Listening

John 16:1-33

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trial and sorrows.  But take heart; because I have overcome the world."

So I started to listen, and got distracted by emailing the Junior Church staff.  Typical.  Reflections on the passage?

• I can now talk directly to the Father.
• The Holy Spirit will teach me everything true.
• Jesus tells me these things so that I won't abandon my faith, so that I will remember His warning.
• There are many things that I, like the disciples, want to ask Jesus, and He invites me to ask!  He promises to speak clearly and not in puzzles or riddles or figurative speech.

Listening~not something most people do well.  I may be a little better than many, but I have a LONG way to go, especially listening to You, Lord.  I know in my head that "listening" to You means reading Your Word and meditating on it, thinking about what You are telling me--just me, no one else.  I don't have many of those aha! moments, but more often I have experienced something in the course of my life that reminds me of a Scripture or a spiritual song.

I did say that I would review some of my memory verses today, which I haven't done yet.  The next one is 1 Thessalonians 4:13, a very sad verse because it deals with death.  "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope." 1 Thessalonians 4:13  I think of my mother, and the great-grandsons' recent recollection of Bill ("I am going to pay my bills" and "But Bill is in heaven!")  Oh may the reality of heaven make all grief bittersweet!  Of course, loving someone means missing them when we are apart, as I do my daughters.  (Speaking of which, I need to go home for a phone call from Julie.)  But knowing that they are happy and with You, and longing to be with You and with them, makes the missing-them part tolerable.

Since it is a little late, and I do want to get home for a phone call, I will end this post now but with regret.  Thanks, Lord.  I do love You more than anything.

Ephesians 6:18

...says, "Keep on praying."

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

(In the interests of time and efficiency, I am going to pray for all of the family members on my heart here in this post.  I have separate accounts for each of them, but switching back and forth with my limited time will cost me precious minutes on this busy day.)

So, dearest Lord, where do I begin?  My daughters, my husband, and my mother are the people most immediately on my mind right now.

• Amy: the big decision yesterday involved her accepting a $10/hour, 40-54 hour per week, 6 week position at San Diego State University as an RA for a summer program for high schoolers.  To my surprise, she said no.  To her surprise, I supported her going.  My support was my attempt to be open-handed with her future and her independence.  She is, dear Lord, my homebody, and she discovered how much she yearns to be at home with her family.  I am not unhappy about this.  :)  Please provide for her in every way.  As an aside, and not to pressure You or her, please also be developing the young man whom You may choose to be her husband someday--if indeed You call her to marriage.
• Julie: no time to recover from the jet lag of returning from Morocco and making a whirlwind trip to Rome and Paris with her parents!  And now she is in Atlanta getting ready for her internship/job with Teach for America operations/communication coordinator.  Please, Lord, bless her with multiplied rest and a reconnection with You there.  Morocco was a Christian desert for fellowship; Atlanta is more likely to have some good believing churches but may also be superficial and sociopolitical in their faith.  And for her, too--the husband prayer.  :)
• George:  Healing from that cough/cold, please?  And fulfillment of his need for rest and refreshment during this Vistabreak.  I think he spent way too much money on vacation, and now we are planning to go to the Maddox wedding in June and possible mini-vacation in July.  This does not even count the home improvements, granted largely funded by family, that he is planning.  Whew!  I hear some frustration from our daughters that mimics mine.  I hope I have not influenced them negatively about him.  On the other hand, help me, please, to be patient and understanding and loving toward him even when he is opinionated and ignorantly prejudiced.  He is, at heart, a really good man, and he loves YOU and his family a real lot.
• Wanda: my mother--she will go, and has gone, way out of her way for family members, sometimes when perhaps she would be wiser to attenuate her generosity.  Now, with Terri living with her, she is struggling to adjust to having someone in her home again.  Please be her closest companion, confidante, and counselor.  Help her to deepen her relationship with You, and help me to help her to the degree that I can and You empower me to do so.  

Church is also a bit of a concern.  Please inspire my scheduling of the summer for Junior Church.  I shall move to that task for 10-15 minutes now, trusting that You will help me to pull that together.  I love YOU!!  Thanks for my very wonderful, crazy family--both biological and spiritual.

In Jesus's name~~Amen.

Prayer for Amy

Dear Heavenly Father, I just told Amy that I would pray for her.  She has a difficult and hasty decision to make, although  would like to remove the word "hasty" there.

I don't believe, Lord, that it is ever a good idea to make impulsive, emotional decisions.  In DBT, they talk about "wise mind" being a good blend of emotion and reason.  Right now, Father, Amy is running on poor sleep, excitement, emotional and relational overload, and insufficient counsel.  Please grant grace to her.  She needs a night to sleep well and time to talk over this decision with trusted advisers.  She needs more than anything to hear Your guidance.  Please speak to her loudly and unequivocally.  Let her know what You are leading her to do, and give her the courage -- either way -- to do it.  I know her heart is turned toward You, and she wants to please You and do Your will.  Honor that, I ask, not only as her mother but also as Your daughter supporting and loving another daughter of Yours.  In Jesus's name I ask these things~~Amen.

Random Prayer on a Sleepless Night

Wow.  So much on my mind, Lord, that I have trouble sleeping.  If I can get these things off my mind and onto Your broad shoulders, maybe I can rest.

"Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

Here goes:

• MOPS meeting with Pastor Tim tomorrow-Anna, Katie are the primary contestants
• My daughters' final papers
• Our trip abroad to be with Julie
• Work--so much work--the discharges, the preparation for groups
• My mother, especially in our absence
• My clients--a couple with some surprise distresses (relatives with cancer and anxiety attacks and marital problems)

Keys for Ali for house-sitting; Scavi tour reservations; pedicure; luggage; medications, including antibiotics for possible travelers' GI distress

Junior Church coverage!

I think that is all for right now.  Maybe I can rest now!

Alleluia! Christ Arose!

"Up from the grave He arose/With a mighty triumph o'er His foes!  He arose a victor from the dark domain/And He lives forever with His saints to reign."

A favorite Easter song, dear Lord.  I'm not very good at "reigning" so I hope that verse means that YOU are reigning and I am just being with You, doing whatever You want me to do.

A small victory?  Lori "helped"--really, a lot--with the Junior Church assembly yesterday.  And as far as I can tell, I didn't offend her and I didn't get ticked off by her.  There was one moment when John Lambert was "helping" with the sound system, and she got all freaked out because it is Nate's, no one knows how to use it, etc., etc.  I think she calmed down, though, when I reminded her that this Easter thing was a bit of a pilot program and that we would be facing "course corrections" all along the way.  I also reminded her that John was trying to help--a pro-social behavior for him.  I'm not entirely sure she got that, but maybe it impressed her a little

So--Scripture!!  For April 21, today, there is the reflection on Sadducees' interaction with Jesus during Holy Week.  They didn't believe in any resurrection, He pointed out that when we humans try to understand eternal, supernatural, Divine, spiritual truths by interpreting them within our own limited, finite, earthly models of experience, well, no wonder we mess up.  The Sadducees could not fathom how a dead person--dead in the bodily sense--could come back to life somewhere else, somehow else.  Where were they when Lazarus was raised?  So, they came up with this complicated, again earth-bound model of marriage as if that (marriage) was the epitome of fulfillment in the resurrection.  :)  (No offense to my darling husband!)

I love Jesus's answer, dear God.  The people of this age...those worthy of taking part in that age."  He pointed out that Moses somehow believed that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were (are) still alive and enjoying themselves with You.  I don't completely follow His logic, since I am a Westerner and Jesus definitely reasoned from a Middle Eastern/Jewish pattern, let alone from His and Your divine philosophical basis.  But I think that's what it means.

So next Sunday is Heaven Sunday at HBC.  If You want Mom there, can You work something out?  Stupid question--of course You can.  I guess what I really mean is, will You show me what I need to do to partner with Your plan?  Thank You!

I have dawdled for a long time now, Lord.  I would like to get a few more things done before I get too tired.  I love YOU so much.  PS Thank you an enormous amount for allowing our oldest daughter to spend Easter with us.  What a blessing.

Amen!

South Korean Ferry

Lord! This is too much. Please rescue the remaining missing, many of whom are only high school kids on a school trip, from the ferry that is sinking off South Korea. My stomach is upset just imagining what the parents are experiencing, because I would be a wreck. Please, dear God, have mercy! Hosanna, Lord, save [them]!

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!

Such a stupid, silly thing about which to be so grateful, and at the same time a sweet and charming reminder of how You love us and care about even the smallest issues in our lives....

We are caring for our neighbors' cats this week.  They lost both of their beloved dogs, one through a weird and unusual accident involving their dishwasher (!), since January.  Before they left, Judy told me the whole sad story and emphasized that it was completely all right with her if the cats stayed in the house all week.  :)

Roger is not a domesticated, tame type.  He slipped out yesterday morning, and he did not come home last night...or this morning.  Yes, I was a bit anxious.  This is where the sweet "miracle" happened.

I usually see clients on Tuesday nights, but through a weird quirk, no one needed me today.  Lord, I wanted to have an appointment with You (I hope You consider this it!), but I had a strong urging to come home because I felt that Roger might be there.  As I drove up, a little deflated because I did not see him right away, I planned to check quickly and, if he wasn't here, go out to have that appointment with You.  But...I looked out of the driver's side window and saw ~~ a hunkered-down camouflage-patterned hulk that made my heart leap.  There was Roger, under our bump-out.  He came readily to me and allowed me to love on him.  I fed him one of Chloe's Fancy Feast cans.  (Which, incidentally, he polished off.)  He almost came into our house with me, but I walked over to his house and he came quite nicely!

So, he is back and both cats are safely locked up.

Moral:  You care, and You still speak through the urgings in our spirits.  This is both comforting and reassuring.  How lost we would be if You didn't intervene in our lives even in these modern times!

Pastor Tim preached on Acts 10 this week, and though I did not hear the entire sermon, I understood that it was largely about Your impartiality--and our tendency toward favoritism.  I just read the chapter.  My part, the section that connects to this post, is in verse 19: "the Spirit said to him."  Indeed!  You do still speak to those who are listening.  Thank You.  

Better close up shop here.  My secret is still safe, and my promise to have time with You is kept again.  Love You, Lord!

A Promise Kept

Lord, I did say that I would spend some time with You.  I also think I need to talk to You about the church discipline event expected tomorrow.  I have already looked at the Matthew 18 passage; now I wonder about the Ananias and Sapphira passage in Acts.  Where is that?  Acts 5.  In that case, A&S lied to the church.  It was very clear that they could have kept some of the profit from their property sale for themselves.  That was not the infraction.  The problem was the lie.

And what harsh consequences!  Whew!  I wonder whether they were older and already infirm.  This might be reasonable to consider (not assume) since they had property to sell.  They also wanted to keep a cushion for themselves, which might be another reasonable consideration if they were older and no longer working.  I don't want to gentle the problem in their hearts, though.  Sin is still...sin.

Still, Lord, I am loathe to subject myself to church authorities whose judgment I don't trust.  Help me, please, not to think more highly of myself than I ought.  Help me to be brutally honest with You in all things.  It is ridiculously easy to explain away some of my own behaviors, and sometimes I might even make sense.  Oh, to have someone like the therapist/mentor/life coach that I try to be for my clients!!  :) 

Julie's going to call soon.  I promised, Lord!  And I kept my promise.  Bless my daughters and my sometimes-weird husband.  (More on that another time~~not always logical!!)  In Jesus's name~~Amen.

Church Discipline

I am not entirely comfortable with this topic, Lord, but due to our positions as Junior Church coordinators, we have been informed about the membership meeting on April 6 for a church discipline issue.

I don't want to know who, or what.  I do want to ask You to spread Your mercy over the offender(s) and over the leadership.  What I want, what I ask, is that people would be drawn to You in this situation.  Too often these situations breed hurt and hardness in people's hearts, and instead of repentance, these "offenders" are often lost, sometimes for years and occasionally for life.

So, I ask for blessing, gentleness, restoration, and true repentance.  May the leadership handle this in a wise and Godly way, not lording it over anyone.  May they not rest on being "right" but much more on bringing lost sheep back into the sheepfold.  Please, dear Father, may Your magnetism work here to bring glory to Yourself by bringing people back into Your family.

In Jesus name, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, may You direct the script~~Amen.

Katie Raley's Father In Law

Lord, our MOPS acting coordinator, Katie Raley, just sent an email requesting prayer for her father in law who is having what looks to me like neurological events.  I assured her that she could consider him "prayed for," and I want to be good to my word!

So, would you bless him?  How?  Any way You deem appropriate.  The most important thing, I would suggest (not that I can tell You what to do), would be that he and Katie and her husband Charles would have an overwhelming peace that comes from Your being in the rooms with them.  I know, and I believe she knows, that You are always there.  It is perhaps truer for me to ask that they would be aware of You.  You bring peace.  You bring a sense of knowing the future, although we don't.  I think of Martha, who knew that if You had been there when Lazarus was dying, things would have been different.  You allowed Lazarus to die to reveal Your power; but what is more striking to me is that Martha wanted Your presence.

So, please make them aware of Your constant omnipresence and allow that to give them peace.  In Jesus's name, Amen!

Hi, Lord

Not to be too informal, dear Lord, but here I am, finally.  I don't know exactly where to start, but as I often told my daughters, and sometimes my clients, just start anywhere.

I am frustrated and angry about my work.  My own work is deeply satisfying and rewarding; it is the crazy, stupid, shortsighted political environment that gets me so annoyed.

(Random stream of consciousness: just drifted over to Haitian Creations, the designers and producers of two of my tote bags--really, my daughters' bags--and discovered they are diversifying and going online!)

So, dear Lord, prayer--remember Malachi's Message from Adventures in Odyssey?  At the end, Malachi offers Whit an answered prayer.  I think Whit asked for inspiration.  I could use that, too.  What I think I need as well, and I believe I have asked You before, is stamina and endurance.  I am getting tired (and I think my husband is, too).  Please keep us going.  There is much work to be done for our daughters, our Junior Church children, our mothers, our families--heck, just about everyone.  Use us!  Keep us focused on hearing from You and following Your leading.

So, back to work.  Is government inherently evil and opposed to Your purposes?  :)  I am not entirely sure that I am joking about that.  I do feel that our efforts (Yours, and mine and the Christians who are working at WRCH) are often suppressed rather than supported.  Still, there is some good work going on in people's lives and therapy.  There is also some stupid stuff happening.  I guess that is the nature of spiritual warfare.  Help me, please, not to get discouraged.  If You still want me there, I will stay there.  And that brings me to...

...applying for the VA job that Judy Lancey forwarded to me.  Why does she keep thinking of me for these kinds of jobs?  :)  I hope it is a vote of confidence.  I shall apply and see what happens.  It may shake me out of these doldrums, and it certainly is enticing because it could pay more though the benefits like vacation may revert to entry-level.  Hmmm.  Well, I don't have to accept.  Let's see what You say.

For now, dear Lord, I want to pray for family and record those prayers.  I love You, too, as I shared the Moms in Prayer International Facebook post today for my children.  "Because You pay attention to [me], [I will] pray to You as long as [I] live." Psalm 116:2

Amen!

Day Off and Busy

Hi, Lord.  I do have a lot of things on my mind, but I have completed a few things on my to-do list already.  I am going to pause here to go put my sheets in the wash.

They're in.

So now, Lord, I need to sit quietly for about 8 minutes and just let my mind settle and listen to Your leading for the next thing to do.  I did check on Mom's cell phone: $40/month, free phone, not a flip but not a smart phone.  We would need to do something like an "assumption agreement" or similar phrase.  It may well be worth it.

I worked in Julie's room a little today.  It is exhausting!  We have so much STUFF.  Which brings me to another thing to put on my to-do list: take some of the unused clothing/gloves/scarves to the Salvation Army before work on Wednesday.  (What time is my podiatry appointment again?)

I really liked the Praying for Your Husband entry for Day 17 for the mind.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord look at the heart.  I also liked the part of Tim Keller's The Meaning of Marriage section that I read today.  We are all--no matter how wounded--really self-centered at our core.  Challenging!! How can I apply that to my own life?  It's not very easy to think so radically differently....  The tension between serving and being un-self-centered *and* knowing that my husband (every husband) just may also be self-centered is not an easy tension to manage.  Hmmm....

I think I need a nap.

So, baked chicken breasts tonight?  With rice and salad?

My Family

Lord, I thought about entering different posts in the various accounts for my family members.  Maybe I will cut and paste the appropriate parts of this entry into the right places later, if I have time.  For now, I just want to get some prayer time before the MOPS steering meeting, which is supposed to happen here (Barnes & Noble Worcester) in a little over an hour.

George: I have become interested in the idea of praying for him "head to toe," as the title of the book suggests.  Up until now, I had only the sample.  I just ordered the full Kindle version, and I look forward to using February to go through the book and the prayer discipline.  He said via text that he was on his way home--already!!--to feed MY dog, Rocky.  :)  Yeah, right.  Rocky is tethered to George all weekend long, and rightly so.

I just took a peek at the prayers.  They are quite wonderful!  May they become my prayers for George, and may You grant them to bless him and draw him closer to You and us closer to each other.

Amy: Ahhh...I went over to Facebook to look at her page and posts, and tears come to my eyes.  She is so loved by the Mexicans at La Casa, and she so loves them right back.  I know, Lord, that she is praying about spending at least the summer in San Diego and spending much of that time over the border.  My prayer for her is this: that You would guide her and lead her in the way You want her to go, and that she would follow.  I know she mentioned not wanting to upset "Grandma," and that is a wonderfully loving consideration.  Let Your will be done!  Grandma is worried about losing Amy to the West Coast not for any really selfish reason, but because she loves her (both ways round) so much.  Please work this out, and provide for Amy's financial needs according to Your riches in glory!

Julie:  ThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYou!  Her 1st week in Morocco--which, after all, is not quite over yet--sounds like You just dumped a bucket of blessings on her.  By extension, we feel blessed, too!  The flights went smoothly, the first hotel was wonderful, the car/shuttle driver from the airport was anointed by You, and best of all, her home-stay family sounds WONDERFUL!!    (With Western toilets and showers--LOL!)  She is thinking deeply about some potentially upsetting issues about children and poverty, which thrills me and scares me at the same time.  Please allow the remainder of her time in Morocco to be just as blessed, and ... I am not quite sure I have the authority to ask You to use her to expand Your boundaries, since everyone needs to invite You to do that for themselves.  Still, my mother's heart begs for Your protection, for Your leading, for Your teaching her deep and wonderful things, and most of all, for Your continued work IN her life.

Okay~~wandering time over to the MOPS website!  Please use me in this meeting, and grant me much wisdom about what to say, if anything, and when to say it, and most of all, how to say what You want me to say.

Amen!

Bless Her, Indeed!

Bless Her, Indeed!

 

 

Julie's destination

Ahhh.  It is 9:24 a.m. and here I am, Lord!  Later than I had hoped, but I am keeping this “appointment” with you here in my office on Sever Street.  I have SO little time to spend in devoted, undistracted time with You.  (Not complaining—more confessing.)  So, let me get to the most pressing issue on my heart today: my younger daughter going to Morocco in just 5 days.

 

How do I feel about this trip?  It’s a funny mix of emotions.  I admit to a bit of fear and anxiety, and I wished (yes, past tense) that she would have gone to Eastern Europe instead.  However, I also think this is an adventure of a lifetime.  I am excited for her!  She has such a lot to do before Thursday, and I would please ask Your assistance to get it all done.  Sometimes she is not organized with regard to timing.  (I wonder if she inherited that from her father.  Haha!)  We need a couple of specific acts of grace from You: she needs her World Health Organization form signed before she leaves, and … okay, now I forget.  Oh, yeah.  She needs her contacts for 15 weeks.  Oy.  Grace, dear understanding Father.  Please?

Moreover, please pursue her during this time away from a lot of Christian fellowship.  I know, I am sometimes too arrogant about the weaknesses in many of my Christian family members.  Maybe even more than “sometimes.”  The sin of pride, right?  L  Well, I digress.  My prayer/desire/request for Julie is this: that her relationship with You might be strengthened and deepened during this time away, a relatively solitary and individual time for her faith.  Of course, humanly and maternally I ask for safety for her.  (I wonder what Your mother must have gone through, releasing You to danger and death.  I feel for her!)

And now, what?  It’s 9:49 a.m., and I expect my client in 10 minutes.  Bless her, too.  That’s an entry for another page.  J

I love You more than anyone else, and not enough, at the same time. 

In Jesus’s name~~Amen.

 

PS  Scott Hassett and Gail, Shayna, and the other daughter whose name I don’t think I ever put in my memory—Scott is dying of pancreatic cancer, and likely soon.  Do You remember Andrew, the Angel of Death from Touched By An Angel?  (Of course You do.)  They could use some angels to bring comfort, humor, and grace during Scott’s homegoing.  Make it wonderful, as wonderful as the death of a loved one can be, please?

Joey's ASVAB

(ASVAB stands for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.)

Father, that dear nephew by Bill, Joey, posted his ASVAB score on Facebook today.  It is a below average score, not surprising for those of us who know and love Joey.  The specific subtests seem to be important to indicate what kinds of jobs he might have, should the military still take him.

What do I want to talk about with You?  About Joey?  Well, let's see.  I would so much like to see him feel secure and loved, not only by us but by You.  I am afraid that his parents and their example and influence in his life have hardened his heart to spiritual things.  So perhaps that really ought to be the first focus of prayer--softening his heart.  YOU are the One to do this, and as Your child/minister/servant, I am willing to be used by You to assist in this work.  It is a great work!  Rescuing lost souls is a harder job than I ever thought, and much more subtle than just preaching on a street corner.  Ahhhh.

So, if only by virtue of my telling him that I am talking to You about him, please assure him that You are interested in his life.  That You care deeply about his future and his happiness.  That You are so committed to him that You even died in his place for his sins which, unforgiven, would keep him in hell forever.  In Jesus's name, by the work of the Holy Spirit, and to Your glory~~Amen.



Prayer for CE?

Hello, Lord.  Don't take the dates difference between these posts to indicate that I have not prayed.  You know that!  Just now on Facebook, one of the Junior Church teachers with a learning disabled (maybe) daughter, Kassidy, asked for prayer for Kassidy's midterm exam tomorrow.  I am honored to partner with You in prayer in Kassidy's life.  So....

Dearest Heavenly Father, how often we humans fail the "tests" that You place before us.  Too often.  For a young person with learning challenges, the struggle with tests is not only academic but spiritual.  Lord, would You honor Kassidy by allowing her a decently passing grade?  More importantly, dear God, would You calm her heart in an extraordinary Divine way that can come only from You?  Help her to pass the test to "be anxious for nothing."  But--remind her to pray with thanksgiving!  We love her and her mom, Lord God.  Please use this trial to prove Yourself to her, to strengthen the bond that she has with You, and to be exalted and glorified.  In Jesus's wonderful name~~Amen.

Another thing, dear God.  This one has the potential to be twitchy.  I think I need to communicate with the pastor of our church about the state of CE, specifically Junior Church but touching on Nursery as well.  I am NOT good at this.  In fact, I am actively avoiding writing this letter.  Maybe I will keep it 95% newsy and positive.  Please inspire me.  I don't think I will write it tonight.  I will, however, continue to ask Your thoughts and direction on it.  Please give me an outline of what to say.  I also need You to help me, my Ezer, with the annual report due next week.  I would continue to embrace these ministries with zeal and excitement if I did not have so many distractions in my life, you know.  I wish HBC would hire a Children's Ministry Coordinator.

Okay, I told our daughter that I would try to be home by 7:30 p.m.  I don't have much time left.  Sometimes I just need to sit long enough for the distractions in my head to drift off and allow the important, heavy issues to remain behind.  A whole day...what a dream!

I love You so much!  Be exalted!  Jesus, the most beautiful name that I know.

Scott Hassett, HBC Elder

Scott has been on my heart lately, dear Father.  What a blow to him and his family to be diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer!  I am without words to pray.  I just posted a picture of the tree pin that I got from Scott.  I hope that others will respond and pray for him, remember his struggle and the suffering of the family, and bring him--as I am doing now--before Your throne of grace.

Pray for one another.  Didn't You say that a few times in Scripture?  Yup, in James 5:16 and specifically "so that you may be healed."  I could use healing, too, Lord, but Scott needs some physical miracle so much more than I do right now.  Again, though, I have no idea exactly what to ask You to do.  Bring him relief of pain; bring Gail relief of anxiety; bring them both amazingly, so much closer to You through this awful time.  Be glorified!  In Jesus's most powerful name, Who healed bodies to show that that's the easy part, and that healing souls and forgiving sin is the way harder thing to do~~Amen.

Ending 2013

Lord, I may have only about 10 minutes, if that, for this entry.  It's Your birthday week!  What a whirlwind it has been, and it's not over.  Still, it was a good week, but I am tired.  I just wanted to connect with You briefly before the craziness of the weekend and the New Year commences.

So, I didn't do as well as I wanted in keeping an Advent journal, but I did read the Advent devotional almost every day.  It was John Piper's "Good News of Great Joy."  He quoted Tim Keller at the end, and I cannot get the quote out of my mind:

"Humility is so shy.  If you begin talking about it, it leaves."

Oh, yes.  John Piper's final meditation talked about Jesus's humility and servanthood as noted in Philippians, which he called a Christmas text.  Well worth pondering, which I guess is what I am doing.

Well, not to be rude, but I really should get going.  The family won't understand the huge delay.  If only they knew that I need some time alone to journal...but George particularly would want to read what I write, and it is intended ONLY for You.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

My Nephew Joe

Dear Father, my impulsive but courageous and good-hearted nephew Joe did something incredibly stupid recently.  He totaled a police cruiser that he was driving to a domestic dispute by running a red light.  Please, in Your great mercy so powerfully illustrated in the Christmas story, spare him the awful consequences of losing his job.  He was foolish.  We all know that--even he knows that.  But we have all been foolish.  Let this be an example of great grace, or wonderful forgiveness, of second chances and the opportunity to start again.  Please allow him to hold on to his job because he loves it, because his family needs it--and him, and because You are trying to get into his life.  We know that this is something that we can give to You to weave into Your plan for his life and ultimately his relationship with You--his salvation.  In Jesus's name~~Amen.

"Mommy's Mad!"

Dear Heavenly Father, I contracted with myself to spend some time in prayer before I returned to working on the talk for MOPS on Thursday.  Here I am.  I'm a little bit tired, but tonight was a gift.  My only client canceled (although for a horrible reason--her daughter is in jail and the father of the grandkids committed suicide in jail), and I came to Barnes and Noble to spend some time with You.  It's a date!  So would You meet me here?

(I took a moment or two to look for an old worship song I knew.  I couldn't find it, but the idea was "I'm here...Meet me here.")

Who but You knows how many women will be with us on Thursday?  Please bring the ones that need to come.  Let me be sensitive to them and to Carra's desire to get the wrapping done early--maybe by 8 p.m. so that she can leave.  Let me be both Biblically sound and clinically competent, which has been my career-long prayer.  Please give me exactly what someone needs, or several someones need, to be effective mothers and excellent examples of emotion management.

This is an honor to speak, of course, and I want to point women to You for their strength and wisdom in parenting.  I hope that I speak from the experience of relying on You for that strength and wisdom.  What would my daughters say?

Okay, the timer went off.  I will do a bit of research now and get a PowerPoint up, mostly for myself to stay on track.  "Bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory (my influence), and [may] your hand ... be with me, and [may] you ... keep me from harm!"  1 Chronicles 4:10