Pray without Ceasing

It's amazing how God can prompt someone at any time to pray. I was sitting on stage this morning, in church, listening to the announcements. I am in my choir robe, music in hand, listening dutifully to the pastor. Suddenly I feel this strong sense and the words,

"Pray for Amy".

"What?" I reply in my head.

"Pray for Amy".

I look up at the clock. It says 9:05 a.m. (Our service starts at 8:55 a.m.) "Come on. Amy's church doesn't start till 10:00 a.m. She's probably fine".

"Pray for Amy".

So I did.

Later that afternoon, I called Amy to see how her church service went. (She is music director there).

"Oh, it was quite an adventure....all my doing", she replied. "Seems that around 9:00 I got to the church, unusually early, but realized I had left the praise team's music back at my house! I rumaged through my bags, around the instruments, to no avail. At that point I asked someone what time it was. It was 9:10 a.m. I had JUST enough time to drive back to my house at break-neck speed, grab the music, get back on the 95 and get back to church. I did all that, making nearly all the green lights, and no speeding tickets. Amazingly enough, I sat down at the piano at exactly 10:00 a.m. and started the service with no delay. I saw plenty of cops on the road and worried that I might get a ticket. I know I deserved a ticket, but I couldn't afford the time involved."

Imagine our awe when I told her that I was impressed to pray for her at the very same moment! God even cares for the little things in worship, such as forgotten music. What a comfort that He cares for every detail of our life.

So, when you get the urge to pray for someone, don't delay. Just pray.

No Shoes

On Sunday Amy and I had our spring recital. Close to 30 students performed. What a great night of music. We had candles burning, fresh flowers on stage, and a lovely reception afterwards in the lobby. Everything went great. It did make for a long day as both of us led music in church in the morning, then rushed to set up for the recital.

As we were cleaning up, the sound guy said that he would lock us in so he could go home. We propped the door open with a trash can as we loaded up stuff in my van. Our feet were so sore that we took off our shoes and did it barefoot. The heat index being over 100 degrees, it felt good!

I had just grabbed our purses and some microphone stands. I went out the door and when I released it, it popped the garbage can and the door latched shut. CLICK! So we were locked out, staring at our shoes in the lobby. After calling several church people and getting no help, we decided to leave the mess until the next day. I know one should not drive a vehicle with no shoes, but we had no choice.

We just laughed and laughed...two silly girls in a parking lot with no shoes!

Funny joke about a pastor

A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.

Therefore, he took out his business card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10."

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."

You Never Know...

We have NO food in the house. I needed to get milk, eggs, bread, all the basics. I planned to go to Target after the bank. I leave the bank and think, "I guess I'll go to Walmart". As I'm heading towards the left hand lane to turn into the Walmart lot, the car in front of me is driving strangly. It seems to burst foward, and then stop. As I get closer, I can see a man in the passenger seat struggling with the driver. He punches the person, grabs and pulls the person. I slow down and reach for my cell phone to call 911. Drat! I don't have my cell phone. I start to memorize the license plate number.

As I approach closer, I now see this man CHOKING the driver with both hands. The car is swerving all over the two lanes. I pull up as close as I can and lay on the horn to help startle the guy off the other person. At this point a large cup of soda flies out of the window....the driver door opens and out comes a scared lady, probably in her 40's. She's standing in the middle of the road totally shaken, just beaten and choked. I drive right up to her and say, "Get in the van!" She runs around and jumps in with me. By now the guy has gotten in his car and driven off.

I pull into the Walmart parking lot and try to comfort this woman. By questioning her I learn that this is her husband of 17 years who has beat her all the time. Once she did call the police and he was in jail. They have no children together, her kids are grown, but his 16-year old daughter does live with them. According to her, he treats her badly as well. I told her that if she wanted to call the police that I would be the witness to the whole thing. I could tell that she wasn't going to do that, so she called her son to pick her up. I also learned that he has no job and his unemployment had just run out. They were having money issues. She is paid to take care of her ailing parents.

As we are waiting, I tried to comfort her. I told her that I was a Christian and I asked her if she had ever gone to church. "Oh no, but my husband did one time when I left him. He told me he prayed that I would come back to him". I told him that going to church doesn't make one God's child, much like sitting in a garage doesn't make one a car.

She understood that her husband was trying to manipulate her. She did say that her 16-year old step-daughter did go to church. "May I pray for you right now?" I asked. She said yes. So I put my hands on her and I prayed for her, for her husband, and for her entire family. I asked that God would bring His peace that can only come by knowing His son, Jesus. She wept and shook as I prayed. I prayed that her husband would be convicted of his sin and that he would make peace with God as well. Then I briefly told her my story as I have been a Christian all my life but have not lived perfectly but I have always found forgiveness and strength in the Lord. She seemed to listen and be comforted by this.

I had some CD's in the car. I gave her my CD and a Master's Quartet CD. I told her to listen to these when she is discouraged. I also gave her my card with my phone number and told her that she can call me anytime.

Her son finally arrived and gave me a big hug for helping his mom. At that moment, the phone rang. It was the husband demanding to know where the wife was. That son said some things to that man I've NEVER heard before! He cussed with all the hatred a son could for his hurting mother. He then turned around to me and said, "I'm sorry ma'am, that I said those things in front of you". I said, "It's OK." As he thanked and hugged me, I said, "God placed me at the right time and the right place so I could help your mom. God is watching out for you." He said, "Yeah, my sister goes to church and all that....maybe we should too!" The lady gave me a hug and started to cry. I told her that she was precious and that I was her new friend.

It's pretty hard to shop for milk and eggs after something like that! God knew what was going to happen today, and he placed me in a path to administer grace to a hurting person. I hope I hear from her again as I'd like to speak to her more about the Lord. I hope she listens to the CD's as they contain messages of hope and of salvation. She now knows the message of salvation so I pray that the Holy Spirit would till the seeds that have been sown today.

You never know what's going to happen...even going to Walmart.

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love." I Corinthians 16:13 NIV

Jimmy and Mom singing

Memorial Day, 2008

A friend asked me what the difference was between Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Good question! I am not an expert so if anyone out there can fill me in, I'd appreciate it.

I think Memorial Day includes those who have died for our country but also is a day to remember loved ones in our family. I remember as a child, going to the cemetary to put flowers on the graves of great-grandparents as well as to see a short program or parade for military people. I don't think people go to the family graveyard as much as they used to, as families live in different states and many people are choosing cremation and thus have no burial plot to for others to visit.

Does anyone else have memories of going to the cemetary on Memorial Day? If so, share them.

I find it interesting that when the Christian church was young, it did not celebrate people's birthdays as this was considered pagan. Rather, Christians celebrated the day that a fellow saint died, as this was the day they entered heaven. To them this day was more important than the day of their earthly birth.

St. Valentine's day is an example of this.

Above is a shot of our porch; I just added window boxes and the flowers are now starting to bloom over the sides.