Why the name Little Tent?

When I was in ministry school I was inspired to make hand painted Tallit's or prayer shaws as gifts for various individuals.

In Biblical times Jewish men wore their prayer shawl all the time, not just at prayer. The apostle Paul was a Pharisee, but also a “tentmaker”. The Hebrew word for tent and tallit is the same, some believe that he made Prayer Shawls, not tent structures as we know them.There was no way that every Jew could fit into the tent of meeting.  So the Tallit became an extension of the tent of meeting, giving each individual their own private sanctuary where they could pray and meet with God. The Tallit became their own private prayer closet. A Little Tent of prayer and worship before the Lord. 

I started with white chiffon and stretched it on a big frame. This allowed me to be able to use dies and paints on the fabric. 
The idea of creating your own portable space to to meet with God was appealing to me. I love anything that helps people to connect with God in prayer and to grow in intimacy with Him. I don't think it is a requirement just a lovely tangible expression of ones desire to meet with the Lord. I spent time watching videos to learn the particular knot pattern to make the tassels or tzit-tzit. I also discovered a lot of richness in the numbers and symbols used.

There is some evidence in scripture that Jesus wore a tallit. In Matthew 9:20 there is the story of the woman with a bleeding problem that had plagued her for many years. She gets a notion that if she could just touch Jesus that she would be healed. So she came up behind him and touched the hem or tassel that would be in Hebrew tzit-tzit. There is another story in Matthew 14 that talks about how sick people were brought from all around with the hope that they might only touch the hem of his garment to be made whole. It gives a deeper meaning to the verse found in Malachi 4 about the Sun of righteousness arising with healing in his wings. Interestingly the sides of the tallit are called kanaf which means wings. 

One of the difficulties I had with making these hand painted Tallits was the delicate hand sewing of the edges. I'm good at a lot of things and I can sew I just don't love sewing. I also wanted to find a way to lower the cost and to find a way make them more affordable. So I put the project aside for a while. 

As I was thinking about a ministry name to use for this site I remembered the Tallit prayer shaws I had made. My heart is to help people connect with God in prayer. The idea of creating a space called little tent where people could be encouraged and inspired in their prayer life and intimacy with the Lord came together in my mind.  

The hand painted Tallit Prayer Shaws I had made ended up with a selling price of $200-$300 dollars mainly because of the time. Which made them too expensive for most folks. So I wanted a way that would retain the beauty of my designs with out the hours and hours of effort for each one. I hope to be releasing some of my designs in a print on demand kind of product in the near future. I still have a bit of tech stuff to work through to make the creative process work. I am excited to have found a site where I can post and make my designs available to be printed on Oblong Rectangle Chiffon Scarf, 16" x 72" scarves for under $50 and 10x 45 scarves for under $35.  I will make only a small mark up on a print on demand product but my designs will be available for more people to be able to enjoy. I will probably post some videos to teach how to make your own tassels and I may make them available to order directly from me. 

While my goal is not really selling merchandise I am always on the look out for ways to make my art and resources available and for ways to support the time that I put into art and writing. It has been wonderful to see all the loose ends start to come together all at about the same time. 

Prayer: Father, I thank you that your timing is perfect. That you bring about divine appointments, resources and solutions. You provide our daily bread and bless us with far more than we could ask or imagine. Help me to know when to wait and when to move forward. I want to stay in step with you and partner with you to do your will for your glory. 


Here's a lovely prayer song