Sunday School

I have been helping out in Sunday School once a month for the past couple of months.  Yesterday, the lady I normally help with was sick so our pastor's wife filled in for her.  She sort of had to throw things together (I am just the helper, just show up and try to corral kids which is not always easy!).  Yesterday she hadn't had time to prepare a Bible verse for the kids to learn.  My princess has been learning verses at school, they do it by the alphabet.  I asked her if there was a verse she knew that we could memorize as a class (she remembers them better than I).  We came up with B, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" was fitting for the lesson and easy for the kids to memorize.  I think she was so proud of herself for being able to contribute and to actually say it in front of the class.  She is my shy one so whenever I see her reaching out past her comfortable boundaries, it makes me feel happy.
Just thought I would share.  It is fun to watch my kids grow up and see the people they are becoming in this world.  Oh and listening to her sing the worship songs as she cuddled next to me brought tears to my eyes.  I love the fact that they are singing praise songs and putting the Bible into their hearts!
And please, feel free to add your prayer requests to the comments section.  I really do love praying for my friends!

Just a Reminder

If you have anything you would like prayer for, please enter it into the comments section of the prayer request page.  I do check it and I would love to pray for my friends.  I do already actually but sometimes there is a need for specific prayers.
This has not been a good day for me but I was reminded yesterday of how incredibly blessed I am.  Incredibly blessed to live in this country, to have a home, plenty of food, 3 beautiful healthy children.  Sometimes all you need is some perspective.  I see patients come to me in pain.  Sometimes it is physical pain but sometimes it is emotional pain.  I have a patient who I started seeing a couple of months ago for a fractured shoulder/joint replacement, and at the time whose husband was just diagnosed with a tumor in his leg.  I have watched this very stoic woman go from being optimistic, encouraged, supportive to being distraught and burdened by her husbands' pain.  He had radiation for 5 weeks every day then had to stop to get it out of his system before surgery next week.  She says she can see the tumor grow almost daily and her husband is really in agony while being on the strongest dose of morphine he can have.  Last week, her PCP told her he would probably have his leg amputated.  What a burden for this woman who couldn't even comb her own hair a few weeks ago. 
Why am I saying all this?  I just need to be reminded sometimes that my life is good.  And that there are people out there whose life is not so good.  And even if my life is not as good or perfect as I would like, I know God is by my side every step of the way. 
Thankfully this woman is a believer.  If you have a moment, please pray for her and her husband and the doctors who will be doing the surgery.

Honor..

thy father and  mother.  That is the 4th commandment and something we talked about at our sunday night church get together.  The pastor also talked about the 3rd Commandment: keeping the Sabbath and it was interesting because he had a lot to say about that one but the 4th was short.  It seems pretty simple right?  Especially if you are a kid (I still think of our assistant pastor as a kid, I guess I am at that age) who had amazing parents who were worth honoring and obeying.  Not that it is always easy as a young child to honor and obey but you learn when you  have good role models. 
But what happens when you don't?  When you don't really look at one or both of your parents as honorable?  Our wise mishmashmaggie had some good things to say about this.  I won't be able to say it as eloquently as she did but basically she told how her mom became a Christian because Lainie was able to honor her parents in the way God wants us to.  That's pretty amazing.  Coming from a family where I struggle to honor especially my father because of the choices he has made in his life, this was a good lesson for me.  But he is my father and I am really the only believer he is around.  I don't know if he has felt my dishonor of him but it is there, in my heart and clearly something I need to work on.  And if it is in my heart, then it might be coming out more than I realize.  Definitely something to pray about.

Sweet Surrender

     I was going to write this post last week...but last week was not a great week and actually, I am so glad I waited until after this past weekend.
     2 weekends ago, I was burnt out.  I had been taking care of my mom who had knee surgery, dealing with a bad case of vertigo, not getting enough sleep and just had too much on my place.   So when Sunday came, I was done.  You know that feeling.  Where you just want to curl up and have "me" time. 
     I should know better.  There is a difference between selfishly wanting "me" time and doing things that calm the spirit and give me the true rest that I need.
     Our church has started a study on the Ten Commandments.  It was going to be Sunday night and I did not want to go.  But I prayed that if we were to go, my husband would want to go.  (We are good at balancing out each other that way).  But I completely sabotaged it by telling him I really didn't want to go but would go if he wanted.  What exactly was he supposed to say to that?  Especially with the tone I used.  So we didn't go.  And I was miserable.  Even though he was incredibly supportive and told me we could have a relaxing evening at home.  My evening was no where near relaxing.  I could have gone and had a potluck dinner, dove more deeply into the Word, and spent time with a great bunch of people.  Instead, I rushed to cook dinner, get the kids in baths and bed and then whatever other projects I felt I had to do.  And this mood carried over into monday.  Not a good day.  Because I knew.  I knew I had disobeyed God and it is not a good feeling.
     So come Tuesday,when we had Women's Prayer group and I sort of didn't want to go (wanted some down time), I went and was completely blessed and felt blessed for the rest of my day.  Saturday came a Women's All Day Retreat.  I waivered back and forth, go all day, go part of the day, go all day, go part of the day.  But in my heart I knew, I should go all day.  So I did.  And it was amazing.  And I didn't feel harried or overwhelmed at the end of the day even though I had been gone all day.  And my kids did amazing at soccer and my husband took good care of them.
     Sunday comes and church and we are getting out of church late b/c hubby is helping break things down.  Which is great but it gets us home late and then he had to help a friend take care of a chicken who was hurt.  So we got home late and the evening thing was coming in just a few short hours.  And I didn't totally want to go, because, well, I was tired and wanted down time.  But we went.  And we ate amazing food and the kids played awesome with other kids and actually I feel made new friends.  And I learned some good lessons about the Ten Commandments.  And I felt rested.  Yes, my weekend was crazy and I got absolutely nothing done around my house and I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked but...I obeyed God, I was nourished by Him, nourished by our church body and I felt really good.  I am super tired today but I still feel like I am carrying around that peace that only comes from Him.
     Obeying God is hard sometimes but He knows so much more than us.  When we surrender to His will for our lives, it is so much easier.  Life isn't always better, but it is easier to deal with the bad stuff when you feel the peace of God.  You know you can get through it with Him at your side.

New page

Forgive me as I am trying to figure out how best to work this blog.  I feel the prayer requests are sort of getting lost in the grand scheme of things. I cannot figure out how to make a section on the main page where requests could just be added so I created it's own page off to the right that says "prayer request page".  It might be an extra step in a way but maybe easier for you guys to find.
I am open to suggestions if anyone has any better ideas or if there are things you like/don't like about my blog. 

Free Stuff

I love getting free stuff.  I have sort of been signing up for all sorts of samples that I see listed on blogs and then forget what I have signed up for until a mysterious box arrives in my mail and it is like Christmas.  I know it is silly but I love it.  Plus there are lots of deals out there where you create an account and get a credit.  Then you wait for a good deal and basically get something for free or by paying for shipping.
So I just found one of these, I don't even know the site but if you go here to Rue La La you will get a $20 credit for creating an account.  Apparently it takes up to 2 days to get your credit so I haven't ordered anything but they have a lot of different boutiques and anything from clothes to spas to baked gift baskets.  Some things were outrageous but some things were decently priced especially if you take the $20 off. 
Sounds fun right?  I will check back in a couple of days and make sure I get my credit and maybe I can score a Christmas present from it. 
Man I love free stuff!

Prayer Requests 10/12

"always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God."  Col. 4:12b

How amazing would it be to live a life complete in the will of God?  Or standing perfect?  I know it is an impossible task but I love the thought of it.  Life would be so different I think if we were able to be in God's will all the time.  It might not be easier but it would be more comforting if that makes sense.  I know we are to withstand trials and tribulations but it is better going through them knowing and feeling God is on our side walking through it with us.

So as I am trying to pray fervently for my dear friends, what specific things can I pray for you this week?