Faithful Friday: Lifesaving Prayer

Turn on the television, social media, or just browse the internet and you quickly get a sense of an urgent need for prayer these days.  Not only on a national scope but locally too.  Aside from the horrific and cowardly acts of terrorism this week, mass casualties from fires, and impending storms, there are needs right here at home.  Perhaps right where you are now.

Sickness, broken families, tragic deaths.  Our county's obituaries were two pages this week and many were of people my age.  People passing before their time.  Shocking and unexpected. 
We are never promised tomorrow - or even the completion of today.

Sadly, Tim and I live in the harsh reality that life is short every single day.  We know.  We feel the still very present pain of a life taken too soon.  We remember the struggle to simply breathe with the knowledge and yet unexplainable news that Austin was gone.

Though it doesn't take the pain of missing him away, what held us from the very beginning was knowing where he was.  Austin asked Jesus into his heart at a very early age.  While I had no doubt of his understanding of salvation, at the tender age of 7, we asked our pastor to visit with him at our home.  His baptism was scheduled that same month and I can vividly picture him before entering the water.  Austin was smiling from the inside out, as if his soul was beaming for all to see.  Proudly wearing an "I love Jesus" t-shirt, he'd chosen himself, the very present love of our Savior and the joy of salvation filled the room.

I am proud of the Good News, because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes-

Romans 1:16

Knowing Heaven holds my sweet boy is what pushes me through each day.  This world can crumble around me but my foundation is secure in knowing I will join him there - and that my family will as well.  What breaks my heart is thinking of those who won't.

Whether within my friends and family, or a stranger down the road, my heart is broken for the lost of this world.  As a church member shared this week, "when I read those obituaries each Wednesday, I wonder if they were a Christian, and I'm burdened with the guilt I never reached out to them." 

That burden is heavily weighing on me too.  Preparing for our upcoming Revival, I've been in more dedicated and constant prayer for the lost.  For those I know and many I do not.  A group of us prayed, name by name, for the ones nailed to a small cross in our church.  We pray that their hearts be opened, that the hold of the enemy be removed from them, and that they accept and believe.  We pray that the Holy Spirit move and use us and others as vehicles to carry his Word.  We pray that their lives be changed...for eternity.

And I would be honored to pray for you too.  For someone you love.  For you personally.  I welcome you to message me and I will faithfully pray.

In this moment, wherever you are in your walk with the Lord, I pray for you now.  For peace, for strength, for the power of the Holy Spirit to fill you in this place.  I pray that if you do not know Him, that you will open your heart to the Lord now. 

  If you openly say, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from death,

you will be saved. - Romans 10:9

There are not enough words, no expression I can share that explains the joy that comes in knowing Him. 
It is my earnest prayer that if you are reading this, you also know this JOY.



Pillow Talk

If I haven't mentioned it before, Tim and I are happily "old married folks."  I love nothing better on a Friday night to simply be home with the family.  Naps are our best friends.  Going to bed at 8 pm is a luxury we yearn for.  Yep, we aren't middle aged by the world's terms, but laughingly accept the label by a teen's.

Since a 10 o'clock bedtime is really pushing it for us, you can imagine that, especially on the weekends, our kiddos go to bed after us.  We giggle that many nights, the kids tuck us into bed.

They'll scoff when, soon after the sun sets, Tim begins to yawn.  They roll their eyes and moan when I announce we're on the last tv show or that time is running down on a family activity.  Yet, after we've gone through our routines, they're eager to bounce at the foot of our bed for a nightly chat. 

Because it's on their terms, they openly talk about anything and everything.  We have serious discussions, funny stories, and what we love most of all is just hearing about the details of their day.  When you're used to a one word answers to most questions, open and willing discussions are such a treat. 

Normally about an hour later, final hugs and good-nights are said.  As they skip away, Tim and I will laugh at how we intentionally plan bedtime at least an hour earlier because we know how long they'll talk.  We truly treasure what's become a frequent ritual to our evenings.

Now, with all this talk about sleeping.....can I go take a nap?! 



Maybe they won't shoot me since this is a couple years old!