I’ve been working my way through Your 100 Day Prayer: The Transforming Power of Actively Waiting On God, by John Snyder, over at Counting My Blessings this summer.
I believe that finding this book was a God appointment in my life. You see, I’ve been praying about something for a VERY long time. God has blessed me with peace and patience most of the time, but occasionally when longing sets in and my heart hurts . . . well, I’ll bet you can relate.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is:
Prayer is not like rubbing a magic lamp to get our wishes granted.
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One of my Facebook friends left the following post the other day:
My daughter’s school records have the wrong date for her birthday. Now my five year old thinks her school is right, and that I don’t really know when when she was born. – Hello! I was there!
Too funny! As a former Kindergarten teacher, I remember how quickly a five year old can get confused, how often a child believed me over their parents. I used to tell all moms and dads, “I will only believe half of what comes to school; will you will only believe half of what comes home.”
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I’ve been thinking about time alot this week. Starting a new calendar is a big deal. I love having a clean planner, dates stretch out fresh with possibilities. No appointments scribbled out yet and no reminders of my problem with procrastination or promptness, just clean white pages waiting to be filled.
Did you know that God cares about time?
I did a search of the use of the word “time” in the NIV Bible, and discovered that it is used 888 times. The first verse which includes the word “time” is in the Book of Genesis, the first chapter, where in verse 5 it says:
God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.”
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I spent some time visiting with a dear friend the other day. We each have things that are heavy on our hearts. Issues that we see as being potential problems for God’s people. Situations where individuals are investing themselves in things that could ultimately hurt them spiritually, and also have a ricochet effect on the lives of those closest to them.
How do you handle this kind of conversation?
I have a few tips to share should you ever find yourself in a similar situation.
1. Don’t Gossip
- Be very careful to discuss the problem without names.
- Details are unnecessary, stick to the big picture.
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I am glad that it’s October.
Yes, I know that October brings us one month closer to winter, and for those of you who live in the frozen northern lands like me that means snow, but I really am grateful for a new start. Somehow when I flip the calendar over and see the month — the new month — it fills me with hope and opportunity.
You see, September was hard. September didn’t go as planned. Our family was sick most of the month. When you have a family of nine a long lasting cold really becomes a long lasting cold.
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Our children are in the process of potty-training our two and a half year old grandson. He is a willing and happy learner, but he is definitely still in a work in progress. A few weeks ago they shared the following story with me:
“Your grandson is trying, but lately when he misses his potty chair and leaves a little puddle on the floor, he goes and finds Zoe. (Their new puppy, who is still little enough for a two and a half year old boy to carry and is still in training herself).
JJ carries Zoe to the puddle, puts her nose by it, and scolds her.
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I have been walking through an intense season of trust over the last year. My husband was laid off from a very well-paying construction job last June. It threw our already troubled finances into a tail spin. On top of all of that, we were in the process of losing our home. We tried for a year in every way imaginable to work with our mortgage company so that we could keep our home. In the end, we had no other choice but to short sale in order to avoid foreclosure. As we sat last week and signed the papers, I did not really feel anything except numbness.
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Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Sometimes it’s hard to know which way to turn, which area of your life has gotten out of balance and which needs to be steered back on course. Every since I’ve become a mom, I’ve struggled with balance. Yet, I’ve been able to encourage others along the way even though I don’t have it all figured out myself…
I wrote the following to a friend who was starting on a similar journey of balance in her own life:
“Listen to that gentle whisper God is speaking to your heart and see where He wants you to let go.
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