Who rises from prayer a better man, his prayer is answered.  ~George Meredith
I'm working on a quilt for a school gala. It is pure personal joy to lose myself in a craft project such as this, like reading a great book and losing yourself to the whole world around you. I haven't quilted in a long time, over four years to be exact, and I forgot about a habit that I have. Whenever I'm creating a quilt, I pray over every step I make. Before I iron the fabric, I pray. Before I cut the fabric I pray. Not one collective prayer before all ironing or cutting, but before each piece or each cut. Before I sew a strip to a strip, I pray. I have great faith, but this isn't why I pray so fervently. I pray because I'm aware of the consequences if I were to make a mistake. One poorly ironed seam will make the quilt buckle. One poorly cut piece will make for more work later trying to square it all off. One poorly sewn strip will put the whole thing out of whack. The result of all of this praying is slowing down long enough to realize the importance of each little step. It is also very calming. The byproduct of all the praying is a quilt that is made with a special blessing inside it. As the quilt begins to take shape, it becomes a creation beyond my wildest dreams. Proof that God is in the details.
I brought my praying fervently habit into another unusual place when we moved to South Korea. Driving in South Korea makes that insane ride at Busch Gardens look like a walk in the park. People cut their speeding cars across eight lanes of traffic, then wave in apology. If you drive in South Korea, you will feel like you have had a close call with death every time you hit the road. I quickly realized that I would need divine assistance in order to survive the chaos, stress and insanity of this task. I'd buckle up our oldest child in the back seat, buckle up myself, and then put my hand on the roof of the truck and say "God, take us safely". Simple prayer. It worked. After three years of living in South Korea, I only had one person hit the truck with little incident while I was driving. Looking back now, I believe that small ritual helped to calm me much like the praying and quilting does now. Whether creating a masterpiece or navigating the high stress roads of South Korea, asking for God's intervention is freeing. Recognizing that anything extraordinary that happens daily isn't my doing alone is powerful.
It is nice to be back in the thoughtful world of daily prayer with this new quilt. I welcome the masterpiece that is taking shape, both at my fingertips and also within myself.