Excited to Meet You!

Hah!  I came to the Worcester Public Library with the express purpose of spending time with You, Lord.  It took a little work to log on here since this is the first day for them to convert to a new system--Evergreen...how wonderfully appropriate!--but I have about 20 minutes to pray.

I find that when I try to pray lately, my mind wanders a little bit.  I have always known that I capture my thoughts and feelings much more effectively in writing.  I suspect that my desire to write out my prayers is not only an extension of that characteristic of mine, but also a reflection of the adage "If it's not written down, it didn't happen."  :)

My daughters: Dear God, give them a summer of edification, encouragement, and (have to think of another word that starts with an "e") excellence/empathy/ebullience!  What I really want for them is deepening relationships, both with You and with Godly friends and coworkers.  Thank You for their jobs!  Even though it will cost my husband and me some money, may we consider our contribution an investment in our daughters' futures.

My "son": Well, he's not really my son, and I hope his mother doesn't take offense at my adoption of him into my heart.  Please bless his cross-country bicycling and deepen his relationship with You during the trip.  Please heal his toe (on which he dropped the church pew at Habitat on Saturday). Please bless all his relationships, including the one with his girlfriend, and lead him in the path in which You want him to go.

My husband: What a hard worker, Lord.  He puts me to shame.  Thank You (and him) for the diligence with which he labors at his job for the sake of our family and its provision.  Please energize him (another "e" word for the girls above!) and clear his mind when he feels weak, both physically tired and emotionally wrung and intellectually slow.  Thank You also for allowing us to share in ministry.  I think it helps our relationship to work side by side (sometimes...sometimes more in the same area but different parts of the field) and have to communicate and clarify our vision for children's Sunday morning education in our church.

My church: Lord, I honestly don't always feel that this is "my" church.  I confess that in case it is my sinful resistance and/or pride that holds me back from committing to it.  Nonetheless, dear Lord, please bless this church as it moves into a new stage under a new, young pastor.  Please bless Tim, Katie, and their children as they relocate to New England and encounter what many have described as culture shock.

Darn.  It's 6:11 p.m., and I have a 6:30 p.m. client.  I wish I could keep going, Lord.  There is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much that I would love to talk over with You!  Bottom line: I love You, I want to serve You, I want to follow Your lead in everything, I want to glorify You with my life, my actions, my relationships, my choices.  I have to go now.  :(  Thank You so much for this time!  For the sake of Your kingdom, AMEN.

Prayer for DH

(DH stands for Dear Husband.)

Heavenly Father, my DH is not having a good period.  He has been complaining for months now that his work is getting too hard for him.  Monday he tried to play soccer, but he pulled a muscle in his side and is in pain.  Yesterday (Tuesday) he was as moody as I have ever seen him.  I think he really wants a simpler job, one that doesn't demand such a long and terrible commute, and one that doesn't tax his brain past its abilities.  I don't blame him.  Work is a curse, I believe, based on what You said in Genesis:  "through painful toil you will eat food from it [the ground] all the days of your life."   I am blessed to find joy in my work, and may I ask that You grant the same--or at least similar--joy to my husband?

Father, encourage my husband for Your sake.  Please bring him a good measure of relief from his pain and his burdensome labor.  Restore to him the joy of Your salvation (Psalm 51).  Correct whatever thinking errors are contributing to his dismay and allow him to return to his typical good cheer.  I have to get back to work now, or I would continue to pray/write longer.  I know You understand.  I am asking this for my husband out of my deep love for him and my deeper love for You.  In Your Son's name and for the sake of Your kingdom~Amen.

Delicate Issue

Lord, I have to get this off my chest.  I am concerned about my older daughter's weight.  She is (I know, many mothers have said this) a truly beautiful girl, inside and out.  She has struggled--maybe not struggled?--with her weight for most of her life.  Is there something psychological involved in her weight?  Here I am, a psychotherapist, and I am wondering about this!!  Is there a fear or an aversion to men and their standards of attractiveness?  Is it a biological or genetic phenomenon, given that there are weight problems on both sides of the family, and most extremely on mine?

Please, dear Great Physician, intervene in her life now.  Help her to get a handle on her weight problem and allow her to experience a healthy, active, unencumbered body.  I don't know how she feels about romantic relationships, but I do know that our bodies are Your temples and that You have made them for such relationships.  Please...for her...and for Your sake.  Amen..

Finishing Strong

Dear Heavenly Father, please accept this very brief and rushed petition on behalf of my daughters.  They both have finals this week--Julie has one on Monday (tomorrow) and Amy has two on Monday and Wednesday (I think).  Please keep them focused on how their studies will glorify You and equip them to serve You better in the world.  Give them grace to study what is necessary; give them efficiency in studying wisely; give them rest so that their brains can work well in the testing environment.  I can hardly wait to have them both home, even if only  for a short time.  Please bless them--from me!--and keep them in the palm of Your hand.  In Jesus's--Your Son's--name, AMEN.

Finals for the Daughters

Julie: Today, at least Spanish and one more.  Dear heavenly Father, please grant her grace.  I am pretty sure she has studied effectively; now, given her "Alzheimer's" professor, allow the test to be reasonable, fair, and accurate in measuring her learning, her effort, and her desire to gain this knowledge to please You (and, yes, to complete her language requirement--LOL!).  I don't know what the second test is, but please grant her the same grace in that subject.  And then let her rest--in You and in her body--tonight.  I can't wait to have her home!  In Jesus's name, AMEN.