.

So. Be. It.

Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word.
~Proverbs 16:1 (Message)

 

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Lyla Lindquist says

    September 15, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    And what doesn’t get done of His plans doesn’t … Wait a second. His plans always get done. Light up another cigar, Sandy. What needs to happen will.

    You make me smile tonight.

    • Sandra says

      September 17, 2011 at 9:55 pm

      Yep, His plans always get done. 🙂

  2. diana says

    September 15, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    Me, too. Just got this from facebook – wow. You are one overloaded – but I think, pretty excited lady. Lyla is right on. “What needs to happen will.” See you before you know it.

    • Sandra says

      September 17, 2011 at 9:55 pm

      I can’t believe I actually get to meet you both FTF!

  3. Sheila says

    September 15, 2011 at 9:38 pm

    I’m going to carry Lyla’s image of Him forever–or at least until I meet Him face-to-face.

    Sandra, lifting you up. And yes, His plan will be accomplished.

    • Sandra says

      September 17, 2011 at 9:55 pm

      That’s a hard image to forget! And thanks.

  4. Kathy Robbins says

    September 15, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    Hello-Great post! I look forward to meeting you at Laity Lodge this year.
    Blessings,
    Kathy

    • Sandra says

      September 17, 2011 at 9:56 pm

      Hi Kathy! Thanks, and I look forward to meeting you, too!

  5. Carol J. Garvin says

    September 16, 2011 at 2:36 am

    Sometimes life interrupts itself. I’m sure God will help you sort through things and find time for the priorities. He knows our needs so much better than we know them ourselves. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just deal with today and let Him guide you through the chaos.

    • Sandra says

      September 17, 2011 at 9:57 pm

      Amen to that, Carol. I’m not close to ready for ACFW, but I’m just going to go and soak.

  6. Melinda Lancaster says

    September 16, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    I think the Scripture you chose to end this post sums it up completely. Have a safe and wonderful journey(s).
    LYI!

    • Sandra says

      September 17, 2011 at 9:57 pm

      Don’t you just love how Peterson lays it all out there? LYIM!

  7. toni birdsong says

    September 16, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    I feel better now. I am sorry it’s been so long since I dropped by. Kind of like voluntarily missing Christmas. Doesn’t make sense. But I’m here now and remembering the grass kiss my knees as I walk slowly through every single word. I love your writing. You need to do a book of photos with your writing. Lovely. Absolutely. <3

    • Sandra says

      September 17, 2011 at 9:59 pm

      Awww, friend. I miss you! So glad to see your sweet face. You’ve warmed me to the tips of my frosty tippy toes. xoxo

  8. S. Etole says

    September 16, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    What is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and men?!

    • Sandra says

      September 17, 2011 at 10:19 pm

      They often go awry. 🙂

      Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans . . . John Lennon.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in