Coming Back Together: Praying Over a New Season of Creating

There is something special about returning after a summer break.

Soon, creators will begin gathering around tables again—bringing projects, yarn, fabric, ideas, unfinished pieces, new plans, and probably at least one project someone promised herself she would finish over the summer.

But more importantly, they’ll be bringing themselves.

Friends will reconnect. Stories will be shared. Someone will need encouragement. Someone will have exciting news. Someone may arrive carrying something difficult that the rest of us cannot see.

And somewhere between the conversation, laughter, fabric, crochet hooks, sewing machines, and cups of coffee, another season of creating will begin.

As we look toward the colder months ahead, plans will start forming for quilts, blankets, stuffed animals, crocheted pieces, gifts, and other handmade creations. Some will be made for family and friends. Others may eventually find their way to Creative Acts of Praise and into the hands of someone the creator may never meet.

That is one of the beautiful things about creativity.

We often begin with something very ordinary—a piece of fabric, a skein of yarn, an old piece of furniture—and God can use the work of our hands in ways we could never have planned.

So as our creators return and begin thinking about what they will make this fall and winter, this is what I’m praying:

Lord, bless the hands that create.

Give each creator fresh inspiration and joy in the gifts You have placed within them.

Bless the friendships around the tables. Let these gatherings be places of laughter, encouragement, belonging, and grace.

Be present in the conversations we hear and the ones that are never spoken aloud.

Give us eyes to notice when someone needs encouragement and hearts willing to respond.

Guide the projects that are beginning. Show us where the things we make can be used to bring comfort, joy, practical help, or simply remind someone that they are loved.

And above all, teach us to remember that our creativity belongs to You.

May the work of our hands become an offering.

A new season of creating is beginning.

I can’t wait to see what God does with it.