You've Got A Friend...Right?

Do you have a prayer partner and/or group, a church, or maybe even an online buddy that you go to when the chips are down and you are out of dip?  Or maybe you call on this/these soul(s) when you really need someone to speak to God on your behalf.  Even though you may not have had contact with this one for a while, when the help is needed, you know just where to go to find assistance.

Last week in the Bible Study Class I go to, Susan asked at the end if there were comments, questions, or maybe a challenge anyone wanted to make.  Without much hesitation--and because I am so in need of it--I challenged my girls to write me a prayer.  “Write,” I said, “because when you take the time to put it on paper, it gives you the opportunity to really think about what and whom you are praying for.  Write,” I said, “because when you just type it, it doesn’t take the effort to show you are giving this more than just a quick thought.  Write,” I said, “because--even though your handwriting may be awfully hard to read and your words may not be discernible--it makes you slow down and focus.”  I can’t wait to see what they come up with!

I later mentioned this to my hubby and challenged him to do the same.  Imagine my delight when the very next day, he wrote me a prayer!  Of course, being the grammar Nazi that I am, he cautioned me that it hadn’t been edited too closely.  Twirp!  Anyways, he handed it to me and I asked that instead, he read it to me.  Talk about getting personal!  But, there’s just something about hearing as well as reading something that can be quite effective.

As the (at first) sweet words came from Steve’s mouth, my heart warmed and I was humbled at how much this man still loves me.  I noted how he used one of my favorite passages in his prayer and was tickled that he took this into consideration for his prayer for me.  And then…

And then the next words.  “And Lord help her to think before she speaks and consider before she acts.”  I beg your pardon, Steve?!  My flesh was just about to get itself in a dander when my soul flooded with gratitude.  Yes!  Yes!  This man gets me!  This man loves me enough to call me out on what I need most to implement into my life!  This man cares enough about my spiritual condition to address the fault and the admitted flaws I have confessed to him.  Even if it might hurt my feelings a smidge, my husband cares enough about my eternal testimony and witness to pray for one of my most obvious needs.

Then, did you see the last part he wrote?  He asked God to be kind to me in His dealings with me not if but when I mess up.  Ouch and aww.  Steve knows me well enough to know that I am human and will indeed falter in my actions.  And he knows our Jesus well enough to know that His mercy will be there when we cry out for it.

In conclusion, I did send my gals out a prayer this week.  But, I copped out.  I researched some scriptures and found passages where I replaced “you” with their name, as I love to do for myself.  I printed them on some pretty stationery, jotted down a quick note at the bottom, and put them in the mailbox yesterday.  Yes, this took some work but no:  no I didn’t handwrite them.  I can use the excuse of my awful handwriting til the cows come home but the truth of the matter is that I didn’t do what I asked someone else to do for me.  

Faithful, fervent, righteous prayer, Stef?  

Umm...Sort of?  Mostly?

Ahem.

Okay, okay.  I will do it over.  I will take the time to write down a prayer for my fellow studiers.  I may not get to each one before we meet again but I purpose to.  

I don’t want to just write something to write something, you know what I mean?  I don’t want to be quick and careless with my words.  Instead, I want to consider and deliberate on whom each woman in my class is and address her individually and thoughtfully lift her up to my Father.  The notes I sent out did this but they used another’s words.  This time I shall,  with the Lord’s help, use my own.  

Which reminds me, I made this promise to my husband as well.  I may need extra paper and pencil for his!

Let’s pray!

Dear Lord, what a blessing it is to get to talk to You anytime, anywhere, with any method available!  Whether it’s a whisper, a time spent on my knees, a quick thought as a song or snippet of a conversation brings a certain someone to mind, or whether it’s a collective prayer for many or a note written, song sung, or genuine heart-to-heart with You, prayer is my avenue to getting help to clear up the fog.  Sigh.  

We are a needy bunch, we children of Yours.  May I take--make!-- the time to speak to You about the desires of my loved ones’ hearts is my hope today.  Even when it hurts and the issue may need You to be firm with them, I ask--as my beloved Steve did--that Your mercy flows as You refine them into the gold they are destined to be.

How I love You, Father, and again thank You for letting me talk to You.  What a Friend!  Thank You for being mine.  In the name of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

A Lighter Shade of Pale

When do you see Jesus?  How far do you have to look to see Him at work?  What is His job anyways and how can you even be sure He exists?  If you cannot answer these questions, read on, and perhaps what I share next with you will help.

As usual, my husband called to check on me at lunch.  He's done this for years, as well as when he's made it to work to let me know he's there safely.  He's even been known to send me Hangouts messages throughout the day when he has one of those rare moments of peace and lets me know he is using it to think about me.  When he comes home to me at the end of the day--regardless of who else may be there, pressing for his attention--he makes his way over to greet me with a sweet kiss, a murmured "Hey Granny," and a hug.

So, what was different about today's call?  Not much.  He's always nice, wondering how my day's been, what I've been up to, and (because he knows I need it so much) asks about my writing for the day.  Lately, I've not been feeling so great.  It's not that I've been feeling bad, it's just...I've been so tired.  For years, I've not slept well and often take advantage of a morning and sometimes an afternoon nap but for the past month or so, it's been more.  I've been going back to bed for hours (up to three!) before being functional and quasi-ready to tackle the day.  But enough about me--well, sort of.  It is my blog and my story, after all.  Instead of fussing at me, wondering if I am ever going to turn back into a normal housewife (as if!), and harping on me about all I am not, instead my wonderful husband says to me (when I have apologized for not being as hip and with it as I used to be) that...that it's okay.  He understands.  I don't have to make excuses for myself because he is making them for me.  He knows I've not slept well for years.  He knows about my aches and pains that disrupt a good night's sleep.  He knows all too well about the rabid thoughts that have my mind wandering all night, and how I am chasing them around, and fighting the demons that threaten to jump out at me.  He consoles me about my health, my lack of luster, and my overall sense of blah that has permeated my soul since the death of my mother.  He keeps on loving me, encouraging me, building me up, and being my rock.

Hmn.  Kind of reminds me of Someone...oh, what's His name?  Ahh yes.  Jesus.  Jesus Christ, the Lover of my soul.  Jesus Christ, the One Who was preached about last night as being the One Who knows me.  Me.  My thoughts.  My heart.  My intentions.  My fears.  My hopes.  My failures and my wants to do better.  The One Who was mentioned mightily in the story of Martha and Mary in yesterday's morning sermon, Who gently reminded Martha to not miss out on the better part in her busyness of doing all of the right things.  Jesus.  The One Who invites us to sit at His feet and let the cares of the world go by.

So, in conclusion, I again ask you:  when was the last time you saw Jesus?  Hopefully you have some Steves in your lives to get a glimpse of Him.  How far did you have to look to see Him at work?  Not too far, I imagine, as you catch His glory all around creation.  What's His job anyways and how can you even be sure He exists?  Oh, beloved, He does more than exist!  Can't you see it, feel it, taste it?  All of that love and goodness He supplies you with--that's His job.  To make you more like Him and since He is love, you are becoming more loving in response.

I know we can't all have our very own Steves, our personal cheerleaders, and best friend by our side to give us what we need, when we need it, and when we don't.  But, my friends, we have something better:  we have Jesus Himself.  Let Him abide in you.  Let Him bear your burdens and not criticize you when you feel poorly and less than.  Sit at His feet today.  Hear His praises as you bask in His light.  Read His Words and let them wash over you as you realize and contemplate that in a world where so many are only out to tear down, He is only out to build you up, to welcome you to His kingdom, and to love you--even when you don't have much to offer in return.  I should know!

Let's pray!

Ahh Lord, where to begin to thank You?  Yes, surely, for my husband whom You have shared with me and use to prove that in spite of how lowly I am, Your love doesn't kick one when she's down but instead offers an encouraging word and a hand to uplift her from the pit.  

Lord, You are so good to me.  I glance out my window and see the tree gently swaying, the dogs frolicking around, and the tremendous blue sky, reminding me that Your creation was meant to delight me--and it does!

I also hear the clock ticking, quietly but firmly, reminding me that one day, one day You are coming back.  I can't wait to see You!  To look upon Your face is where I will see that the beauty I've been privy to compares to what I will see when I behold You, Lord God Almighty!  These old knees that can barely get down on the floor will be perfected as they bow before You in worship.  This voice that screeches will sound more like those You are accustomed to that sing Your praises and Your worth in that angelic choir.  And this mind that is so befuddled will be cleared as I see and realize beyond any earthly comprehension that I think I have now just how magnificent You truly are.

Come soon, Lord?  I'm waiting!  

Love,

Your Wandering Child

Get your own Steve!

I can be a hard woman to love.  I am moody, temperamental, often emotional, and when I don't get my own way, I can often be bitter, spiteful, and just be a downright hate goat.  Fortunately for me, though, God knew all of this when He created me and knew that I would often need to be treated with kid gloves (ha ha!  I crack myself up when I unintentionally make a pun!).  Therefore, He sent to me a most excellent shepherd to help soothe the savage beast in me.

Case in point:  the other night when we were saying our bedtime prayers, it was my turn.  If you read my blog from yesterday, this will make more sense to you but if you didn't, just refer to the above paragraph.  We've been learning more about the election of God's saints and such, so as I was talking to God, I was thanking Him for loving us and choosing us.  I told God how I could understand Him picking Steve--but I couldn't understand why He would want a wretch like me.  Steve, who was holding my hand, squeezed it fiercely, and admonished me with a firm whisper, saying "God is not happy when you talk like that!"

Wow!  My heart was instantly pricked with amazement.  Sometimes I still get in that age-old mode of thinking that God is up there on His throne, fist clenched, and ready to come down on me for every awful thing I do.  Since there are many wicked thoughts and feelings in this ol' girl, that can cause quite a bit of trepidation in my soul.  However, with one sentence--albeit firmly spoken--I was reminded that God is not this way, that He is not up there recording my every lapse of judgment, keeping a tally of my deeds done in the flesh, nor getting His mighty book of Stef's Wrong Doings ready to add more pages to because of my wayward behavior.  Nope.   Instead, He is looking on me with love, with smiles, and with approval.  For a gal like me who is in constant need of affirmation, this is overwhelming!

In Ephesians 5:25, men are told to do something:  

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it

How blessed I am that God has given me a real-life example of Christ to be by my side, to show me unconditional love, to not let me talk badly about myself, and to be my help meet in every way!  When I forget that God considers me as He does His only Begotten, Steve is there to encourage me and point me back to the Father of Love.  Friends, this is priceless!  I highly suggest you all get your own Steve (as a friend was once told when he was taking up a little too much time with this fine man of mine and this soul was honing in on the other fella's time with him) so that you too may experience God in the flesh and not in the old fable of the mean ol' miser who is waiting to write you off.  There's also a few others that do this in my life.  They are called Gloria, Betty, Virginia, Beth, Lisa, Pam, Audrey, Tammy, and other beautiful names.  But the one that matters most?  His name is Jesus and in Him I find redemption, acceptance, and adoration.  Me!  All I can say to that is "Oh what a Saviour!  Oh hallelujah!  Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch--I mean, a woman--like me!  I once was blind but now I see."

Thank You, Lord God, for opening my eyes to Your real personality.  I apologize for all of the times I didn't see Your softer side, the persona of the One Who runs to His children when they hurt:  the One Whose arms are always open, Whose ears are always listening, and Who never grows weary when His kids continue coming to Him with their demands.  How wonderful and magnificent You are!  May I find my security and my solace in You and when I falter, thank You for the others You send me way to show me You when I need that extra boost.

I love You, Lord.  Thanks for loving me too!  Amen.