I'll Pray for You

               The topic of prayer has been on my mind lately.  How often do we tell someone who is going through a rough patch, “I’ll pray for you”?  Isn’t that the right response as a Christian?  But then, how often do we follow through with that prayer?

                If I’m honest with myself, I say that with every intention of praying diligently for that person.  I usually do send up a quick prayer after our conversation for their specific request, but then I may or may not pray about that specific request again.  So is that enough?

                In our first pastorate, there was a lady named Goldie.  Yes, Goldie.  She was an elderly lady who had seen a lot in life.  We talked about prayer one day, and this is what she told me.  You only have to ask God once.  If you give it to God, it’s His.  He doesn’t need to be reminded repeatedly because he doesn’t forget.  So pray and leave it alone.

                Wow! Pray and leave it alone?  You mean I don’t have to ask Him every day until He answers prayers MY way?  Oh wait a minute.  Was that a Freudian slip?  Am I praying continually because he hasn’t answered it MY way?  Maybe He has answered it.  Maybe the answer is no or wait, and I’m still waiting on his yes. 

                I don’t know that there is one way to pray.  I do know if I’ve taken something back that I can’t handle, I need to leave it at His feet again.  I also know, however, that God’s memory is perfect.  He doesn’t need me to keep reminding him of how I want the prayer answered.

                Back to my first question, though.  How often do we tell people we will pray for them, and do we actually do it?  I will be a woman of my word.  If you ask me to pray about something, I will.  I will take your petition to God’s throne and leave it with him.  I will also pray that He gives you peace about the situation until the answer is clear.  As you come to my mind, I will send up more prayers that God’s presence will be felt in your life.  I will pray for you! 

To Have a Pet or Not Have a Pet? That is the Question.

                Yesterday Ryan got on a tangent about having a pet.  This came on the heels of his “first pet,” a grasshopper, dying.  The only reason he had that was it was crawling across my laptop while I was working.  I nearly screamed but then caught it in a plastic container so he could see it.  He wanted to keep it, but we didn’t feed it.  I know, I know.  I should have fed the grasshopper.

                Several days before he had asked, “Mom, if you HAD to have a pet, what would you want?”  I told him if I HAD to have one, I would probably want a small dog.  He turned that into mom wants a small dog.  However, we have had these discussions before.  You see, I don’t want a pet.  We’ve tried having pets.

                I had fish in college.  They were harmless, except when you had to clean the bowl.  I didn’t like that. 

                Then Kevin and I decided to adopt a cat when we moved to our first pastorate.  We had decided to put off having kids for a little while, so we adopted Rev. Ike to move into the parsonage with us.  (Yes, that was his name at the shelter.)  Not long after we adopted him, I got pregnant.  When Brandon came along, I didn’t want the cat anywhere near the baby.  I didn’t care if they were old wives tales, I wasn’t taking any chances.  I had to chase that cat everywhere trying to get it into the laundry room where it had food and toys and such.  But we decided that was no life for a cat, so we gave it to one of Kevin’s cousins.

                During our second pastorate, a vet attended our church and said he had a dog I should come see.  He said if he couldn’t find a home, it would have to take a walk over the rainbow bridge.  I looked, and I fell in love.  There were actually two, a brother and a sister.  That day they came home with us.  We named the girl Happy.  She was very happy to come home with me. (She even put her head on my shoulder as I drove her home.)  We named the boy Lucky because he was just lucky I took two dogs.  Then it began.  Not only did they sleep all day and bark all night, but they started digging holes.  Now even I know that dogs dig.  But these dogs were DIGGING!  I mentioned it to the vet, and he just said that’s what dogs do.  Then he came by the house.  Even he was surprised at the size of the holes in our backyard.  I told those silly dogs they were digging their own graves because they were deep enough for me to push them in and cover them up.  So the dogs had to go. 

                We did fish again for a little while.  I don’t think any of us were overly crazy about them, though.

                Now we fast forward to several years later.  Ryan wants a pet.  And he wants one now!  In fact, we had to finally tell him to not mention the word pet or animal again yesterday.  He was over the top!

                So what do we do?  Neither Kevin nor I really want an inside pet.  Our yard isn’t huge, but we do have a small garden, so we don’t want something that’s going to dig it up.  Does every kid NEED a pet?  Are we denying him something that will send him to therapy in future years?  Or is this just another tangent of a seven-year-old?

                What do you think? 

                P.S. Before you start making suggestions about exotic things or birds or gerbils, the answer is no.  J

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream

                The other day I had scheduled a play date for my seven-year-old.  The other mom had wanted to get together to chat, so we planned to meet at a local restaurant with a play area.  The kids could play, and we could chat.  Well, I must have had an early senior moment because I just thought I had scheduled the date.  I had scheduled it in my head while we were on vacation but was going to check the calendar when I got back.  I never sent her the final okay message.  So we show up, Ryan starts playing, and then I check my messages and realize we had never confirmed.   I sent her a message and we scheduled for later in the week.  After telling my son my mistake, I told him he could play for a while anyway.

                When we got in the van, Ryan told me he was very sad about missing out on the play date.  I assured him it would happen later in the week and apologized for the mix-up.  I then heard him say, “Maybe we could go to Braums or Pink Swirls.  Ice cream would make me feel better.”  I quickly said, “We don’t turn to food to make us feel better.”  When asked why, I said it wasn’t a healthy way to live.

                Ugh!
                Double Ugh!

                This was an issue that I’ve been struggling with most of my life!  And my son just made me state the truth!  Out loud!  Now what?  My son never forgets anything.  So I sure can’t use this as a reason to go anywhere with him again.   What’s going to happen the next time I’m sad, or mad, or feeling down?  I have often said to myself, “I deserve this.  It’s been a rough day, and I made it!  I deserve a reward!”  I’ve even done the reverse.  “I’m so happy; I’m going to celebrate with a ___!” (Fill that blank in with whatever my recent craving had been). 

                But now I have told my son that doing that isn’t the healthy way to deal with our emotions.  I shouldn’t tell him one thing and live another.  I don’t know when the next rough patch will hit or when I’m going to be beyond happy and feel I deserve a treat.  However, I do know that my son’s words will forever be in the back of my mind, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll turn to my family and friends for the encouragement, support, and praise that I need.

Welcome to My Journey

As I start out on my journey of blogging, I would like to invite you to join me. My life has so many paths. There are so many things I am interested in, that I decided not to focus on just one particular topic. I want to explore this journey. I want to see what rabbit trails it leads me down.

I am a Christian, wife, mother, teacher, and probably a few other titles.

If you choose to follow my blog, be prepared to hear about God. I believe God created us.  I believe He sent his Son to die for us. I am a Christian, and I will not apologize for that.

I have been married to Kevin for 22 years! I can hardly believe it has been that long! He is my best friend, and I can honestly say the love of my life! He is a hospice chaplain and former pastor. His love for people is amazing.  Our marriage is not perfect but whose is?  We decided early on in our relationship, however, that we would work through the hard times.  Together.  Forever.  I know that is why we do have a strong marriage.

I have two wonderful boys Brandon (16) and Ryan (7). They are so fun! I love being their mom. I’m sure that they will show up in my blogging journey (maybe more often than they would like).

I teach middle school English, but that doesn’t mean I’ll never make a grammatical error. I’m not even offended when others point out my mistakes.  People usually look at me like I’m crazy for teaching middle school, but I can honestly say, I love my job. 

I love spending time with my family, reading, cross-stitching, watching TV, and scrapbooking.  Now I want to add blogging to my list!

My blog may seem scattered or unfocused for some. Just remember my main idea: Journeys. Each area of my life is part of that journey.  I hope you will join me and even let me know how your journey is going!