Good Morning Dear Friends,

I am writing this on a Friday morning and thinking about all the current news. I have also been working through all my emails and articles that are sent to me daily. Now when I say articles…I mean Christian articles/devotionals.

With that being said….I saw this title (article’s title) in several places. So it made me stop and think. I have recently been working through some things….as we all go through in life. After 5 years of emergencies, emergency rooms, ICUs, funerals, paperwork beyond belief and a very very messy (literally) home, 2 weddings, first grandbaby, etc. And now we have all kinds of new things in this world to deal with. WOW!!

For me the last 5+ years I have lived in a place of the squeakiest wheel gets the attention first….or the most medically or even financially critical. And all I could thinks was….soon I can get back to my life!! That was the carrot before the donkey for me!!

Hmmm….now that has that changed? Every day lately we wake up to hear the current medical scares (politcal scares, world issues) and look at…well honestly frightening maps of doom! WOW…what do we do?!!!

I don’t really have much to offer…but Jesus does. Jesus was the most incredible person literally on this earth. He is God’s son. He exampled how to love and how to help.

Now, I don’t know about you but I don’t have that special touch to heal those who are literally hurting….though I wish that could happen….and so do my knees!! 😉 But I can do a couple of things Jesus demonstrated. I can show love, compassion, mercy, faith, hope…

I can also go the the garden to pray. Our Lord created in our lives here on this earth a way to talk to the Lord!! We do not have to go through a priest, a book or even any special formula. We can just ‘talk’. Isn’t that great!!! I know it sounds simple….but it is true. Our prayer life is a special gift from the Lord.

When Jesus hung on the cross he literally paid the price or the penalty for our sins. In the old testament that meant an animal had to be sacrificed for atonement for sin. Then Jesus came to this earth and He chose to pay that price for our walk with the Lord. We just had to believe in Him. And literally as He hung on the cross…the veil was ripped in the temple. We no longer must go through the priest and we no longer have to offer a sacrifice!!! WOW!!!

So why do I bring that up now? Well, one of the greatest blessing we were afforded was…prayer. We have a direct line to God. I don’t know about you…I can’t imagine a day when I couldn’t talk to my Savior!!

As a homeschool Mom I remember how impacting the scripture of praying along the way each day impacted me. I also remember telling my children…it’s just talking to God. And finally, my last teaching was…Jesus is with you as you go to sleep each night waiting to talk with you before you sleep. And as soon as you wake up, He is sitting right there waiting to have a chat just with you!!

Though those teachings may sound childlike simplicity….it is true for all of us!! So when we are going through these difficulties…we need to pray. Just talk to Jesus!! He is waiting to chat each day…throughout the day!!

There is a wonderful song by Steven Curtis Chapman that was my son’s favorite song when he was little….Let us Pray. Here’s a couple of lines that stick with me…

“Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day, it is the right time
For the Father above, He is listening with love
And He wants to answer us, so let us pray”

1 Thess 5:17, Col 4:2, Eph 6:18, Heb 4:16, Rom 12:12

And also in this particular song…there is reference to how Jesus modeled for us to pray with “the Lord’s Prayer”.

Matthew 6:9-13

Let us…think about the things above and not on the things of this earth. (Col. 3:2)

I share this verse…to say…when we are overwhelmed with the thought of all that is going on in the world today….let us keep our thoughts on the Lord. When doing this we can better know ‘when, how & where’ He needs us to serve. We better know this through prayers…loving God (going to the garden to pray…as Jesus exampled) and loving others.

So finally, what does this look like in my life. I have been working so hard “to get all this done…so I could get back to my life”. Guess what, my life has forever changed these last 5+ years. So there is no way of going back. What I must do now, is focus on what is ahead of me. What the Lord’s will is in my life. And instead of mourning circumstances or what has been the cost of these last many years(& yes there have been blessings…amazing blessings)…it is time to move forward.

So some of the things I am working on:

1) Reclaiming my home!! PTL!!! (And fyi…this is not a one weekend venture.)

2) Focusing on the current work list and completing it and not dreaming of the what if’s.

3) Loving and caring for those in the here and now.

4) Saying no to what I should not be doing…even if there is push back. I cannot please everyone all the time.

5) Quit “trusting” those who are not trustworthy and expecting them to live up to what my standards are in life. (Proverbs tells us to walk with wise men….GREAT focus!!)

6) Taking time to develop healthy friendships/relationships as so many were lost over these busy years and just change of life…going from the world of homeschooling, well to not!!

7) Focus on my family…that truly paid the price with me in helping their family/grandparents final days, deaths and enormous work after. Taking the time for my Sweet Husband, children (&spouses) and our new first grandbaby. 🙂

8) Enjoy the journey I am in each day.

9) The most important of all….FOCUS on the Lord and His will in my entire life.

I know this is my list….maybe take a few minutes to write your own priority list. Then my Sweet Friends…let us pray, let us pray…every where and every day…it is the right time!! And let us do good in a hurting world…be that light for Christ!!!

Hugs and prayers…k 🙂