M
MrsAngelala
Guest
After a very strange Lent in 2016, I was praying a lot more than I was used to. Most of that time was spent before the Blessed Sacrament, but sometimes I’d feel compelled to pray while at home, so I’d just drop what I was doing.
One day in June, on my way through the kitchen to the room I used for prayer, I told Husband I didn’t really know what to say anymore. He told me to ask for things I want. I replied, “But I don’t want anything!” Then I shut the door of my room, knelt down on the linoleum floor, raised the seat of the adjustable stool my harp students use in lessons, put my arms on it, and said hello to Jesus. I told him what Husband had said. But I don’t know what I’m supposed to want, Jesus!.. On the other hand… this is silly, but maybe it would be nice to not be kneeling on stick-on linoleum tile… Maybe it would be nice to have a prie dieu? I have what I need. The current setup is perfectly adequate. But it might be nice.
I spent a few weeks looking for one I liked, but they were too expensive, so I forgot about it.
A month later my husband starting behaving mysteriously. When I asked him what was going on, he said he was working on a surprise for me. “Is it a God thing, or a thing-thing?” I asked. He replied it was both. “BOTH. … Then are you sure it’s supposed to be a surprise? God doesn’t usually choose to surprise me. Would you mind going back to check?” He went to his room to pray and came back upstairs. He told me the surprise part was his idea, not God’s, and that it would be better if I knew what it was. That way he could be sure to give me what I want.
It turned out that around the time I had asked Jesus for the prayer kneeler, Husband had asked Father-God what he could do to get to know Jesus better; thinking about Jesus’ life, Husband realized that he’d never spent any time with Jesus’ trade. God said, Well you know, there is something you could build. And a prayer kneeler popped into his mind.
! . My husband does not build things. He’s darn handy around the house, but he’s never built anything. So I said to him, “God suggested you could get to know His son better by building something, and He told you to start with a piece of furniture? How authentic are you going to get - you… you do remember that Jesus didn’t have power tools? Are you sure you don’t want to build a little information box for our Little Free Library first?”
Nope, he was going to build me a prayer kneeler. So he talked to a man at his (Protestant) church, who is a cattle farmer but happens to have a full cabinetry workshop. Husband went to visit his friend a few Wednesday nights each month for a little over a year, and he just finished the kneeler two weeks ago. It was perfect timing, because I had a meeting with my pastor the very next day, and he blessed it for me.
Two pics below: one full view and one to show you a little of the detail. It’s made from a single plank of cherry, with a pure tung oil finish, and the cushion folds up. It’s so nice to touch. And it is MY SIZE! My shoulders aren’t forced up high like at church! The cushion is memory foam. I’ve spent so much time on the hard kneelers at church over the past 18 months that my knees are usually sore now, but I forget I even have knees when I’m praying here.
For good measure, the kneeler is sitting on the linoleum floor it’s replaced. It quite an upgrade, and such a lovely gift from all the men in my life.
One day in June, on my way through the kitchen to the room I used for prayer, I told Husband I didn’t really know what to say anymore. He told me to ask for things I want. I replied, “But I don’t want anything!” Then I shut the door of my room, knelt down on the linoleum floor, raised the seat of the adjustable stool my harp students use in lessons, put my arms on it, and said hello to Jesus. I told him what Husband had said. But I don’t know what I’m supposed to want, Jesus!.. On the other hand… this is silly, but maybe it would be nice to not be kneeling on stick-on linoleum tile… Maybe it would be nice to have a prie dieu? I have what I need. The current setup is perfectly adequate. But it might be nice.
I spent a few weeks looking for one I liked, but they were too expensive, so I forgot about it.
A month later my husband starting behaving mysteriously. When I asked him what was going on, he said he was working on a surprise for me. “Is it a God thing, or a thing-thing?” I asked. He replied it was both. “BOTH. … Then are you sure it’s supposed to be a surprise? God doesn’t usually choose to surprise me. Would you mind going back to check?” He went to his room to pray and came back upstairs. He told me the surprise part was his idea, not God’s, and that it would be better if I knew what it was. That way he could be sure to give me what I want.
It turned out that around the time I had asked Jesus for the prayer kneeler, Husband had asked Father-God what he could do to get to know Jesus better; thinking about Jesus’ life, Husband realized that he’d never spent any time with Jesus’ trade. God said, Well you know, there is something you could build. And a prayer kneeler popped into his mind.
! . My husband does not build things. He’s darn handy around the house, but he’s never built anything. So I said to him, “God suggested you could get to know His son better by building something, and He told you to start with a piece of furniture? How authentic are you going to get - you… you do remember that Jesus didn’t have power tools? Are you sure you don’t want to build a little information box for our Little Free Library first?”
Nope, he was going to build me a prayer kneeler. So he talked to a man at his (Protestant) church, who is a cattle farmer but happens to have a full cabinetry workshop. Husband went to visit his friend a few Wednesday nights each month for a little over a year, and he just finished the kneeler two weeks ago. It was perfect timing, because I had a meeting with my pastor the very next day, and he blessed it for me.
Two pics below: one full view and one to show you a little of the detail. It’s made from a single plank of cherry, with a pure tung oil finish, and the cushion folds up. It’s so nice to touch. And it is MY SIZE! My shoulders aren’t forced up high like at church! The cushion is memory foam. I’ve spent so much time on the hard kneelers at church over the past 18 months that my knees are usually sore now, but I forget I even have knees when I’m praying here.
For good measure, the kneeler is sitting on the linoleum floor it’s replaced. It quite an upgrade, and such a lovely gift from all the men in my life.