Rebecca's inspiration to write poetry came from being at a Women's Aglow Retreat. Officers were being prayed over, and the speaker laid hands on them and prophesied over them in rhyme. When Rebecca was prayed over, the words were almost like a song in perfect rhythmic timing. It was such a moving moment. She asked the Lord for the gift of rhyme just as the eight-year-old child had asked for missionary adventures to be in her life.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, her life and the church were going through a very turbulent time. In those quiet moments of prayer, many times the poems would emerge. As she continued writing, some would be harsh words, and yet others comforting. Not exactly knowing what the poems were, she asked a pastor who knew nothing about her or her life to read them and give his thoughts. He called them Father's heart prayers written as prophetic psalms. If you read them out loud, there is a rhythm of words and thoughts projected that sometimes create a story or picture. Each one can stand alone, and biblical scripture is alluded to or a biblical event.
By 1995, there was a stack of writings, so she began to try to categorize them by context to begin the process of possibly publishing. However, life's circumstances of trying to raise two teenage boys and a husband having heart surgery at forty-one put the writings in a file to hopefully be looked at later when things settled down. That later became 2021, and once again, the church, America, and the world are in great turmoil. The prophetic psalms are actually more relevant today than they were in the '80s and '90s. Hopefully, they will not only explain our Father's heart, but they will also comfort you, the readers, of His great love for His church and His beloved ones, who desperately need to cling to hope.
"Within your heart you can make plans for your future, but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there" (Proverbs 16:9 Passion Translation).
