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:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • 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

A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Now you see me... now you don't. Now you see me... now you don't.
"I started looking and listening. I realized that "I started looking and listening. I realized that work, like life, is shot through with poetry. It was everywhere. I was so taken with what I discovered that I wrote a book about it." @gyoung9751 
🌱
Whether you work in an office, a retail store, a restaurant, or at home... Whether you work on roads or on power lines, or on high buildings...Whether you collect trash or preach sermons, or care for your kiddos. Whether you do art, or weave words, or take photos of a common gallinule AKA moorhen AKA swamp chicken--it's all shot through with poetry.
🌱
So pay attention. Find a poem.
🌱
Read more at https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2023/01/10/its-poetry-at-work-day-2023/
Rising… Rising…
Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe a beauty routine. And breakfast. Especially breakfast. I wonder if it consists of a few fire ants. I hope so. (Well, not mine. I'm having oatmeal with chia seeds. What are you having this morning?)
🌱
P.S. Happy Friday!
"Though your destination is not yet clear You can "Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire." ~John O'Donohue 
🌿
A blessing for a new beginning in a new year. I'm sure he wrote it especially for me. At least I'm claiming it. Maybe it will speak to you, too.
🌿
Also, I'd really like this skirt --> 
🌿
Read the whole poem--> -->
🌿
Well, bummer... The whole page didn't print. Read it in the comments below.
"What precocity, a bird half the size Of an Anjou "What precocity, a bird half the size
Of an Anjou pear." ~ Stephen Kuusisto in "The Mockingbird on Central" (Find it in The Poets Guide to the Birds edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser)
🌱
"The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery." ~ Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. 
🌱
I've been in a long creative drought, so I started morning pages--again. This time I've got a bit of an accountability group through @refineretreat's Refinery--which I finally also joined this year. I'll turn 74 this month. I'm not ready to grow old while I age--though everything does seem to take longer while time goes by faster.
🌱
#aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still kinda amazed that out of all the places we could have ended up after moving from a place I said I’d never move from), here we are—planted right next to the northern Everglades. Six-plus years, and I still shake my head in wonder.
"So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This "So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This World." #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsa Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Gazing into 2023 like… Let’s take it step by Gazing into 2023 like… 
Let’s take it step by step with hope and courage. Also I hope to be posting again more often.
🎉
Happy New Year!
The morning before the last morning of 2022. 🌴 The morning before the last morning of 2022. 
🌴
71 degrees. Heading to 83. I can live with that.
From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point in Georgia at 4784 feet.
Winding roads… Winding roads…
Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay. Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay.
Don’t mind me. Just storking by. Don’t mind me. Just storking by.
I’ve gotten several messages asking if things we I’ve gotten several messages asking if things were okay. Yes. I’ve recovered after 3 weeks in Covid jail. Also, I’ve been a bit scarce on social cuz we’ve been finishing up house renovations, and there is SO much that now needs to be cleaned and stuff put away. Also, we’ve had the second oldest grand with us for two weeks. I “should have” at least shared some stories about our adventures, but we’ve relished the time and kept busy. One can’t leave South Florida without a gator encounter, though, right? Tomorrow the two of us fly back to Michigan, and then I will spend a week with my sister where I expect I will be put to work in the chicken house and the gardens and become a glad(iola) roadside proprietor for a day at the Four Star in while she and my BIL attend a family reunion. I’ll also get to see my dad in the nursing home and spend a couple nights with my daughter. D will hold down the fort here. Then maybe by the first of next month, I’ll be able to finish putting things in order, breathe, find some writing space and get back to normal. Whatever that is.
I tossed and turned all night. And then the storm I tossed and turned all night. And then the storm started. I finally got up about 5ish and sat outside to watch. Until a couple mosquitoes found me. Also, the jasmine hadn’t gone to bed yet and smelled heavenly.
Load More... 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 © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in