My prayer on May 7, 2011

Father in heaven, we come before you this evening in prayer, gathered together in Jesus name for where two or more are there Jesus is according to your word.

We bring before you Lord the prayer request mentioned and ask that you reach down and fix them, whether it be for healing of body, mind spiritual or otherwise.   We thank you for fixing these and for comforting those who need comforting and for giving strength to those who need strength.

We thank you for the many blessings you have given us, for the ones we mostly take for granted, like food, clothing and shelter, but also for this beautiful world that you have given us, which is something we also take for granted.

You have blessed us in so many ways if we were to start counting we would count for eternity.

I ask now Father God that you pour out blessings to my sister and brother in law, for taking on the burden of me.  I know Lord that having me here is difficult on their finances as well as their private lives, having to adjust to another person living with them.

Thank you Lord for providing me a place to stay and thank you for the job you have provided for me.   I don't really understand or know why I'm in this place, but here I am.

Praise, honor and glory to you Father God in Jesus name.  Amen

Even though I don't always know why or understand what's going on and I get angry and frustrated with you, let me always look to you for strength and guidance and always be faithful and give you the praise.

Julia

Ok God what now?

Hello God,

How are you today???  I'm sure you are doing well for you are God.

Just wanted to let you know I'm not doing to well.  I'm having a hard time dealing with my best friend (or so I thought) not contacting me, sending me condolencance or what ever.     Why oh why has she deserted me?  That I do not know.

Well besides that God I know you are there, however and I really don't like being a problem child: BUT  I don't know how to deal with life anymore!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what happened to me, I don't what to do anymore.   So Lord Jesus, God Almighty what should I do now?????????????/

You sent  me here to FL to take care of Mom, but now she's gone.    I had a purpose, but now it seems I don't.   What am I suppose to do know?????????

I do not know.  Ok God!!!  I'm feeling lost and confused.   I need you to give me a small  miricle.   I  need fixed God,  I really need fixed, will you do that???  Please!!!

I'm not really sure if I have ever prayed right or not and I'm not really sure how to pray, all I know is that I try to talk to you and pray and I'm not really sure what prayer is.

Ok I know I'm just rampling here God, Jesus, Father, but I really need assistance here, because I just don't know right now how to get a grib on life anymore.   I don't know what happened to the love, passion, get go, adventure seeking, etc. in my life.

So right now, God, I'm asking that  you give me the passion and love of life back.   Also please forgive me for being such a goof off, and I really, really need a job Lord and I would really appreciated it if you would let me find one that I would enjoy.

Thank you so much Lord God Almighty for listening (or should I say for reading) to my concerns,  I'm really looking forward to hearing back from you and receiving your guidence.

Thank you for listening.

Yours truely,
Julia

My Prayer for Today

Lord God Almighty,

I have a lot of questions, as I don't understand.   I know you will give me the answers.  I'm a bit confused right now as to what I should do.  You brought me here to Florida to take care of Mom, you have called her home and right now I'm not sure what is next.

I'm relying on you oh Lord to show me what I should do next.   You know Almighty God that I need to have an income, you also know that I need a reliable means of transportation, it may not be to go to work as you may have provided me a work at home position.   However Lord I do need to be able to go grocery shopping and other things.

Oh God you know my needs and I know you will supply them.   I must tell you Lord that I am a bit concerned about what will happen now.   I am a bit confused as to what to do next or how I am to proceed.  I know you will give me the answer, however, Lord God Almighty I feel a bit lost right now, and I ask (beg) you to give me some answers.

Thank you Lord Jesus, God Almighty for answering my prayer and giving me guidence in all my indevors.

Yours truely and love Julia

Rely on God

Relying on God.   

We all wonder why things happen to us.  I wrote about being evicted and not being able to find a decent job a few months ago.  Now I know the reason.  There comes a time in life when we must give up everything in order to do what were called to do.  Sometimes it takes losing all that we own or close to it for God to get our attention.

My sister took me in around the end of January and though I search and went on several interviews I wasn’t able to land a decent job.  I finally got a job as a housekeeper at one of the local hotel chains (oh my goodness talk about back breaking work).  While there I continued to look for a better paying job, I didn’t find a better paying job however I did find a position with a local grocery store as cashier (not so hard on the back).  I enjoyed working there, however I wasn’t getting enough hours nor was the pay that great, so I continued to scourer all the job sites, and look on company’s web sites to find a job making the kind of money I needed to get my own place again.  Again I went on interviews, did follow-up with the employer and sometimes got a second interview, still nothing.  Frustrating! To say the least, especially since I was well qualified for the positions I applied for.

My younger sister had been bugging me to move back to Florida for several years and I had been planning to, sometime, when I got around to it.  I had a good job was comfortable wasn’t in a hurry to really go anywhere.  Then one morning I decided to retire from that job and take a couple of years off and pick up work here and there through temporary agencies, I had enough money in my 401k and retirement to do that. I also picked up seasonal work around the holidays, that worked out for a little while.   Then there were no jobs to be had, money ran out.  Well as the saying goes the rest is history.  I ended up living with my sister and her husband.

I’ve had my arguments with God, pleaded with Him and cried.  I informed Him of His promise to provide for us (of course I’m thinking of what I wanted, not needed) and wanted to know why He wasn’t giving me what I needed (wanted).  Well God lets us know in ways that we really don’t expect that He has provided for us and is giving us what we need.  This occurred to me when I was going into Wal-Mart to find a shirt that I needed for work.  There were a couple ladies standing out front collecting donations for homeless and battered women, I didn’t have much but I gave a couple dollars anyway and made the statement, “if it weren’t for God’s mercy I’d be out on the streets.”  That’s when it hit me, I have a home to go to, I’m not living in a shelter with strangers, I have food to eat and I don’t have to wonder where my next meal is coming from.  What was I complaining about?!  Not to mention my older sister who had taken me in was paying for the storage unit that she got for me so I wouldn’t lose everything.  I had no reason to complain.  It’s so easy to complain isn’t it, when things don’t go the way we think they should.

My younger sister called again wanting me to come down; mom’s not doing to good.  I had talked with mom and she was fine. (She’s a cancer survivor; however there are other things she’s battling now)  My younger sister called me on a regular basis over the years to come down and has occasionally used illness to try to persuade me.   I finally told her when it’s time for me to move back to Florida God will provide for me to come down not until then.

My youngest brother called and we talked about mom, in a roundabout way he mentioned me moving to Florida.  I talked with my son and told him what I was thinking about doing, then later that day it came up again with my older sister.  Both said the same thing: “I think that’s a great ideal.”  Well no doubt in my mind that I needed to go.  OK, then I’ll go.  So I prayed and asked God what to do with all my stuff.  I had taken over paying the storage unit since I had a job, but I knew I wouldn’t be working when I got to Florida and would have no way to pay for it and I wasn’t putting that burden back on my sister.  Well back to craigslist I went and looked under the wanted section to see if anyone was looking for anything that I had to sell.  One lady was looking for a sofa and love seat so I replied to her ad and heard nothing back.  The second ad I saw was looking for a sofa, it was a charity setting up a home for disabled children and their family’s to stay while the children were receiving medical help.  There was a phone number so I called.  We made arrangements to meet at the storage unit.  After talking with the director I found they needed everything, not only a sofa, also kitchen supply, towels, whatever is needed to set up a home, when you think about it that’s a lot of stuff.  So I told him he could have it all and whatever they couldn’t use to sell and raise money for the home.  My only stipulation for him to have it all was he had to take it all.  He agreed. 

The day he sent a truck over it looked like it was going to rain, they took the sofa and love seat first and the driver stated that they better hurry and get it back before it started to rain.  I made a simple statement it’s not going to rain.  From looking at the sky that statement wasn’t to be believed.  I knew it wouldn’t rain because God wouldn’t have provided me a place to give it to and then destroy it by allowing it to rain on it.  They had to make a few trips to pick up everything.  The sky cleared and the unit was empty and I had the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders. 

That Saturday I left for Florida.  I’m here with mom (about a month now) and she’s doing a lot better, she has her good days and her bad days, but in the short time I’ve been here she has been improving and having a lot more good days in a row.  Praise God for that.  I know God sent me here to be with her and to help her; however I also know he sent me here for my brothers and sisters that are here also.  I come from a family of six.

When I finally said OK Lord I give up, I’ve made a mess of my life you take over because I can’t do it anymore and quite frankly I don’t want to because I keep screwing it up.  I accepted Christ as my savior over 30 yrs ago and it took me way too long to give Him total control and rely on Him for what’s best for me.  If we would just listen to God all the time and not just some of the time life would be so much easier. You know the feeling when you know you should or should not do something, that’s God speaking to you.  If you don’t do what you should or do what you shouldn’t you say to yourself I knew I shouldn’t have done that or I knew I should have done that.  I’ve done it many times and probably will again.

Hope you enjoyed the read, have a great day.

Angels watching over me.

There are times that we are totally unaware that we are being protected by angels until well after the fact.  Years ago my son and I were visiting some friends; we lived in Florida at the time.  On the way home we were talking and listening to music on the radio.  The drive home was approximately 20 minutes max.     I suddenly realized I saw a street that I had never seen before and that it was a dirt road, that I don’t recall being there.

I realized I had missed my turn, but wasn’t sure how far I had gone.  The road I was on I knew ended at my road so I just continued to drive down instead of turning around to take the road I usually took.   The road we usually took to get home was right beside a potato field with a streetlight at the end.   I do recall seeing the potato field and the streetlight, however the road wasn’t there.

When I got home I told my husband I somehow missed the turn.  Wasn’t a big deal it was just odd that the road had completely disappeared, it had become part of the potato field.   Shortly after my son and I got home my husband was called out. (He was a homicide detective at the time).  I didn’t think much of it; I was used to him being called at all hours.  My son got ready for bed, gave him a snack then tucked him into bed.   I went about straitening up then I went to bed.  I didn’t expect to see my husband till the next morning or so.

When we talked the next day I found out that about the time I would’ve been driving down the road I missed my son and I would’ve been caught in the crossfire of a gun fight.   God sent his angels to turn that road into part of the potato field so my son and I wouldn’t get hurt or possibly killed.  No one will ever convince me otherwise.

Angels watching over me my Lord, angels watching over me.

Some Prayers I found and wanted to share.

We Give Our Thanks

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.

--Traditional

Truly Thankful

Thanksgiving Prayer

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to You and pray.
We give You thanks for all You've done
Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.
For beauty in nature, Your glory we see
For joy and health, friends and family,
For daily provision, Your mercy and care
These are the blessings You graciously share.
So today we offer this response of praise
With a promise to follow You all of our days.

--Mary Fairchild

We Gather Together
We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
Sing praises to his name: He forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side, All glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Amen

--Traditional Thanksgiving Hymn

(A translation by Theodore Baker: 1851-1934)

Savior, Teach Me, Day By Day

Savior, teach me, day by day,
Love's sweet lesson to obey;
Sweeter lesson cannot be,
Loving Him who first loved me.

With a child's glad heart of love,
At Thy bidding may I move,
Prompt to serve and follow Thee,
Loving Him who first loved me.

Teach me thus Thy steps to trace,
Strong to follow in Thy grace,
Learning how to love from Thee,
Loving Him who first loved me.

Love in loving finds employ,
In obedience all her joy;
Ever new that joy will be,
Loving Him who first loved me.

--Jane E. Leeson, 1807-1882

Making Pancakes.

Making Pancakes

Six -year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.

 He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.

Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad.

 He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn't know how the stove worked!  Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.

And just then he saw Dad standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon's eyes. All he’d wanted to do was something good, but he'd made a terrible mess.  He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him.

 Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process. That's how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend, or we can't stand our job, or our health goes sour.

 Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can't think of anything else to do.  That's when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him.

But just because we might mess up, we can't stop trying to "make pancakes" for God or for others.  Sooner or later we’ll get it right, and then they'll be glad we tried...

 Please pass some of this love on to others....suppose one morning you were called to God; do all your friends know you love  them?

 I was thinking... and I wondered if I had any wounds needing to be healed, friendships that need rekindling or three words needing to be said, sometimes, "I love you" can heal & bless!  Remind every one of your friends that you love them.  Even if you think they don't love back, you would be amazed at what those three little words, a smile, and a reminder like this can do.

Just in case I haven't told you lately... You're special!

Never stop making pancakes!

"Work like you don't need the money.

Love like you've never been hurt.

Dance like nobody's watching..."

* Richard Leigh

 

 "A job worth doing is worth doing well".