June 13/14 Praying for my visitors/followers today

Graphic courtesy of heartlight.org

I'm posting this late Saturday afternoon, my time. I want to pray for my visitors, followers, readers who may be unsatisfied with their current church or may be having ill feelings toward church, Christians in general. You may or may not be currently attending a local service of any kind. I'm praying for you. May you know that Christianity is more than attending a service. It's a relationship. When we get to heaven God's not going to ask what church you attended. He's going to ask if you believed on His Son Jesus for salvation.

Some of you may think Christians are hypocrites. And I'm going to be blunt and say that some who say they are Christians ARE hypocrites. I know I've been badly hurt by many of them, and so has my family. You aren't the only ones who have been betrayed, hurt, and abused by so called Christians. But don't let the bad apples turn you away from a relationship with Jesus.

I'm praying for each visitor who is unsettled in their relationship with Jesus today, whether its Saturday night or Sunday when you read this.

1000 Gifts, #13

13. Chocolate chip pancakes!!! mmmmmmmm Kiddo and I went out to eat for breakfast, at a local small diner. We both ordered the same thing, scrambled eggs and chocolate chip pancakes. I also ordered a hot biscuit to split with Kiddo. We both LOVE their chocolate chip pancakes. It's a regular pancake dough with chocolate chips mixed in. It's huge. We get two per serving, and they are a good 6-8 inches in diameter!! Delicious. I praise God for the gift of chocolate chip pancakes.

Do you know.....

some of these vocab words that Kiddo is studying for a science final next week?
innercore, heliocentric theory, greenhouse effect, foliated rock, fossil, extrusive rock, crater, condensation, coarse grained, boiling and melting point in Celsius, axis, list the layers of the atmosphere, asteroid belt, igneous rock, clouds, gas giants.

June 13, Praying for my visitors/followers today

Graphic courtesy of heartlight.org

It's a beautiful Saturday morning here. Today as you visit, scroll down to see my recent posts, including the 'ribbon cutting' post: the official beginning of "Praying for my visitor/followers today", as well as my continued journey on the 1000 gifts...Gratitude community.

Anyways, since its the weekend, I pray for safety for all my visitors, commenters, followers, as they work in the yard, travel on errands, or travel to and fro for visits, camping, vacations today. May God's angels bless and protect you as you work and travel on this Saturday.

1000 Gifts~~ # 12

12. Furniture. As you may have been reading we are straddling two houses for most of this month. Here at the old house we have very little furniture. I mean very little. We have a computer, an end table where the computer sits, and coffee table, and an old dining room table, washer/dryer, stove, refrig. All of these so far stay with the house. We have air mattresses that we bought to sleep on, and a small folding table and two chairs to be in the kitchen to have our meals. We borrowed the folding table and chairs from the church. The chairs are multi-use. Depending upon the time of day, they may be at the computer, or at the kitchen.

One thing we don't have and I will never take for granted again, are couches, soft chairs, and recliners. We have a makeshift couch to stretch out on. We use afghans to lay on that are on the floor, and a pillow propped against a box against the wall. I will never take furniture for granted again!!

I think of those who are homeless and who are worse off then we are. For us its a brief time compared to their plight. I also think of countries where furniture that we have here in America is considered such a luxury. Or it might even be culturally unacceptable, maybe they use the floor much more, and learn how to get comfortable.

Anyways, for my 12th item on my list is furniture, especially couches/soft chairs, recliners. I praise the Lord for furniture, it truly is a gift!

btw, I have heard many words used for that long piece of furniture, everything from couch, sofa, davenport, and even a chesterfield. What do you use?

Praying for my visitors/followers today, the explaination and official beginning

Graphic courtesy of heartlight.org

As you may have noticed I have been praying for you, my readers, commenters, followers, and visitors. Whether you have stopped by for just a brief second, or just browsed, or even commented, I am praying for you. So far since the beginning of this particular blog PW~The Real Me, (not counting the previous three recent blogs I had prior to this one, that merged into this current blog), I have had visitors from 10 countries including US and Canada. I'm embarking on a journey to pray for each person who stops by. This is my official ribbon cutting ceremony post. lol. My grand-opening as you say.

YEAH!!

I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for my readers. I may never know the answers to my prayers till I get to heaven. But it is so much fun praying for you.

I have learned that praying is a relationship with the Lord. I had a solid basis as a child from the summer camp and an old country church (I wrote about this past week). Though I got messed up and searched for a long while who Jesus really was, I'm back on track!! That means, I'm back in relationship with the real Jesus who I knew as a child. I could talk to Him everywhere and anywhere, and anytime.

Growing up in harsh circumstances, I needed His friendship to survive. That must have been a major factor in how I look at prayer. There for a while I kept a journal. Mostly I would talk to Him spontaneous about anything and everything, and everyone. I saw many answers to prayers, and even some non-answers...in His time. I also valued the time I had on the Indian reservation as a mission worker where I witnessed first hand the faith of persecuted Christians. Their faith was real. When only two percent of the population was Christian, that changed the way of their life. That also taught me that the Lord was real, and further developed my prayer time with Jesus.

Then some other factors came into my life that mocked this relationship with Jesus. They begged to say that this relationship was outdated or too fundamentalist to be real. That nonsense infected my heart for many years. I am just now being purged of this spiritual cancer.

I'm returning to my first love, Jesus...and to spending time with Him, anywhere and everywhere, and about everyone. That includes you.

So come with me on this wonderful journey, as I pray for you around the world. Step back and watch the amazing things as we witness the Lord's power as we join in prayer.

Today, as I mentioned in this morning's post, I'm praying for your spiritual lives. I pray for your walks with the Lord. I've been through the desert many times, and I know the pain. I've been on mountaintops and know the joy. Where ever you are today in your walk with the Lord....I'm praying for you.


It's official, the ribbon cutting ceremony for my praying for you!!

A good morning to you and praying for my visitors/followers

It's a beautiful morning here, though cloudy. Like I said earlier, we're straddling two houses. Today I will have access to the car, YEAH...so that means a quick trip to the grocery store. I will also load up the car again for hubby to transfer some more stuff to the new house later today. I love to pack, and find nooks and crannys (or is it crannies) for all sorts of things. Trust me, over my life time, I've had to learn how to pack: boxes, cars, luggage, etc. It's fun, really. Well, most of the time. Except our move before this one, three years ago, when we found out hubby was being transferred and after it was offical only 19 days later the movers came. Now that was SOME stress. However, for this move, we've been packing the house since Easter. Slow but sure. Anyways, finding room in the car today is getting a lot easier, because there is very little left. More on that on my next 1000 gifts post.

I'm heading to do chores/errands today, which includes hubby's laundry. He's at the new house with a washer and dryer, and said yesterday, "Honey, I'm bringing my dirty laundry for you to do." I told him, "HUH, I have absolutely no place to hang yours. I barely have enough room for kiddo's and mine." He said he hadn't had time to figure out the laundry machines there. Well, that's another compliment, I guess I'm the laundry expert of the family. I have to admit, I love doing laundry. I shared earlier about having to do laundry with a wringer washer, and then a washer that sucked up water from metal bins, these machines these days make it easier.


NOW>>>

I'm praying for you, my readers and visitors today. I'm praying for your spiritual walks with the Lord. May you be strengthened. May your faith be renewed. And may the Holy Spirit draw you closer into Jesus' outstretched arms. I am praying for you, even if you don't leave a comment, but just merely show up. However, I would appreciate a comment, to help me more specifically pray for you. God Bless.

1000 Gifts~ my beginning 1-11

I found this at http://www.aholyexperience.com/ It's the Gratitude Community. I've signed up. I'm beginning to list my 1000 gifts. As she explains on her blog its not about the gifts we give to others, but the gifts that we are given each day. Since we are all unique our lists will be unique. We give God all the praise.

I've been grumbling lately. Yes I've listed occasionally things/places etc that I've been thankful for. However, this challenge that I'm embarking on will help me to LOOK for things to be thankful for, and then come back here and write them down. All my gifts I see are in thankfulness to the Lord who has given me SO much.

1. My Saviour and Lord-Jesus and the Word of God~the Bible
2. My husband
3. My 'kiddo'
4. My dad who died last fall (he was the best)
5. My pot of violas blooming on the porch
6. My three house plants,
7. The flower my kiddo gave to me earlier this week
8. Our move to a new house that we're in the midst of right now (we're straddling two houses)
9. The rain on the roof as I hear it from the bathroom
10. A washer and dryer
11. My readers/visitors/followers of this blog

Praying for my visitors/followers today 6/11

Today I'm praying for each visitor and follower. Some of you only stop by for a quick second, others for longer. Today I'm praying for you and for those who you know who are house hunting/selling/looking for an apartment, etc. If that fits you or someone you know leave me a comment, so I can pray by name. If not I'll pray in general for my readers who are or know of someone that's looking for a place to live or trying to buy/sell their house, etc. Blessings. hugs

Thankful Thursday, June 11

This week I'm SOOO thankful for two very key places in providing me with the knowledge of God. The first is a summer camp I attended as a child/youth. It was a very rustic camp in the mountains of the Appalachians. A generation before me, they traveled by train to the camp, and then from the train tracks they traveled by barge to get to the camp on the other side of the river with all their luggage. When I was growing up we traveled a treacherous mountain road to the isolated camp. Once we got there, it was well worth the trip. We had no electricity for the week. The camp rented an army generator to power the mess hall and the cabins, and the bathhouses for part of the day. The refrigerators and stove were gas. There were no outside influences allowed. We swam in the river and the creek. We hiked to a waterfalls. We had fun but most importantly it was a place to concentrate on your relationship with the Lord. As I look back, it was the highlight of my summer for many years. It was the place that I really learned, away from all the family troubles, and other influences to really know the Lord.

The second key place in providing for my faith was the little country church that I attended as a child. There were a few very key people there who modeled the Christian faith and taught Sunday school year-round and Vacation Bible School. The roots of that church go back to pre-American Revolutionary times. The Word of God continues to be preached there. I especially am thankful for my fifth grade VBS teacher who made sure where we stood with the Lord, before the VBS week was over. I never forget her private, intentional conversations with each of us that summer. It meant a lot to me.

Today, I pause and give thanks to the many camp counselors, pastors, and other staff persons of that camp, as well as members of the little country church. Without those folks in those two places, many many lives would not have been touched by the Lord.

Thank you Lord for these wonderful people, some of whom are now in heaven, and for the summer camp and for the little country church.

Since then, in recent years things have entered my life that threw me off balance, but as you may have been reading recently on this blog, I have returned to my childhood faith. I'm so glad that the Lord has not forgotten me and still loves me.

Pray for the unsaved and backslidden Wednesdays

Beginning this week, on Wednesdays I'm going to pray for the unsaved loved ones, extended family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc of those who actually have commented on my site. If you want me (and my readers) to pray for your unsaved or backslidden people in your life leave me a comment on Wednesdays to these posts of "Pray for the Unsaved Wednesdays". No need to mention any one's names, or locations. Just by you saying, yes, please pray for the unsaved people in my life, is enough. Jesus knows who you mean.


Spread the word.

I (we...my readers) will pray for those unsaved and those who have fallen away from the Lord..friends /family /coworkers,etc of those who comment on this post each Wednesday.

So leave a comment and we'll pray for the unsaved ones in your life.

Thanks.

Word Filled Wednesdays~6-10-09

This is my verse for today:

33But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. (from Matthew 6, NASB)

Looking back over yesterday

Now before I go any further, I want to make a disclaimer....(giggle)....this is the REAL me speaking. I'm learning that its okay to share my opinions, beliefs, etc on my blog. After all its my blog, and I can share if I want to. (giggle).

After posting the previous post on Sunday, and having the move looming over us, with a car that needed mechanical attention, movers coming yesterday, and hubby planning to drive last night in order to meet the movers today.....anyways, after posting that, and giving the matter over to the Lord, I've got a huge praise report.

When we went to church on Sunday a church member who works over at the mechanics said she'll call the mechanic and alert him of hubby's urgent need, and told hubby to have the car at the shop by 8 am. So that's what hubby did. He left the car there, and since we live in town, they gave him a courtesy ride back to the house. They planned on looking at the car first thing and then calling us. Now excuse me, for those who are mechanically minded, for my layman's terms of car trouble. It turns out that an elbow joint in the transmission was either loose or had broken and it was leaking transmission fluid from there. It was not at an easy spot to get to. But nevertheless, the mechanic knowing the urgency of our situation called us, informed hubby of the situation. He told hubby that he was having a part delivered ASAP and the car should be done by early afternoon! PRAISE THE LORD

Now the movers came on time, loaded hubby's stuff from the church, and then started on the house. We've moved several times, and so far this is the most efficient bunch of laborers we have seen. They took note of special requests, and worked hard. They took very brief breaks and we fed them a light lunch. They didn't want to get too full, and break their momentum. The whole loading procedure was done in about 5 hours for a church load/and a 3 bedroom house. That was the best time ever.

About a half an hour before the movers were done the mechanic called saying the car was done, and that they'd bring the car over to the house (as is their policy). They also told hubby that he could settle up the bill on another day as he is traveling back and forth between the two houses. That way hubby was able to finish loading the car and shortly after the movers were done for the day, hubby left for the new house. Praise the Lord.

Also it was supposed to rain/storm yesterday and today. The rain held off until just when hubby was leaving. The movers were gone by then, so all our stuff was dry. Now it was supposed to be raining today for the unloading but the rain and storms have come through yesterday evening and overnight and it looks for the unloading that hubby will have a dry spell before more storms this afternoon. Praise the Lord.



NOW (stepping on my soapbox)....this leads me to my point. The Lord has answered so many requests in the last 24-36 hours that I give HIM full praise.

I hereby declare, and always have, that I do NOT believe in luck. These events some (even Christians) would say that I/we were very lucky for the car to be fixed, to be delivered, and to have the rain hold off. phooey. I don't believe in luck. That was ALL God's working. Now to me, to believe in luck means one doesn't believe in God. There were many people over the past few weeks wishing us good luck in our new adventures. I cringe inwardly, especially when they come from mouths of Christians. I just have to give them to the Lord.

For me personally, what I have lived through in my life since I was a child and the many, many, many ways I have seen the Lord work in otherwise impossible situations...that's NOT luck...it's the Lord.

Yesterday was just one more example in almost a book full of personal examples of ways the Lord has come through and met needs.

OK, climbing down off of my soapbox. (giggle)

What a great devotion for today.

My husband woke up full of worry for tomorrow. We have a car that is leaking something, and he needs to make a major 100+ mile trip tomorrow to our new house. So with movers coming tomorrow, and him having to make a trip to the new house, he is worried. Kiddo and I will be staying here while school finishes for the year. Hubby will be back and forth as we straddle two houses. Car trouble on a day when he has to travel is not making him happy.

THEN

I came across this devotion and read it to him. Meanwhile, I'm also encouraged that somehow the Lord will work and hubby and a carload of stuff will get to the new house in time to meet the movers on Tuesday.
http://www.internetcafedevotions.com/