"Missed it by that much"

Maxwell Smart

There are moments in our lives when loved ones who live far away attempt to contact us. They leave a message by phone, email, or text. And if you are, for a brief time, away from that source of receiving the message . . . you miss that message.

I did that today.

Missed a chance to "Skype" with our daughter by phone, at her request, missing it by a mere four hours! Our time difference is 8 hours and well, its the wee hours of her tomorrow as I type this, so I will fight the urge to give her a call.  When a grown adult child wants to connect - you long to connect immediately without hesitation.

Sigh.

And yet there will be another time.  I sent her a reply email explaining my silence and offered other times we might try to connect.

Can't wait for that time, but we must. 

We will. 

Sigh.

"At times Sudan is farther away than at other times." 

Denise Rounds

(yes, you may quote me on this!)

Truth For Life

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Psalm 5:3

Mother's Day came and went. . . but the memory lives on.

I got to spend it with our family at church followed by a lovely buffet lunch at my mother-in-loves retirement community. I wore a new dress and a corsage made with a rose my daughter had arranged to be delivered by her best friend so I'd have a white rose. (my daughter lives in southern Sudan) A white rose corsage is my tradition each year  in remembrance of my mom who died at age 57 from Lou Gehrig's disease.

It was a relaxing calm quiet day - perfect! I was with family and for a very brief time I got to speak with our daughter via iPhone and Skype! That was the cherry on the top of the day.

That morning at church was busy - I was given the unexpected honor or reading the scriptures in one service before which I had volunteered to help hand out free Bible study books for all women who attended church as they departed from the earlier service. It gave me the chance to hug, greet, and speak to many women, a treat for me!

I have not posted in a while due to various computer, router, and iPhone difficulties. All fixed now, PTL! It took time but all worked out. Got a new hard-drive in the laptop and they replaced my laptop keyboard frame to boot! (I had a tiny split edge which I kept firmly affixed with a piece of clear tape.) Happy Day when I got it but I still need to reload some software and then put some of my backed up files onto the new hard drive. 

Perhaps this long Memorial Day weekend will be just the ticket.

Memorial Day 

How can we Americans say thank you for our freedoms? First with thanks to God, then with thanks to the men and women who have served or are serving our country. For their valor, we are still free. I'm blessed to be born in America.  I have done some travels out of our country and when I return home I am always grateful to be a citizen of the United States, we have many privileges, rights, and responsibilities that no other country has. That said, I will end with a verse that challenges and humbles me.

Truth For Life

Much will be required of everyone who has been given much.

And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.

Luke 12: 48b

Truth For Life

Be joyful in hope,

patient in affliction,

faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

I am having the great joy of witnessing others initiating faith in Christ. . . one is just now seeking Him out in the midst of painful circumstances, bad history, and former hopelessness. I am crossing paths with points in lives that shout out "God At Work Here, Now!"

I am in awe of these conversations in my relationship with these people. Another is seeking God out but has chosen for now, a path that does not lead to truth, but into a cult. Another has an ailing parent, their other parent is newly deceased and they have become the ailing parent's caregiver/counselor. They are weary, beaten down by some things, lifted up by other's, showing by their actions, words, and life that they know life doesn't have to be as it has been. They are seeking, asking, looking, and reading the Bible regularly. Some ask me questions about scripture passages or quotes from their reading material and God has provided me guidance for when to speak and when to listen, when to question them, and when to hug, encourage, and rejoice with them. I pray for daily light and truth as these precious ones seek Christ.

As these encounters are occurring more regularly in my life this year, both at places of work and in my neighborhood, I am finding the above verse to be truth I have newly experienced. It is humbling, scary, and exciting. It gives me greater hope, a willingness to be more patient with them and God working in them, and to be all the more faithful in prayer.

I love technology and use it daily, by choice, for my work doesn't require much use of it on a day to day basis. But I love to learn how to use what tools I have so I can benefit from them as much as my life requires for ease in scheduling, remembering people, events, and to-do's. All to find balance so I can enjoy live, respond to others rather than reacting; I do not use technology for the purpose of organizing (read: stuffing) MORE into my day for the sake of getting MORE done to get MORE done. . . but to gently remind me at appropriate times in my day what to remember and not forget so the essentials are pushed to the side by the cares and worries of this world.

One way I do this is to use my phone's calendar reminder component to remind me to pray for specific people at times of day that 'fit' who I am remembering in prayer. Have you ever used your phone's calendar or computer calendar for such reminders?

It has helped me SO much as I awaken before dawn to begin my day with thanksgiving and prayers in my heart and on my lips for my husband and son who rise first. At noon I remember a friend whose class room is unsettled due to a student breaking a law and becoming incarcerated. The friend needs peace wisdom, courage, and boldness, the students need peace, perspective, and focus. In the evening I pray for recently widowed family members who are only too alone as the moon arises each evening. And I pray as I close my own eyes for my daughter and her family who are just then rising from their beds to begin the new day that God has already created.

Tell me what tools assist you in remembering to pray for those you pray for on a regular basis. I'd love to know and dear reader(s), we will learn from one another.