One Minute Each Night

I don't normally forward emails sent to me, but I felt like this email could really have an impact on our Nation and the world. I have always been passionate about prayer and have had the privilege to have joined or lead a number of prayer groups. So read and consider how you might join others in praying for our nation. Consider joining this movement for the upcoming elections and for a revival for our entire nation.

Subject: Much Needed Prayer

ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT
>
> During WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of
> people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour
> for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and
> peace. This had an amazing effect as bombing stopped.
>
> There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America..
>
> If you would like to participate: each evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time
> (8:00 PM Central, 7:00 PM Mountain, 6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you
> are doing and spend one minute praying for the up-coming election, and for
> the revival of Christianity in this great country.
>
> If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along.
>
> Someone said if people really understood the full extent of the power we
> have available through prayer, we might be speechless. Our prayers are the
> most powerful asset we have.

> Thank You. Please pass this on to anyone who you think will want to join
> us.

God meets us where we are...

In light of Easter, and the story of a Savior that came to earth and met us where we are in our humanity and sin... I am going to share a story from one of my favorite bloggers, Heidi. This story reminds me of how many hurting people are out there, sometimes just right next door to us, or standing next to us in the grocery line, or maybe working in the next cubicle over. I want to be as faithful as Heidi in building those relationships where God can use me to change, if only, just one life.

Many years ago, I met a young woman in the Navy, her name was Christi. We became roommates and she was from Georgia , We used to laugh about how she talked so funny, but between her mom’s cookies that she sent and the laughter we shared we became close.

One thing that separated us was our different lifestyles. She loved to party and to drink. But I knew that Christi in her way was covering up a load of past that she had been carrying.

So because of our different lifestyles we grew apart and lost touch.

About a year ago, she found me. We kept very touch and go emails throughout the summer until she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September. Than the emails came weekly. She would always ask me about my life which involves family, church, and my God. I told her all the details. But I never knew if she heard me, because our conversation always went back to her partying days and her somewhat horrific past.

Christi has never been a believer, eventhough her parents were deacons at their church and begged and begged for years!

Christi was defiant and angry.

A month ago, an email came and Christi wanted one thing, “ Simply stated, Family and friends, if I can see my daughter turn 1 than I might talk about your God” love Christi

That was the entire email.

This morning I recieved an email from her mom:

Her daughter Faith, turn one this week, she celebrated her first cake in her mom’s hospital room in Macon, Georgia. Although Christi had no energy to do anything else, she held her daughter, laughed and played Barbies on top of her bed.

She Had Kept Her Promise…..

Christi accepted Jesus into her heart that evening in the presence of the family pastor and her parents and family.

In the email it continues:

”Christi lost her battle with pancreatic cancer… that very next morning.

But …..

We as a family rejoice…

She Had Kept Her Promise…..”

Find Life... Find Jesus

For those of you who don't know Tricia, this is her holding her 8 week old daughter Gwyneth for the first time.... I can't imagine what she was feeling. She was willing to give her life for this little girl, and lived to be able to hold her. We are all praying she lives to see many birthdays to come.

But what is more amazing about this story is something I read on her father-in-law's blog. It's hard sometimes to imagine how much God loves us, but it's when we see things like this (the longing of a mother to hold her child, the sacrifice, the waiting, the tears of joy and sadness) that make it a little more tangible. He talked about how her waiting for the time to hold her daughter is a little how God waits for us who know him... as he stands at the gates for those who come home. We will not have to go look for Him. He will be waiting with open arms to greet us and hold us and say, "Welcome home my child."

In a Spiritual sense God is waiting to hold so many more of us who would come to Him right now on this earth... So many of us who know Him to lay our burdens at His feet; and so many more who don't know Him to find meaning to life, to heal their deep hurts, and to find rest from all the world has dumped on them. He is waiting with open arms. He wants to love on you and show off the greatest "you" that hides somewhere deep inside. Don't keep running away, or trying to do it yourself, or just sit there waiting for life to happen, find true love, find Life... find Jesus.

Can WeTrust God?

This is part of a post from "Find Me... Find Life... Real Life". I thought it was a good follow-up from my last post. Sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers the way we want. But I love the song and really believe in the words, "I thank God for unanswered prayer," because His ways are rarely our ways, but they are always better than the way we dream up for ourselves.

Can I trust God even if he never gives me what I most desire?

Can I not be angry? Will I stamp my feet and cry…and demand what I want. Will I hold onto the gravel of my own thoughts and dreams or give them to God for His purpose, His restoration, His Love.

Or will I take what he has promised me, like Abraham and Sarah with Hagar- and force what He has promised….which actually isn’t obedience to trust. Wow…that’s scary. I can force in my heart what I believe God has promised me and try to make things happen. …and dictate how and through whom it must happen. An Ishmael will come out of it…

Sometimes God wants us to wrestle with Him until we get an answer….and sometimes we have to wrestle with ourselves….maybe we think we have to wrestle with God and than we look and see it was ourselves that we wrestled with all along. I’m done wrestlin.

Learning To Yield

As a child I remember my father telling this story in church a number of times (He was a pastor). It is funny, yet very serious, and can let us see a part of ourselves we often like to ignore... pride.

I read a story about a radio exchange that took place some time ago between a U.S. Navy ship and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland. The Canadians warned the Americans, "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision."

The Americans responded, "Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision."

The Canadians said, "Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision."

The Americans: "This is the captain of a U.S. Navy Ship. I say again, divert your course."

"No. I say again, you divert your course."

"This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again, that is 15 degrees north or countermeasures will be undertaken to assure the safety of our ship."

After brief moment of silence, the Canadians responded: "This is a lighthouse. It is your call."

Sometimes we don't like what God wants us to do, and we want Him to change course when, in reality, it is us who ought to change course.

We need to understand that God's plans are better than ours. Having said that, it does not mean that they are always the easiest or even the most appealing at the moment. There are times when we are going through life that we might not like the plan of God. But God's plans are always better for us in the long run.

Praise Him In The Storm...

If you have not gone to visit my new favorite blog, you have to go meet this person. It's the kind of writer that has a way of saying exactly what you wanted to say but a whole lot better. Her post yesterday talked about praising God in the storm and Ken and I are learning alot about this right now. I am posting the whole entry here b/c I know some people don't follow links, but you can go here to read it on her blog and see the pretty pictures.

It’s easy to worship God, when everything is going our way. It’s easy to praise God for new jobs, health, possessions, good friends and family. What about when things don’t go so well? There are those people that would say that it’s a faith issue. Job’s friends thought so. Job’s friends told Job to confess the sin he was hiding, so that God would bless him again.

What kind of faith does it require to praise God in just the good times?

If there ever were a test of our faith…If there ever were a test of our motives of worship—it is when a storm rolls into our life. Sometimes God calms the storms, but sometimes He chooses to ride along with us.

What does it mean to praise God in THIS storm? This storm suggests that we are going through it right now. It’s easy to say that I will praise God in THE storm, because we are going through the storm, but the word THIS says, at least to me, that we are going through the storm at the current time and that I can praise God during the storm.

One of my favorite verses from years ago in youth group, comes from Romans 8:28. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

To be real honest, it sure doesn’t seem that way when you are in the middle of a storm. It’s difficult at best to get your bearings in the middle of a storm.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever, you face trials of many kinds…”

Whoa…We should consider trials a joy? Why ?

“Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything…”

Trials and testing and the storms of life are not evidence of our lack of faith, but evidence that our faith is there and needs refining.

Perseverance through the storm increases our faith. And strengthens it. I like the words James uses here. James in effect is saying that without trials we can never become mature believers. We can never become complete in our faith. Without the storms our faith, we will be short of strength and faith.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber or sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is the shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

We must remember God is God !

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh France in the Spring

This blog from "This French Life" is killing me. As many of you know I ran my first half-marathon this past November and loved it, and I am looking into running a few this spring...but there was a half-marathon in Paris THIS WEEKEND, and I am in pretty good shape right now. Oh well, hopefully I will be in better shape next year. Of course there are a number of other exciting things happening this Spring in France. Here is a quick selection of events coming up in the next few weeks:

Banlieues Bleues, Saint-Denis (Ile-de-France), March 14 to April 18
The Banlieues Bleues, one of the biggest jazz festivals in the Paris area, is an eclectic, lively festival, featuring all kinds of jazz, from traditional to contemporary, European to American blues and soul.

Amiens Jazz Festival, Picardie, March 2 to 23
The Amiens Jazz Festival has been running for more than 25 years and highlights contemporary jazz featuring both established and rising musicians. The festival website provides a wealth of information on the artists performing as well as venue and ticket details.

Paris half marathon, March 2
Set to start from the l'Esplanade du Château de Vincennes, the marathon will take in many of the popular sites and famous buildings of the capital. It will feature elite athletes from around the world, as well as amateur runners keen to face the challenge.

The Vikings in Normandy, Rouen maritime museum, until April 15
A look at the attack by the Vikings in 820 on the bay of the Seine, which includes many artefacts and tells the story of the influence the Norse man had on the area. This exhibition opened late last year but ends in the middle of April.

Les Vinées tonnerroises, Tonnerre, Burgundy, March 22 and 23
At Easter the Vinées Tonnerroises celebrates wine and winegrowers, mainly from Burgundy, who will be exhibiting a range of regional specialities.

Tasting takes place in the Hôtel Dieu in Tonnerre were inductions of new members from the Confrérie des Foudres Tonnerrois will be carried out. Visitors can enjoy various entertainments in town including rides in horse-drawn carriages.

Foire de Lyon, Eurexpo, March 21 to 31
The popular consumer trade show in Lyon opens its doors to visitors offering up more than 1,200 exhibitors displaying a vast array of items for the home, with many special deals on offer. There is an entrance fee of €10 per person, with under 11s enjoying free entrance, while a family tickets costs €25.

Spring poetry festival, Paris and across France, March 3 to 16
Although based out of Paris this celebration of poetry takes place across France, and even further a field. The official website features details of more than 5,000 events including readings, debates and workshops.