Prayer for La Casa

...as requested by Amy

Heavenly Father, you are father to the fatherless.  Please provide for the children and the staff of Casa de la Esperanza according to Your great riches in Christ Jesus and according to Your perfect will to bless the orphans.  Comfort those who are hurting and relieve their pain, please.  Allow Amy to touch lives with Your great love.  Thank You that she gets it...that without love, Your love, nothing else really matters.  Bless those children, Lord, and encourage Profe and Maestra and all the workers.  In Jesus's name~Amen.

Do I Ever Need Prayer!

Hey, Lord!  I don't mean to be too informal or casual.  I do mean to unload with You, and maybe on You.  "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."  Matthew 11:28-30

Really...Junior Church.  This change of curriculum is much more complicated and confusing than I thought it would be.  Oy vey!  Not only are we all unfamiliar with the philosophy of this particular approach, but we are also having to deal with the logistical issues of large-group assembly and fewer teachers and classroom usage.  Tim!!!  New young pastor gung-ho to make his mark, to make a change, and we -- George and me -- who work full-time (plus+++) and have very limited time to give to this ministry.

So for today and tomorrow, dear Jesus, I need extra.  Since this whole endeavor is all about You, and since "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5), may I ask that the Holy Spirit do a lot of this work?  I am not unwilling to do my part.  I just don't know exactly where to start or how to proceed.  Holy Spirit, I need to get my directions from You.  Please let me know what to do first, how to do what needs to be done, and what I can ignore for the immediate moment.  Please organize me.  Help me to "be anxious for nothing" but to be efficient and energized.  I am tired; hence, the verse above.  There is much to do!  Indeed, the fields "are ripe for harvest right now." (John 4:35)

Loving those kids, and loving You most.  In Jesus's name and for the sake of Your kingdom~Amen!

PS  Amy's trip to Tijuana is coming up...
PS  Julie in New York~a paying job?

PS  Bill and Wanda...cancer, hospice, support, stamina....

We're Going to Mexico!

Whew!  Lord, I won't spend a lot of time now processing this decision--Your decision, I trust.  It's 1:40 in the morning!  I will say that it was confusing to me to think that You were calling Amy to Mexico and then have the Gordon job come on the scene as a possibility.  Thank You for Your clarity now, though, and please bless the next few weeks as we get her going.  May You be exalted.  Amen!

Quick Prayer for Encouragement

Lord, I told Amy that I was praying for her, and I want to make sure that I do and that I am!  Please flood her heart and soul with peace and assurance that You are directing her paths.  That's all for now.  In Jesus's name~Amen.

Oh, So Tired

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.  Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

That's about the size of it, Lord.  I just looked up "tired" in the Bible Gateway keyword search, and those results with the verses above bring tears to my eyes and down my face.  A la "Malachi's Message" from Adventures in Odyssey~what would I ask for today as a special gift from You?  Whit asked for inspiration.  Today I ask for refreshment.  And maybe energy.

1. Bill and Mom: If I am tired, how much more tired is she?  He, in some ways thankfully, isn't very aware of what is happening to him.  Please bring her refreshment, too.  And relief from any pain for him?  These times are difficult and confusing in their lives.  Direct them, support them, send angels to minister to them both.  Please?
2. John: How sad.  I have no idea how aware he is of what is happening to him.  With the progressive supranuclear palsy as well as whatever else is ravaging his body, he remains a "stubborn Polack."  :)  Is it time for another card?  Do I have any other pictures of him?  (Do I have time to look for one????)
3. Amy: [long pause] I don't even know where to begin to pray for her with regard to her near future.  Tijuana or Gordon?  What are You up to, Lord?  I cannot speak for her, but I will speak for myself.  Either one is fine, as long as it is definitely Your will for her.  We just sorta kinda need to know....you know?  In the meantime, please give all of us the peace that passes understanding as we wait, patiently~~or not so much patiently but wanting to develop that fruit of the Spirit.
4. Julie: Please help her find the right church.  Thank You for a Christian RD!  Bless Julie and Mary Frances as they embark on this roommate thing.  Preserve their relationship.  Living together can be stressful and damaging to a friendship.  Empower her for a successful year of studying for service in Your kingdom, wherever You are leading her in Your field.

I know there is SO much more.  I will enter again soon, but for now, I am going to try to organize my to-do list.

Francis Chan's challenge in Crazy Love remains fresh in my mind: "DO NOT ASSUME YOU ARE GOOD SOIL."  Make me good soil, Lord.  I may need to be hoed, turned, fertilized with stuff that doesn't smell so good, cleaned out of rocks and twigs and junk. Make me rich, fertile soil in which Your word takes deep and healthy root.

In Jesus's name~~Amen!

Still Waiting

So, Lord, we didn't get an answer on Wednesday.  However, Amy had a second interview on Friday.  Wait...we did get an answer.  Amy reported that she has not been anxious.  She is excited, she really wants this job, and she is open to whatever You lead her to do, but she is not anxious.  That is an answer to prayer.

So thank You.  Help me to be calm and trusting, too.  I can say the words, but sometimes my heart rebels.  I can feel it speeding up, and I can feel the upset in my stomach.  I wish I could just order my internal organs to obey!

(Along those lines, I wish I could order my cholesterol levels to come down.  That's for another post, yes?)

I keep telling her that I am praying without ceasing, or praying continually.  May it be true!  Calm her, and me, dear Lord.  This entire movie (a la Francis Chan's Crazy Love) is not about her or me.  You are the main character, the protagonist, the hero.  We are only bit actors.  You are the theme and the plot as well.  Help us to see how we fit into your script, and help us to play our parts well--but ultimately, help us to let You be the star.  Whatever happens to this job and to Amy's immediate future, whether it be Gordon or Esperanza, be glorified, Lord.  She is willing to be used by You wherever You assign her.  May that be true for me, too.  For Jesus's sake and the sake of the extension of Your kingdom~Amen.

Anxious!

So, Lord, when You tell us to "be anxious for nothing, but in everything let your request be made known to God," how do we obey that when our--my--nature is to be anxious?  I'm taking a deep breath and doing my best to "let my request be made known to [You]."  This is my request:  Please, by Your great grace, help Amy to release her anxiety as well.  ???  I also wouldn't mind at all adding this request: Would You provide for her needs for income, a job, a mission, by allowing her to work for Gordon for a time?  This job as admissions counselor seems tailor-made for her, at least to us.  However, we acknowledge and admit that You know far better than any of us do what is best not only for Amy but also ultimately for Your kingdom.

So here is a third request: Could we hear fairly soon?  The wait is hard.  She's supposed to hear today, and here it is, already 2:15 p.m.

It's all about You, dearest Lord God.  Amy's heart is toward You, I am quite sure.  Please bless her, calm her, and love on her during this time of waiting.  No matter what happens, whether she works at Gordon or volunteers at Esperanza, she will be serving You.  Thank You for that!

"Not my will, but Yours be done."  Amen.

Praying Without Ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "pray without ceasing."  I am so blessed, dear heavenly Father, that Amy frequently asks me to pray for her, and today is one example of many.  She has her interview in just under an hour.  Please bless her in whatever way Your will dictates.  Allow her to see Your hand in her life, leading her, using her, and providing for her.  Honor, please, her desire to serve You, whether at Esperanza or at Gordon.  I have to run now, but I know that I do not have to use many words to be heard by You.  In Jesus's name and for His sake (and for Amy's sake, too, yes?)~ Amen.

Amy's Opportunity

Lord, what are You up to in Amy's life?  :)  Thank You for the chance that she has to interview for the Admissions Counselor job at Gordon.  Thank You even more that someone pursued her for it.  What a compliment!  And maybe what a provision for her (and for us, her parents, who would have been supporting her this next year)!  If this is Your will, calm any anxieties she may have and let her light shine.  You lead the way, dear Lord.  I'm pretty sure she will follow.  In Jesus's name and for the sake of Your work in her life and in the world~Amen!

Taking Time

SOOOO much to do, Lord, before we have the Cochrells--new pastor at HBC--for dinner tonight!  But SOOOO foolish to try to do it without asking for Your blessing on tonight's meeting.  Please be glorified in our conversation.  Don't let me (especially) say anything negative or unkind.  Please direct our questions, our responses, and their questions and responses to build Your kingdom's work at HBC and in the world.  For Jesus's sake~Amen. 

Greetings!

Greetings, dear God!  Today's daily reading from Your word comes from Romans 16, where Paul shares about a dozen greetings.  (I didn't count, but I am estimating.  :)  ) 

"to address with expressions of goodwill, respect, etc.; greet.

 

to express respect or praise for; honor; commend"

I'm not sure what my agenda today includes (who does, really?) but I hope to "greet" at least one or two of my friends in an unusual way today.  Would You help me with that?

But on to different things, Lord...It has been a little while since I have sat down to spend some time with You.  My bad.  It isn't that I haven't been in constant prayer communication with You, and that is good.  Sometimes I feel that trying to "study" every day from Your word confuses the message.  I need time to ponder, meditate, absorb the content.  I really love to reflect on what You say over the course of a day or two or sometimes three, and then to figure out how to act upon it.

Well, enough excuses.  :)  I just cruised over to see whether Beth Moore has any online Bible studies that could help me get into studying the Word on a regular basis.  Boy, is my life topsy-turvy right now.  The daughters will be coming home next Sunday, and then Julie will have only 10 days at home before returning to college.  Amy will have about a month before going to Esperanza.  Interspersed with these joyful challenges is Bill's ongoing chemotherapy and the family support that it demands.  Whew!  Of course, that is in the arena of family.  I didn't even touch on the Christian Education ministry at HBC!  Yes, I am tired, but fulfilled.  I am (usually) operating out of my comfort zone.  Sometimes I wish for a week off to address all the small and large details of organizing my home and my life...maybe that will come with the surgery in October?

God, the book Crazy Love is challenging me.  In a good way.  This chapter (only chapter 2; I'm slow) highlights our selfish focus on ourselves rather than the appropriate focus on You, since all of history and all of life is all about YOU.  I really am amazingly blessed that my husband and my daughters get this.  In fact, just Wednesday Julie chose to spend her day off from camp with her grandmother and grandfather at chemo.  I tended (and may still tend?) to worry a little more about her spiritual health since she attends a non-overtly-Christian college, but I forget myself that You are not limited.  She's pretty good!  So I will keep surrendering her and her spiritual growth and feeding to You.  You are doing a great job!  ;)

I have only 10 minutes left here, and I would like to capture Bill's story in the other blog.  For now, Lord, good-bye!  I love You with all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength!

"Hi, Dad"

As I was trying to think of a title for this entry. dear Father, the "Hi, Dad!" one grabbed my heart and made me (combination) roll my eyes and close my eyes.  It fits.  Beautifully.  :)

It feels warm and welcoming, like coming home.  I imagine flopping down on the couch and just starting an aimless conversation with You.  I know that we would get to some deep stuff, eventually or maybe even pretty quickly.  I wonder what it would be like to sit there, next to You, with Your arm around my shoulder and maybe my head on Your chest, listening to Your heart.  <deep sigh>

Well:

• Bill, of course, and healing/relief with the cancer and the Alzheimers
• Wanda--also of course!--and her strengthening and stamina.
• Our daughters and protection during the coming storms which have prompted a tornado watch in Berkshire County.
• Joey P and his salvation~and his success at school~and his eventual career choice.

Father, I am going to go sit on the couch now.  :)

Jordan, My Helper

Again, dear Father, I want to commit to praying in actuality when I promise someone I will.  Today, during Bill's chemo treatment, Nicole Patricks asked me to pray for Jordan, her oldest daughter and one of my most beloved helpers in Junior Church.

Father, Jordan has a tremendous heart for You and some cognitive limitations in her brain.  She is so sweet, Lord.  Sometimes, though, she may not keep up with kids of average to above-average intelligence.  So it seems to be at Pineshore Bible Camp in Westminster this week.

At least I think she's at Pineshore.  :)

No matter where she is, her momma reports that Jordan may be struggling not so much with homesickness as with social relationships with her peers.  Please, dear Father, You know Jordan's special and specific needs.  You know that she loves You.  (Remember the story Nicole related about Jordan's sticking up for You when she was in second grade?  She punched a disrespectful boy in the stomach.  Later, when Nicole asked what he said, she replied, "Ungh!"  LOL!!)  She is not quick-witted or sassy or socially comfortable.  Please allow someone strong and sensitive to be led by Your Holy Spirit to see Jordan's awkwardness and to be gentle and welcoming to her.  May a dear one from Your family include Jordan in an understanding and loving way in the banter and fun and especially in the spiritual conversations among the girls, but in a way that doesn't go over Jordan's head.  In Jesus's name~Amen.

Connie's Death



Connie

 Father God, I promised Donna that I would be "praying without ceasing" in response to her request for prayer for Uncle Tom.  I have been trying NOT to promise to pray unless I actually write my commitment down somewhere and then follow up on it in a way that I can confirm.  Hence, this entry.

It's sad to me, Father, that Uncle Tom and Connie probably did not respond favorably to the Good News.  It may be too late for Connie.  It's not too late for Uncle Tom.  So, Father, may I beg You to knock harder on his heart's door?  (Revelation 3:20 "Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.")  He is very hardened, possibly--probably--in some measure due to his first wife's (may I say it?) "crazy" Christianity.  Tom is an intelligent man.  He doesn't do the emotional thing.  And yet...there is reason, emotion, and relationship in Your message, Your offer.  Please allow the Christians in his family to demonstrate to him Your invitation, Your really-not-crazy love.  Even as I type that, though, I recall the title of Francis Chan's book Crazy Love.  Maybe Your love is crazy.  But it's still real and powerful and important and necessary.

Poor Connie, though, to have lost her mind to Alzheimer's.  She was a very sweet lady, in a spicy kind of way.  :)  Uncle Tom wouldn't have been attracted to someone less feisty, I think.  Mercy, Father!  I know that I really don't know the condition of Connie's heart.  I wish that at the moment of death, or the moment immediately after, You might give each person one final chance to surrender to Your amazing offer of forgiveness and eternal life.  There's nothing in Scripture to tell us that, of course.  Still, there is nothing in Scripture written by anyone who has been at that moment immediately following death, either.  I wish....

Father, death is horrible.  You know that.  That's why You decided to provide a way to beat it.  May we take that provision seriously not only for ourselves but also for those in our worlds who don't understand it yet.  Give us--the Christians in the Nicols family--the chance to show if not to speak to Uncle Tom about it.  In Jesus's name and for His inroads into Uncle Tom's heart~Amen!

Theme from Thoughts

• Our daughters reported that the Christian camp at which they work has experienced some racism among the parents of some campers
• Our oldest daughter's volunteer trip to Tijuana, Mexico, garnered some response from the Mexican consulate this week.
• One of the songs on my Kindle reminded me of the section from Philippians (I think) that talks about Your having "left Your mighty throne in glory" to come to earth for us.

The common theme?  I won't have time to fully explore it tonight, but I see the idea of a parent--the Heavenly Father, the campers' parents, and me--sending or allowing their beloved child to go into a place of possible danger.  In at least two of the examples, the purpose for the journey into potential peril is the rescue of beloved people.  Lord, I embrace this theme for the sake of the Gospel and of the advancement of Your kingdom.  When I become anxious about Amy's time in Tijuana, remind me of this.  Bless her, bless her efforts to pull all this together, and bless her ministry there.  She's doing this for You!  And so am I.  :)  Thank You for this insight.  It helps.

A Quote about Prayer

Frederick Buechner: “Everybody prays whether [you think] of it as praying or not. The odd silence you fall into when something very beautiful is happening or something very good or very bad. The ah-h-h-h! that sometimes floats up out of you as out of a Fourth of July crowd when the sky-rocket bursts over the water. The stammer of pain at somebody else's pain. The stammer of joy at somebody else's joy. Whatever words or sounds you use for sighing with over your own life. These are all prayers in their way. These are all spoken not just to yourself but to something even more familiar than yourself and even more strange than the world.”

 

Father, I don't know a thing about Frederick Buechner other than that he was a Presbyterian minister.  I do like everything about this quote except the end.  "...but to something..." really should be "...but to Someone...."  To YOU.  Amen!

A Few Important Things

1. Father, Christine P. just emailed that she is experiencing some bleeding in her 12th week of pregnancy.  :(   According to her doctor, the baby is still strong and active.  That's good!  Please protect this baby's life and help Christine to be wise in her activity to minimize any risks that her behaviors could affect.
2. Big day for Bill--and Wanda--tomorrow!  Grant them favor in Your eyes, and please have mercy on them by allowing Bill to experience the fewest possible side effects from the chemo.
3. My girls are tired, dear Lord, but they sacrificed so much to be with the Nicols family this weekend.  Would you give them supernatural strength and energy this week along with unusually effective rest?  They are serving You, not that You owe them anything, but You do tend to empower those who are working hard for Your Kingdom.  ???

I need to get ready for bed really soon.  Love You!

Whew

Father...my head is spinning.  Not with pain or ache, but with "stuff."  To think about all the things that are going on, to try to talk to You about them in a meaningful, prayerful way, ah!  That is the challenge!!

Bill: moving forward!  Today I talked with my supervisor and with my human resources coordinator about using the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to use some time for Bill and Mom.  I'm not sure whether Jackie (my department head) will be as accepting and supportive as the others were, but I am asking You to soften her heart and make her a bit more flexible than she usually is.  I'd like to try the four 10-hour day thing, but I will accept whatever You arrange.  There is an attractiveness about the 4-day work week that I should not deny to You :) since You know everything anyway.  You're the Boss, Lord.  Would you work this out to Your glory and to help Bill and Mom?

My Girls:  I put that in capitals :) because it reminds me of the Temptations' song "My Girl."

I guess you'd say/What can make me feel this way/My girls, my girls, my girls...

I am so thankful for them!  I do not want to make idols of them; I realize that's a risk for some parents, and especially some mothers.  I do want to love and encourage and pray for their blessing.  Father, may I ask that You build Your life into them.  For Amy, I ask that You guide her path to Mexico and beyond to graduate school.  Particularly--I am a mother, after all--I plead with you to keep her safe in that violent city of Tijuana.  For Julie, I ask with gratitude already for fellowship for her.  Thank You for her "job" or perhaps more properly her "ministry" at Lakeside.  Please keep her in Your word and in Your Spirit this summer, enough to carry her through in college where fellowship is much harder to find.

It's almost 10 pm. If I am going to get used to a 10-hour day, I need to have discipline about getting to bed early.

Oh, yes...My husband.  He's not home yet, and I could hear the exhaustion when he called 45 minutes ago.  Please fill him with energy and stamina and alertness to get home safely tonight to me.  Amen!

Organizing My Prayers

Hi, Father.  I'm not sure how much time I have left on the Worcester Public Library computer.  Help me, please, to organize my thoughts and my prayers.  I have a fair number of things I would love to discuss with You!

(Just checked--27 minutes left.  I spent some time in Wordpress.com on Bill's and Wanda's Journey.)

Random order--no particular significance:

1. Work: I meant what I said to Moin (Muttakin, MD).  I am grateful that I still have, and will have, a job.  The proposed hours are horrible, though.  Father, I trust You to choose and arrange the right schedule for me and George.  I would like to continue with my private client ministry and with MOPS, which is going to an evening meeting time.  What do You want for me?
2. Church: How do I say this?  Is it all right that George and I are glad to see the current assistant/associate pastor leaving in a month?  We have not yet met the new pastor, who is remarkably young (32!) compared to us.  :)  Please, please bless him and the church and the new relationship between them that will be forming.  Let it get established on a great foundation; let everyone get off on the right foot.  And, particularly, please let him be sensitive to children's ministry.  He has three preschool boys of his own; that's a good indicator, I hope.  Which leads me to...
3. ...Junior Church: Ah, yes, the times, they are a-changin'!  We've got the month of July coming up when we will be having a large-group assembly followed by a split period for preschoolers and elementary schoolers.  I chose Group Publishing's Kids' Own Worship curriculum mostly because a) it says it spans Preschool through Grade 6 and b) I had to make a decision in a hurry.  Father, these are Your babies.  Bless this ministry for the summer for the children, their parents, the teachers and helpers, and the entire Body of Christ, please?
4. Bill: Of course.  And Mom, of course.  Cancer--treatment--anxiety--energy and endurance--for them both.
5. My daughters: They are serving You at Lakeside, Father.  Keep them close to You (and to each other, too, perhaps).  I am particularly desirous of fellowship for Julie, who does not get as much spiritual support at college as Amy did (I think).  Encourage and energize them both.  Amy has a lot of responsibility on her young shoulders.  I think this is fantastic experience for her, especially in preparation for her (currently) chosen professional path.  And we'll see them this weekend!!! (Lord willing, of course.  :)  )
6. Mary Ann: Where did that come from?  We're not sure where she is with regard to her relationship with You, Father.  Any opportunities You bring we'll take.  My prayer is that You bring opportunities and overcome the opposition of the enemy.  It's been a long time since we have had a good, deep, spiritual conversation with her.

I think that may be enough for tonight.  I need to get to the grocery store and get some ingredients for supper quiches.  I still like doing this; it's like a date, it's documented, and it forces me to get serious and down to business because my time on the library computer is limited.  So~thanks.  For it all.  "Everything I have for Your Kingdom's cause."  In Jesus's name~Amen.

(11 minutes left.  LOL)

A Random Prayer for an Acquaintance

Father, I have grown slightly dependent on writing prayers.  :)  I hope that's okay with You.  It's easier to remember that I did pray when I said I would.  It also helps me to crystallize my prayer requests.

So...the sister of one of my patients is in a difficult situation with her daughter and her 11-month-old grandson.  They are all living together in Grandma's home, and it is not very comfortable.  Please help all of them to get along together, to be respectful and considerate of each other, and to be patient.  Please help daughter to find an appropriate, safe, affordable place for herself and her baby VERY soon.  Until then, support them, please?  In Jesus's name~and, by the way, if You would open up an opportunity to share the Gospel with sister/mother/grandmother, I'll take it~Amen!