Thy Wings Shall My Petition Bear

South Georgia Egret

Colossians 4:2 NIV

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."

Many people know the old hymn, "Sweet Hour of Prayer" and its expression of joy that comes from communion with God through prayer.

The third verse proclaims:

"Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!"


I practice praying. I struggle with praying in silence and out loud. What ends up happening when I pray is more of a discussion between God and me. I try to listen to him. I look for signs from Him to show I am on the right path.


The strongest sign He gives me is a rainbow. He uses other ways to talk to me as well: A funny comment on a bumper sticker, a street sign, and Bible verses or devotions timely read.


When I first began leading Children's Moments at church once a month, I worried about praying in front of the adults. One of my high school students gave me advice I still use: Keep the prayer short and on the topic.  As long as I do that, I am able to pray in public, and I get a little more comfortable about it each month.


Prayer is an art to be developed with practice. Thankfully, God fills the gap and understands what we are trying to convey in our half-words and awkward pauses.
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Dear Lord, thank you for your truth, faithfulness and grace as we approach you each day with our cares in prayer.

The Joy of Spending Time With You

Cumberland Island, Georgia


 2 John 1:12 NIV
"I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete."


As Thanksgiving approaches, families are planning for the holiday. This is my favorite time of the year.


However, I am always torn between Georgia and Ohio in November. It's difficult to make the trip to visit my family in Ohio on the short break we have, so I often attend dinner at my mother-in-law's house.


Granny is a notorious cook. She begins cooking early in the morning, and we eat promptly at 1:00 p.m.  Her macaroni and cheese and peas and butter beans over rice are to die for. Her turkey and accompanying cornbread dressing are also fantastic. We always have an abundance of desserts to eat: pecan pie, coconut cake, brownies.


There is joy when we get together around the table to share stories and relax without stress. We don't see each other as much as we would like during our busy lives throughout the year.

Thanksgiving is the first chance we have to meet to share the joys of our achievements and love as a family.


It's also a chance to bring friends to our table. Last year, friends from overseas visited me for a wedding we hosted, so they joined our family in their first Thanksgiving dinner experience. It added a new dimension to our dinner to have the bride, groom and wedding party eat Thanksgiving dinner with our family.


Thanksgiving is the time to meet in person and share joy with each other. I can hardly wait.
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Dear Lord, thank you for the joy that comes from talking in person to those we love.

Name Them One by One

Animal Kingdom Resort,  Disney World,  July 2010


Psalms 128:1-2
"Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways.  You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours."

Today was not great for me at work. A few of my junior girls had an emotional meltdown and lit into me. It’s no wonder. This is the year of state tests. My job is to prepare them for one of these tests, and as we get closer to test time, the more stressed some students get.  So, today, the girls unleashed their emotions at me.

I wish I could say I held up well during the onslaught, but I was blindsided. My heart was on my sleeve, and tears ran freely down my cheek. I was embarrassed to let them see me cry, and I was disappointed in myself for letting them get to me.

One student remained after the bell and spoke soft words to me. I will always remember her kindness. It was as unexpected as the harsh words had been. I could barely squeak out a "thank you" to her, but her words began a healing process for me.

It took a solid hour for me to regain my composure. By the time the next class appeared, I was a teacher again, and I was able to work with the new class professionally.

I know all professions have moments like this. I have friends in all fields and hear their stories.

Some days turn on a dime, and we have to trust God is in control of it all. The words stung me, but there was mercy shown to me as well.
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Thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of our lives. Every day let us appreciate all we have and all those around us.

I Think I Can, So Why Not?

St. Louis Arch, May 2010

Psalms 18:29  "With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall."

The Little Engine that Could and Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel were two of my favorite books as a child.  I took to heart their premises that all things are possible with a positive attitude.


In high school I competed in girls' extemporaneous speaking contests.  Large schools brought several tubs of meticulously indexed and filed articles of current events with them. Not me. I had one small index box with Winnie the Pooh stickers on it and note cards filled with positive thoughts and Bible verses I had written and filed away to look at.


I had no idea of how to prepare for competition. Each Friday before the Saturday tournaments, I would check out Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Reports magazines from the library.  At the tournament, I would spread them out in front of me on the table in the prep room.


After we pulled a topic, we had thirty minutes to prepare a seven minute speech, memorized, with citations from our sources. I always said a prayer before I played my "Go Fish" game with my magazines.


After the prayer, I randomly selected magazines and always found articles I needed.  It helped to have the Irish gift for gab as well, so I was fairly effective at my speeches.


I never really understood why the other teams needed so many tubs to compete until I had a student on my own debate team years later who finished in the octofinals at nationals in foreign extemp.


God makes all things possible. Positive attitudes and prayer go a long way with God's help.
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Thank you, Lord, for your help as we scale the walls before us each day.



St. Louis Arch, May 2010



The Lilies of the Field

New Year's Eve 2010 Brunswick, GA

 Psalm 8:3-4 NIV
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?"


I have had a dream inside my heart since childhood when my dad told me stories to help me fall asleep at night. I wanted to tell stories, too. Dad tried to get his stories published. I tried in college to publish mine.  I even took a creative writing class to help me out.


What I learned in the class actually had a negative impact on me. I only saw the negative side of writing for publishing, so I walked away from my dream.


I became a teacher. I taught uninterested students how to write. Each semester I showed them how to pass the state writing tests. I had amazing success, but after years of teaching others how to write, I wanted to write.


However, I told myself that door closed years ago.


But this summer, God opened the door and pushed me through it upside down and backwards, with the help of a dear friend. 

He gave me an opportunity to use my gift for His glory. 


Why? Because He loves me so much that He orchestrated the events that led to a miraculous opportunity for me.


He is such a loving God.


He works miracles for others as well.


Tonight He helped my exchange student on an issue with her hair. Her hair of all things! Tonight our family learned He cares about each strand of hair on our head.
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Thank you, Lord, for caring about even the minor concerns of our lives and bringing miracles to us when we least expect them.

Red Skies Heading My Way

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocearn at Sunset

 Matthew 16:2-3 NIV
"He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."

The further away a person is from a problem, the easier to fix it. I am never at a loss to find people who tell me what I need to do to fix a problem, nor am I at a loss to tell someone else how to solve theirs. What is not surprising is how few of us take each other's advice.


We have invited someone to come to our house tomorrow to help us solve a problem we have. I hope she will come. We could benefit from her perspective.  I am curious to see how she will handle our particular problem.


Red skies at night or red in the morning. 


I asked a shrimp boat captain once what he thought of that saying, and he didn't put much stock in it.  All I know is, they make for some gorgeous sunsets and sunrises.


I hope tomorrow when the sun sets, my problem will be closer to being fixed than it is right now.
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Dear Lord, Thank you for the beauty of dramatic, fiery, red skies that light our souls with your glory. 

The Calm in the Midst of the Storm

                                     


April 2005 A Junkyard in Jacksonville, FL



Psalms 33:21 NIV

"In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name."

In April 2005, we were in a head on collision. We were hit by a pickup truck. All of us were injured to some degree, and our van was totalled.


As our 8 year old daughter and I sat on the grass by the side of the road watching the EMTs carrying my husband into the back of the ambulance, she began to shake and cry with fear. I wrapped my arms around her and began to pray. I asked for peace and strength to wash over her during this difficult time.


Her tears subsided and her breathing became normal.


Once we were at the hospital and separated, I was concerned about how she would react on her own. However, several nurses came back to the trauma unit to tell me she was remarkably calm for her age. They were amazed at how well she was handling the emergency.


I knew then God was with our baby. His spirit of peace and strength had surrounded her and given her the ability to act older than her years that evening.


God took care of our daughter for us until family and friends arrived to care for her while our injuries were being treated.


In the midst of our confusion, injuries, and pain, God provided a sanctuary for the littlest victim of the wreck and took care of her until help could arrive.
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Thank you, Lord, for being with us when we are vulnerable and need you most.