Need to Pray? Walk This Way!

And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’ (Matthew 21:13a)

Every Wednesday night, our church holds its weekly prayer meeting. It is an encouraging, refreshing, relaxing time. We share prayer requests, pray for one another, sing hymns, and offer praise reports about how God has answered our prayers, met our needs, and blessed us and those we love.

Since the prayer meeting starts at 8:00 pm, well after Sweet Pea and Sugar Plum have been put to bed, JT and I cannot go to the meeting together. So that we each have an opportunity to attend a couple times a month, we take turns going to prayer meeting. Last night was my turn to go.

I was very thankful to get to last night’s meeting as I really needed some prayer. I was tired after spending the majority of day running various errands to prepare for our 4th of July barbecue and my patience was short. Yesterday, the girls were feeling particularly “emotional” by the end of the day and concluded the day with a ferocious battle with me over dinner and baths. I practically ran into the church last night in search of relief!

Toward the end of the prayer meeting, my friend Audrey stood and offered us some marvelous words of encouragement. She reminded us that God hears the prayers of those who have a true relationship with Him and that those prayers are extremely powerful (James 5:16). Audrey encouraged us to continue praying for one another and pointed out that our church is full of prayerful, gifted members involved in a variety of church ministries, all designed to give us the support we need.

Thankfully, the day I had yesterday is atypical. However, when those days come, it’s comforting to know that I have friends and family who pray for me and my family daily. It’s also a blessing to step into my own church, a house of prayer, and find the emotional and spiritual support I need.

Do you have a church that can offer you that type of love and support? If so, continue to go and grow there. If not, I encourage you to pray about it. I know God will lead you to a church that will meet your needs and allow you to use the gifts He has given you!

Photo: Courtesy of Wonderlane

Dirty Shoes

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me. (Psalm 51:10)

Yesterday morning, as I was dressing the girls, I tuned in to Good Morning America just as Robin Roberts was introducing a story about the many different germs found on the soles of shoes. My first thought was that the topic was far from newsworthy. (Just think about where you’ve walked today. I doubt any of us would be surprised to learn that the soles of our shoes are filthy!) I was just about to turn the radio off when Robin reeled me in. She noted that these germs could be tracked into our house, spread throughout its many rooms, and possibly make my children sick.

Having swallowed the news bait, I immediately switched to “Mommy Mode” and now found the story much more newsworthy. I spent the next several minutes listening to gross statistics that caused me to regret not picking up more containers of the bleach that were on sale this week.

• Toilet seats are cleaner than the soles of our shoes.
• Bacteria are able to survive longer on the soles of shoes than in other places because it is fed by new debris we pick up as we walk around.
• Nine out of the ten shoe tests performed by Good Morning American tested positive for coliform, a bacteria that comes from human and animal waster.
• Children under the age of two are most vulnerable since they put their hands into their mouths an average of 80 times an hour.

These types of stories nearly always send me into a silly, paranoid cleaning frenzy. Yesterday, I vacuumed an extra time and mopped the floors sooner than my cleaning schedule notes. In addition, everyone’s shoes were surrendered at the door. Though my efforts probably made little difference in the germ count, they did ease my mind just a bit.

After all that extra housework, I was pretty tired. Perhaps later, I’ll soak my feet and give myself a good pedicure so my feet will look pretty if I’m asked to leave my shoes at someone else’s door.

Photo: Courtesy of jazzylolo

Birthday Girl!

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

June was always a month of celebration during my childhood. My birthday is June 4, my brother’s birthday is June 8, and my mother’s birthday is June 18. Of course we also celebrated Father’s Day on the third Sunday in June, so throughout the month everyone in our household had a reason to party.

Since today is my birthday, I thought about my childhood birthday celebrations and recalled how happy those times were. My memories included birthday trips to The Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey Circus which always came to our area in June and was a joint birthday celebration between my brother and me. My parents allowed us to invite a friend to join us at the circus and the evening culminated with pizza at our favorite pizza parlor.

Another birthday I fondly remember is my Sweet Sixteen. My parents threw a huge barbecue and all my friends and family came to celebrate. The highlight of this birthday was when we filled our long stemmed champagne glasses with punch and my mom offered a toast to me! I still recall feeling so “grown up” that day!

Now that I’m a wife and mother, my birthdays are celebrated a bit differently but are just as sweet. Today Sweet Pea offered me a plethora of kisses and hugs and Sugar Plum offered a block as a birthday present. As always, JT made me feel like the most important woman in the world.

No matter how many years go by, I still find that birthdays are best when spent with those you love!