Thankful for Prayers

The other day my Grandpa was talking to me about last weeks blog's post about God's plans for our lives. He said that when he was growing up his family was quite poor but his parents always made sure there was enough money to send the kids to church camp. One summer, I think Grandpa was in junior high, the speaker at the camp told them to take out a piece of paper and sign their names at the bottom. The paper was blank. The speaker told them that was their contract with God. When they gave their lives to Him they signed the contract, now He got to fill in the details. From that time on Grandpa knew that he was going to be a pastor. He built his life on that knowledge and straight from high school he headed into Bible college. God always had a plan for His life and although his years of ministry have been anything but easy He trusted in that plan and lived his life for the Lord.

However just living your life day by day with a vague plan in mind is exhausting. Sure there's a goal and a vague reason for your decisions but what happens when life gets hard? When you get a curveball thrown at you? You need something to rejuvenate you, to remind you of why you're living your life for the Lord. A vague concept of "because God has called me to this" isn't going to be enough for most people. It certainly wouldn't be for me.

That's why this week what I'm grateful for is what takes us from living out a set of guidelines or rules and makes our faith a relationship. Prayer. The ability and gift and commandment to communicate and commune with our Lord and Savior.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Prayer is one of the greatest tools we have in helping us live our lives for Christ. It's one of the best weapons we have in fighting against the enemy. It's the greatest medicine we can ask for in asking for healing for ourselves or others. 

We don't always get the answer we want when we pray. Sometimes it's no, or wait, or I'm going to give you what you want but not in the way you expected, or I'm going to give you what you need but not what you want, or sometimes it's just yes. 

Prayers is not a method of accessing God like a vending machine. We can't just send up a prayer like we would put in some cash and then expect God to drop down whatever we've asked for like a bag of Cheez-It's. Prayer is about communication. We use prayer to talk to God, to share with Him our fears and concerns and burdens. To thank Him for all He's given us. To rejoice about what He's doing and praise Him for His many wonderous blessings and for all of creation. We pray on behalf of others and intercede for them because God wants to hear from us. We pray because prayer has power and the more we pray and our faith is strengthened the less power the enemy has. We pray so we can hear what God has to say to us. And we pray because we are His children and talking to our loving Father is something we should delight in as much as He delights in hearing from us.

Prayer is a very mysterious thing to me most of the time. It's also very simple. We pray to talk to God. And we pray to hear from Him. Prayer is powerful. I may not understand how it all works but I've seen the effects. 

My great-grandparents prayed for their children to love the Lord. Four of their six children went into full time ministry. They prayed to have the money to provide for those kids and God always gave them enough to send their kids to camp. My grandpa prayed that God would use him and he spent over 60 years as a pastor. God answers prayers. Not always in the way we want or expect but He does answer. And our faith is strengthened by spending time with Him. 

I don't know what your praying for today but when you take time to speak to the Lord today I encourage you to thank Him for the power and the blessing of prayer. It's something we all have reason to be incredibly thankful for.

God's Plan

 This week the thing I'm most thankful for is that God has a plan for my life. Please believe me when I tell you that is not a statement that I take lightly, nor is it an easy one for me to say. There are days that I cannot even pretend to understand why He allows things to happen or why He doesn't cause other things to occur. There are prayers that go unanswered, sometimes I pray something that I'm sure will be granted and instead He says no. Other times there are prayers that go years and years before they come to fruition. And there's some that He answers in a way that I would never expect or even want. 

Jeremiah 29:11 is probably one of the most quoted verses today. And I can understand why, after all the words are very inspiring.

'"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."'

It sounds wonderful. Until you look at the context. This isn't just a wishy-washy, 'hey I want you all to be happy' type of verse. It so much more serious. Jeremiah is in middle of telling the people that the Babylonians will conquer their land and drag them all off into captivity. And not just them but their children and everyone they love. These Babylonians, the people's enemies, will take them away from everything they know and hold dear. Yet with that dire prophecy hanging over them Jeremiah also gives them this amazing promise from God. The prophet tells them that God will not abandon them in Babylon and He will not forget them. After 70 years God will bring them back. 

Sometimes I'll be praying something for a few months and then I get discouraged so I give up. I can't imagine heading into 70 YEARS of exile away from my home and trying to cling to this prophecy, can you? On the other hand, isn't this the same verse we cling to every time we face something difficult?

I do believe that this verse applies to us. God does know the plans that He has for each of us. And in Romans 8:28 Paul says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." 

So does God have plans for good? For our future if we are His children? Yes, of course! Does that make it easy believing in His plan? Not so much. However it does give me reason to be incredibly thankful that He has a plan for my life. It's probably not the plan that I expect, and maybe not the one I would hope for. It will also be far better then I can dream. 

When life gets troubled and things are hard let this be what we remember; God has a plan for our lives, it's a plan for good. He plans to give us hope and a future. That's what I'm incredibly thankful for this week.

Our Country

This week I want to really take a moment to reflect on how grateful I am for this country. The freedoms and liberties are some of the things I hold most dear in this world. So many men and women have fought, bled, and died for this great nation. Many of my ancestors were among them. In more recent history some who have signed up have been friends of mine, and family members. Just this week my brother joined those honored ranks. He follows in the footsteps of my dad before him. 

I'm so grateful for the sacrifices that they and their families have made to protect our freedoms. And today I want to take a moment to focus on some the freedoms that I'm most thankful for.

-Freedom of Speech: It is a rare and amazing privilege to live in a nation where we have freedom of speech. Yes, people abuse this all the time. However that's their right. And whereas in other nations telling someone about Jesus could be considered hate speech, here in America, even if others disagree, we still have the right to say it. That's a truly incredible gift and one I'm so thankful for. Without that gift I wouldn't be able to write about whatever I want; because of it, the things I write on my blog or in my books is protected by my constitutional right.

-The right to protect ourselves: The right to keep and bear arms is just as rare if not more so then the freedom of speech. This allows us to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our properties. Those things cannot just be taken away from us. They are ours and we have to right to defend them. Think about it. Without this right someone with power could come and take your children, or your house, and you wouldn't have any legal right to stop them. That's why this right is so significant and why we must fight to keep it.

-The right to worship: I'm sure that there's times we wish everyone worshiped the way we did but the right to worship or not worship, as we choose is one of the most amazing things about this country. It's the same choice that God has given us since the beginning. Obey Him or not. Our country gives us protection to make that choice. We can worship the Lord or not but the  government won't interfere with our decision. That's pretty incredible.

-To protest: This one's harder. I find that I disagree with a lot of the reasons people protest these days but I'm grateful they have the right to. Think for a moment what would happen if you decided to stage a protest in a communist country. Or one run by a dictator. 

. . .

Got that image in your head? Yeah. Now imagine what it's like when people protest here. They are given the right to meet and protest peacefully and our government protects that right. That's an incredible, sometimes unheard of, idea. Let's not take it for granted.

-The right to vote: The right to free and fair elections is one of the most crucial things in one allows our nation to be what it is today. This is not a political statement or a pitch for one side or the other. It is a reminder that this right, and all of these rights, bear with them an incredible responsibility. Please, do not take them lightly.

So that's it. This week I'm thankful for our nation, and I'm incredibly thankful for those who choose every day to defend it. I'm also honored that my brother has now become one of those serving but it's not without sacrifice. When my 7 year old niece learned he was leaving she started crying and asked him why he had to go. He told her that he was joining the Navy to protect the people of this great nation. She was just sad she won't get to see him for a long time and I understand, I'm sad about that too; but I'm so proud of the fact that she'll know her uncle was out there making sure she could grow up safe and free in this great nation.

Thank you to all who have served or are serving and thank you to the families who pay so many sacrifices and don't get the recognition you deserve. 

Thankful for Family

Happy November everyone! In years past I try to take time in November to think about the things that I'm thankful for. This week has had some interesting ups and downs and a few times of just feeling 'blah'. I think that makes it more important to focus on what I'm thankful for. 

This week I'm choosing to think of one of the greatest blessing I have. My family. Those I'm legally or biologically related to and those I'm not. My family always had an "open door" policy growing up. There were tons of people in and out of our lives and our home. It led to me having a bit of a different definition of family. 

I choose to believe that family isn't always the people we share blood with but the people we choose to let be a part of our lives and choose to be a part of theirs.

This week we celebrated two birthdays of "family members" that I'm not related to.

The first, my adorable godson. Clay turned 4 this week I can hardly believe it! His mom, Haleigh, has been a part of my family for over ten years. She was one of several teenagers who lived with my family at different times. Haleigh and her husband Josh, later returned the favor by letting me live with them for over a year when we were in our early twenties. I was there when they found out they were expecting their first child, Sam. I got to be there when both Sam and Clay were born. And I have the great pleasure of being godmother to those two beautiful children. Clay may not look like me but he's 100% my nephew and I'm so grateful to have him, his sister, and his parents as part of my family.

The other birthday was my brother's best friend, Michael. He's been part of our family for over half my life. He's also in about half of our family photos. My nephew was named after him. He's one of those people that will always be there for any of us if we need anything. That's just a few of the reasons that we're blessed to call him a part of our family. 

There's others I'm grateful for. My amazing parents. My sweet grandparents. My hilarious aunts, uncles and awesome cousins. My incredible siblings, my adorable nieces and nephews. My wonderful friends and so many others.

I'm extremely blessed with those in my life. The family that I was born with and those who have been added to my life through the years. I wouldn't know what to do without them. 

That's my first thankful post. What about you? Who in your family are you thankful for this week?

Saturday Morning Adventure

  Friday afternoon as I was leaving work I was thinking about everything that I needed to do this weekend. My mind was on errands that I needed to run, paperwork that was waiting, bills needing paid. I had cleaning to do, food that needed cooked or used up, scenes needing written, emails to answer and people to see. As I said goodbye to my boss she told me to do something fun this weekend. For a minute I just looked at her, trying to come up with what fun thing I could do. She even offered me some suggestions but I wasn't sure how to fit those in with my planned schedule.

When I got home I decided to start on my fun project" before diving into work. My at home pedicure and facial that followed definitely helped me relax but there was still a lot of work waiting. First on the list was a blog for the week. When I sat down to write this post I discovered that I had no inspiration. None. I had a list of topics I could write about but the words wouldn't flow. 

 A new tactic was needed. So I set an alarm for early Saturday morning. Armed with a cup of coffee, a light breakfast, warm clothes and some hiking boots I set off for my adventure.

I knew exactly where I was headed. This trail is one of my favorite places on earth. Not far from where I grew up I've hiked it countless times but it never ceases to bring me joy an amazement as I wonder at God's beautiful creation.

As I walked and studied the turning leaves, the river's currents and the cool fall air I reveled in the peace as I was able to clear my head. Inspiration came again and topics flooded my mind of things I could write about. 

One of the blessings of this early morning hike was the time it gave me time to just to think and pray. I sang hymns in my head, mediated on memorized Scripture verses and prayed for my upcoming projects. It was a time of rejuvenation and peace.

Where do you go when you need to clear your head and relax? Do you have your own favorite trail? Leave me a picture in the comments, I'd love to see it!

*Safety tips and reminders- Before you go hiking make sure you know where you're going and have emergency supplies on hand. When possible take someone with you and always make sure someone know where you go and what time you plan to be back. Be aware of the laws for camping, fires, parking etc. Make sure that you know of any wildlife in the area and know what to do in the unlikely case of a dangerous encounter.

Happy fall everyone!

 

Dedicated to the Lord

My grandpa tells this story from his days of ministry. This couple came to him and told him that their children had felt God calling them to become foreign missionaries. As a pastor Grandpa was excited for them. He talked about how excited they must be that their children were going to do something so wonderful such as dedicating their lives to telling others about Jesus. Then he sent them on their way. 

Some years later Grandpa's oldest daughter, my aunt, and her husband came to my Grandpa. They told him that God had called them to be missionaries in Austria. They were taking three of Grandpa's grandchildren and moving to the other side of the world. They were going to dedicate their lives to telling others about Jesus. 

Suddenly Grandpa's perspective changed. He realized how that couple must have felt all those years ago. 

Yes, his child becoming a missionary was a wonderful thing but it was hard on Grandpa. This was his child that was leaving. She may have been an adult but she was still his little girl and he would miss her. And he would miss his three grandchildren that were also moving. He wasn't going to get to watch them grow up. 

Then the Lord reminded Grandpa of something. I don't think Grandpa heard an audible voice but he still heard the Lord speak and say "You dedicated her to me."

That's the hard part. When my aunt was born Grandpa and Grandma dedicated her to the Lord. They promised they would raise her to love Him and teach her to serve Him. So when she came to them and say that she was doing just that who were they to argue?

That doesn't mean it didn't hurt though. They missed her when she left, and they still miss her over thirty years later but they're also incredibly proud of her. 

When you give your life to the Lord, or you give your children to the Lord, He doesn't tell you what path He'll take you down. You sign your name at the bottom of the page and He fills in the contract details later. It may be painful at times but it will always be worth it. God works all things together for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. After my aunt and uncle became missionaries their family grew- they have a daughter who was adopted, and they've had many blessings from their time there. They've also been able to lead others to Christ and bring many closer to Him. It may not have been Grandpa's chosen path for his oldest daughter but He's grateful for the road that God put her on.

In Loving Memory

It's interesting how different months have different causes attached to them. One month is the awareness month for Alzheimer's well another months is awareness for Autism, or child abuse or strokes, and so on. This isn't a criticism. Those causes are all serious and worthy of our attention and raising awareness and funds.  October is breast cancer awareness month. It's also Pregnancy and Infant Loss awareness month.

When I was little my grandparents lived next door to us. We were on the same piece of property but different houses. I don't remember what age I was the first time that my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer. I do remember that my aunt was diagnosed around the same time. Then, at least from the perspective of a child, it seemed to go away and life went back to normal. I think it was a couple of years later when grandma's cancer came back. I don't remember being overly worried about it at first, after all she'd beaten it before. I was scared, but I didn't really grasp the full implications of what this could mean. Unfortunately life wasn't that simple. The cancer was hard on her. And when she suffered a massive stroke it proved too much for her body to come back from. We had her with us for nine more months. I was eleven when she passed away.

A few years later another aunt got breast cancer. I was a teenager that time around and had a much better understanding of what it meant. I was terrified, and I remember times of literally being on my knees begging God to please spare her. And He did. She's been over ten years cancer free and I'm so grateful.

These loved ones are not the only ones that I've watched suffer with this awful disease. It's why this awareness cause means so much to me.

And then there's Pregnancy and Infant Loss awareness. This one's much harder to write about because it's not my story. Or it is, but not in the way most people think of it. There's too many children to specify in this post. Most of them never had a name but I still carry their loss with me. 

One, the one that haunts me the most, is my nephew. Tayden. Tayden was born on May 6th, 2010. And that was the same day he died. He only lived for the briefest of moments. He was born premature and I can still remember the moment the phone rang that morning, telling my parents the news. I didn't want to get out of bed, I tried to go back to sleep because I knew from the part of the conversation I overheard that it was bad news. 

Tayden was my oldest nephew and I was so excited to meet him. My brother and sister-in-law, his parents, had previous miscarriages, so when they got past the first trimester I was overjoyed. I couldn't wait to finally be an aunt. And I was devastated when we lost him. To this day one of the things I look forward to most about heaven is getting to meet Tayden, and my other nieces and nephews for the first time.

There were other children too, some of my other siblings have had miscarriages that have broken my heart. My best friend lost a little one as well. Every time it's a devastating loss. Although I can't understand the pain that their parents have gone through I do carry a burden of pain as well. As those kiddo's aunt I miss them every day and I know that pain won't ever really leave until I'm reunited with them in heaven one day. I'm so grateful for the nieces and nephews that I have, living, but I'll always miss the ones that I never got to snuggle and spoil. 

That's why this cause is so dear to my heart. 

So this October say a prayer for those who are dealing with breast cancer or who have had a miscarriage or lost an infant. And if you're a family member then please understand that this is your pain too. You may not have been the one going through chemo or hearing the doctor's tragic confirmation but it's still a loss. And if you need someone to talk to or just to lend an ear then leave me a note in the comments of how I can reach out or send me an email. I'm happy to talk and pray with you anytime.