What is up with that? It's Christmas...the time of happiness and light and fun, right?
Maybe it's just my age.
I told Jim the other day that I realize where they coined the term "middle aged." I said it was because even though people aren't quite done raising their kids, they start having issues with or caring for their parents at the same time. They're in the middle.
To which Jim, ever the ray of sunshine, said, "I hate to tell you, but we passed middle age a lonnnng time ago...unless you think we're gonna live til we're 100."
He needs to shutty.
But I'm not even kidding. Every morning when I wake up, I pick up my phone to check the time. And every morning, there is message after message from people with prayer requests and needs. I can feel my heart drop before I even start reading them. Most of them are from people I know in my real life. But now that I've started blogging, there is this whole other world out there with people I've never met. People who share their hearts with complete strangers.
There are a lot of problems with social media..it's over-use and potential abuse...but to me, it is like one big prayer chain.
Or, it can be.
Fifteen years ago, when Clark was sick with his cancer, social media was not as big as it is now. Email was the big thing. I remember friends telling me that they sent our prayer request for Clark out in an email to their family and friends...and some of them passed it on...and some of THEM passed it on. And, as Joshua would say, "and so on and so FOR."
"They" say there is 6 degrees of separation between any given person and any other given person. My husband likes to say that, in Arkansas, it's about 2 degrees. I remember people telling me that Clark was on the prayer list at their parent's church...or their cousin's church...or at their best friend's sister's baby-sitter's mother's Bible Study.
I love that!
Friends would tell me that people in Europe...or Japan...were praying for Clark. SO cool! The elderly man who lived across our street said he couldn't remember Clark's name, but when he prayed, he asked God to heal and protect "the little blond-haired boy from across the street...GOD knows," he would tell me. And one man stopped my father-in-law at the gas station and told him he was praying for his grandson.
Friends would tell me that people in Europe...or Japan...were praying for Clark. SO cool! The elderly man who lived across our street said he couldn't remember Clark's name, but when he prayed, he asked God to heal and protect "the little blond-haired boy from across the street...GOD knows," he would tell me. And one man stopped my father-in-law at the gas station and told him he was praying for his grandson.
But now I am able to get prayer requests from people I don't even know. That's part of what I love about the body of Christ. We don't have to know someone or their situation personally in order to pray for them. And so many have prayed for our family...it's a blessing and a privilege to pray for others.
So, my best friend's mom has just been diagnosed with colon cancer...she's in the hospital. Another friend's mom had a stroke this week. Another friend's mom fell and is having surgery right now. Several friends have asked for prayer for their children. And the list goes on and on.
Tonight, my heart is heavy for this sweet lady. I don't know her, but found her blog about a year ago via a prayer request. Would you pray for her and her family?
When things seem out-of-control, I know the One who is the Source of peace.
"Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you..." Psalm 55:22
Tonight, my heart is heavy for this sweet lady. I don't know her, but found her blog about a year ago via a prayer request. Would you pray for her and her family?
When things seem out-of-control, I know the One who is the Source of peace.
"Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you..." Psalm 55:22
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