ADAM'S PRAYER

i wrote this a long time ago. perhaps it is a good day to share it. we are watching and praying still. Lord, have mercy and come quickly please. Let your kingdom come now, today, on earth as it is in heaven. Selah


Sometimes Jesus, I feel so small
I can't keep up with the others at all.

Sometimes Jesus, I can't remember
Does August come first, or is it September?

Sometimes Jesus, I can't pump the swing
and I try really hard, like anything.

Sometimes Jesus, I can't find my words,
and I call them dogs, but they're really birds.

And sometimes, Jesus, it's really true
I just don't know if it's green or blue.
   Help me be brave and keep trying.

But someday Jesus, I'll be strong and tall
and I won't have to wear these braces at all

And someday I'll run and jump and shout
and never again will I be left out.

'cause You're coming back and I know it's true
that I'll be healed 'cause I'll be with You.
Help me be brave and keep watching.

To Love Someone

"To Love Someone is to Know the Song in Their Heart and to Sing it to Them When They Have Forgotten the Words." Debbie Hron. I got this saying from a calendar that I used last year. It is a freebie from The United Spinal Association, formerly known as Eastern Paralyzed Veterans. Part of their fundraising campaign is to mail out calendars every year and hope people will contibute to their cause. We do. We like what they stand for.
Anyway, I ripped this page out of the middle of the calendar and taped it up on my desk. It has some cutesy country style artwork. Two fat cats surrounded by lots of hearts and some little birds. The verse inspires me to try to encourage others, and to encourage myself as well. There is plenty of darkness in the world, lots of mean sarcasm, too much name calling and so much mud-slinging going on that I really am tired of the news and also lots of what goes around on Facebook. It's easy to be mean and tear others down. It's not always easy to say something nice, or even something beautiful; that is not too popular anymore. I think this is a lovely verse to memorize and practice. It reminds of another of my favorites.."Be kind, for everone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Philo. He lived around the time that Jesus walked the earth. Old advice. Still good advice. Believe it or not, I learned that verse many years ago from a bag of Celestial Seasonings tea. I saved the little tag for about fifteen years, until it sort of wore out. The tag is gone, but the words still ring true in my heart.
I have heard it said that some people have a life verse. I used to wonder what mine was, but the the Lord has been reminding me of mine fairly regularly for the past few years. I never thought of it that way, it was just something I longed to see happen in this life, not just in the next. It is from the gospel of John. (He is my favorite gospel writer.) It is so important that Jesus prays it twice in his prayer to the Father on our behalf. I'll use the Reveised Standard Version as that is the one I was using when it pierced my heart. " ..that they may be one, even as we are one...." Jn.17:11, and again " that they may all be one, even as thou Father, art in me,and I in thee, that they also may be in us...." Jn 17:21. "That they may be one"; I converted it in my prayers to "Father, make us one".
Sadly, this is still not the truth of Christianity. We are often so absorbed with our own practice of of faith that we cannot see what our brothers and sisters are saying or feeling. We are so busy trying to hear what God is saying to us that we forget He speaks to all of us.
Even in our own churches, we often have no time or interest in the people God has put right in front of us, but we want to save the world. Odd, isn't it? I can get so wrapped up in my own issues or needs or wants or fears that I don't let into my heart the very people God has placed around me to help me get through to a better place. Or I shut out someone else because I don't understand them and would rather avoid learning to relate to someone new. (I switched to I so I am only pointing at me) Or I just don't have room in my life for anyone else. The list goes on.... I do struggle with these. Different days, different ones, but still working on being open.
How will we get to be one if we can't take the time to sing the song of another person's heart? How will we get to be one if we can't remember that everyone is battling something? How will we get to be one if we won't risk sharing our own heartbreak with another?
Maybe we can if we remember that Jesus prayed this for us. He asked his Father to make us one. He still wants that for us, and he always interceeds for us. I know he is still praying that prayer for his people today. I am reminded to pray it again today too. Will you join me?

Conflicted

I expect this post to be unpopular. I don't expect any rave reviews. I am struggling with the way I feel over the death of  Usama Bin Laden. A few years ago, I would have been jumping up and down and rejoicing over this news, like so many other Americans will be doing for days and maybe weeks. I am not. I am glad that an enemy is defeated. I am glad that the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and so many other terrorist activities can no longer plot against our nation. I am glad that he can no longer kill innocent people. And I am thankful for our faithful military and their families, whose cost for our freedom is so much greater than my own.
On the other hand, I felt the pain his family is feeling over the loss of their husband, father, and brother. They may be our enemies, but they feel his loss as deeply as we feel the loss of our loved ones.
And more importantly, I don't think this pleases God.
Ezekiel 18:23 says, '" Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?' declares the Sovereign LORD. "'Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their wicked ways and live?"'. vs. 32 states '"For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone"', declares the Sovereign LORD. "'Repent and live'"
I have often prayed "Lord, give me Your heart for the lost. I want to love them the way You love them."
I must say, this is not what I expected.

Ferris Beuller

Today there was a street festival in the town where my church is located. We had a booth there to do some dream interpreting and "Life Readings". I am still in the process of breaking off old restraints; I don't like the terminology, but I like what God does. This wording is a little more comfortable for me than "Spiritual readings", but still reminds me too much of psychic terminology. But God doesn't seem to mind, as He generously gives us encouraging words to say to those who come to sit and see what this is all about. It is really kind of amazing when I think about it. Perfect strangers come and sit down, and trust you to say something to them about themselves. They are willing, for the most part, to believe that you can really do this thing. They have more faith in me to hear something for them than I do to receive something for them.(but I don't let on about that, of course) Even those who sit and are totally skeptical soften when we say something that catches them off guard because it is accurate. What does this say? Why do they agree to sit, let us look at them (which makes most people totally uncomfortable) and then speak into their lives? Why do they go and bring their friends back and say, "you gotta hear this!" ?
I think it is because everyone needs to be encouraged. Even the happiest of the visitors need to be encouraged.
One woman came and sat down, and as soon as she did, I heard the Lord say "Ferris Beuller". Now, what was I supposed to do with that? Most of the time, I don't know what to say until I begin speaking. I think the Lord is bypassing my brain and speaking through my mouth so I don't mess it up. So I just told her that as soon as I saw her, I heard the name, and asked her if she remembered the movie. I was laughing because it seemed so crazy to me, but she did remember it. So then I asked her, "Do you remember how he asked his friend Cameron, 'Can you really say you haven't seen anything good today?'"  (Cameron, for those reading who may not remember the movie, was a depressed, repressed, melancholic boy who didn't even want to get out of bed for an adventure.) And she did. Then I said, "Well, that's how you are with your friends. You are like Ferris with them and always encouraging them to see the fun in life. You're like a cheerleader cheering them on to remember to have fun and have a good time, but always in a good way, the right way." She was nodding her head as I was speaking and so excited and told us that is exactly right and just exactly what she does. My encouragement to her was to keep doing it, that she has a gift of encouraging others, and people really need it. She was all smiles. I don't remember what the other people on the team had to say to her, but it was along the same lines. All in all, it was a good experience.
I wish I could remember to do this all the time. I think we can always be "on" with God. I long to get to the place in my walk with Him that I am never "off".  Learning to give encouraging words hasn't been so easy, as I was not raised that way. I did not learn to praise people for their accomplishments, or their character, or kindness, or generosity.  I stumble over my words sometimes because I want to be better at this, and then I try too hard and it sounds disingenuine. (Is that the right word?)  However, when I relax and ask God to show me, He does. When I ask Him for the right words to say, He gives them. When I ask Him to put a guard on my mouth, He does that too. I have some regrets that I didn't learn this when I was younger, and that I was not so good at doing this with my children, but I am thankful for what I have learned and that there is still time to pass this on to them. And to my grandchildren. In the beginning, it felt WRONG. It felt like I was not being truthful. Or sincere. Or that I was making up things to say that were just noise. But that was not so. And I am getting better at this, it is becoming more natural to me, and I like it. I may not be Ferris Beuller, but I am not Cameron either. I have seen some good things today.