A Prayer for My Daughter. And Yours.

Happy Fall! I can say this with enthusiasm because we are still in the throws of sunny days  and cool evenings. In NW Ohio and SE Michigan, that is. Those dreary, cold,  border line frozen, days and nights are not here.  Yet.  So, I am enjoying the days as they are. Perfectly perfect. Regardless of what each day brings.  Chaos or peace.  Joy or sadness.  God always brings His creation to the table of my life.  Season by Season.  Winter - clothed in it's wonderful robe of white Picture by Lynn Stone Spring - clothed in a lei of floral Summer - laying in the sands of a million suns Fall - in all it's display of glorious color Bethany found this on the sidewalk He lays each season down and  says,  "Here I am." "Here." "There." "Everywhere." "Beautiful." "Stunning."  'Ever-changing." "And Yet, Never changing."   And as this week has been just on the heels of my daughter receiving an unanticipated medical diagnosis, I pause. I ponder. I run around like a chicken with my head cut off. And I Pray. Without Ceasing. Every moment. Of Every hour. Of Every day. Constantly. And then....I lay it down. To be continually prayed about.  But NOT to be worried about. NOT to be confused with worry. Period. At all. As I have been spending a lot of time researching on the internet, and praying, I  ran across a blog post that a friend of mine wrote for today.  And I thought. How appropriate. And sweet.  So I am sharing her Prayer for Her Daughter, just as I would have written it,  had I been given the talent that God gave my friend. And I pray this for my middle daughter. Bethany Rose And for my  eldest daughter. Yes, and even for my son.  Even though I wrote a post about praying for him a few days ago. I hope you pray this for your daughter, or niece, or sister, as well. Thanks for stopping by. Be blessed! Shari A Prayer for a Daughter Sep 24, 2013 01:20 am | Ann Voskamp Father who breathed into this daughter… I pray for this girl being formed into eternity…. May the wind always be in her hair May the sky always be wide with hope above her And may all the hills be an exhilaration the trials but a trail, all the stones but stairs to God. God, clothe this girl in a gown of grace Grace, the only dress that makes beautiful, the style of Your spirit. Nourish her on the comfort food of the Word, Word, that makes her crave more of Christ, have hunger pangs for Him. Enclose her in communion with You You, Love who makes her love, who folds her heart into a roof that absorbs storms for souls, that makes her tongue speak only the words that make souls stronger. May her vocation in this world simply be translation Translating every enemy into esteemed guest Translating every countenance into the face of Christ Translating every burden into blessing When it’s hard to be patient… make her willing to suffer When it’s ridiculous to be thankful … make her see all is grace When it’s radical to forgive … make her live the foundation of our faith And when it’s time to work … make her a holy wonder. May she be bread and feed many with her life and her laughter May she be thread and mend brokenness and knit hearts May she be dead to all ladders & never go higher, only lower, to the lonely,  the least & the longing Her led of the Spirit to lead many to the Cross that leads to the tomb wildly empty. Oh, and raise me, Lord, from the deadness of my own sins to love this beautiful girl like You do… In the name of Christ who rose and appeared first to one of His daughters… Amen…

Be blessed, and thanks for stopping by!

I. Love. Fall. Period.

Yes it’s that time of year again…”Football, Soccer, School, hoodies, campfires and smores.” Or….as some would say, “Families running around like chickens with their heads cut off.” I wouldn’t really know if chickens actually do that, but I hear they do. That is….when then are being readied for slaughter, and their heads get chopped off, they run around aimlessly, until they can run no more. Ewwwwww.

Back to my point. It’s beginning to look a lot like Fall around here in NW Ohio/SE Michigan. Yaay! My favorite time of year. From the start of the school year (both college and high school), to all of the soccer games and now, the football games, to the backyard campfires, to the raking of leaves, canning veggies, and crockpot dinners. Ahhh…..I. Love. Fall. Many times over.

I do not, however, love it’s busyness. Again…from the start of the school year and on through November--busy. Period. My son is a soccer fanatic. He lives, eats, sleeps and breathes soccer. His older sisters were, and are, too. He hasn’t missed a soccer practice or game in years, and he plays year round soccer. He excels at it, and he knows it. He plans on attending college next year on a soccer scholarship, and he very well may. 

Having said that, soccer is extremely time consuming. Jonathan is grounded enough to know that although soccer is time consuming, life requires balance, and he is able to balance that with the remainder of things in his life. However……he was just selected to be the kicker for the Varsity Football Team. What? 

 

He is not very happy about it. Jonathan is one of the most humble athletes anyone would ever meet, and thus, he doesn’t like to strut his stuff. I thought we were busy with just soccer and school, but nope, now there is Football. This week alone, he has four soccer games and a football game. Couple those with the fact that I teach a LifeGroup in my home, work full time, and am responsible for two team feeds this week, and…and…

I think you got it. Life is just busy. Plain. Simple. Busy. But is it good? Absolutely! Is it peaceful? Absolutely! I wouldn’t have it any other way. But…..

What about rest? 

What about re-grouping? 

What about down time? 

Well, what about it? 

God is very clear in the Bible, to “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” I love that. God didn’t give us the commandments to restrict us, but rather to protect us. To not only protect us from evil, but to protect us from ourselves. Yup. If we don’t remember to set aside one day a week for rest, we are not only disobeying God’s commandment, but we become one tired individual. And tired people typically make crabby people.  You get where I’m going with this?

Yes. This is why we try and make it a habit not to shop or eat out on Sundays. Why perpetuate the problem by asking store employees to work so that we may have access to their food or products?  This is one of the reasons why, when my children were younger, I instituted a mandatory FOB time every day.  At least once a day. 

FOB means “feet on the bed.” Translated, you can do anything you want for the next hour, as long as your feet on fully on your bed.  This way, everyone learned the concept of a daily downtime, as well as I got a well needed break from the chaos of homeschooling and daily life with youngins.  I loved that rule, and so did my kids. Sometimes they would just color in their bed or read a book. On a side note, I learned early on that if I had a book that I wanted one of my children to read, I would neatly place it on their pillow. Eventually, it would get read and then placed back on my pillow. Love that.

Back to the FOB rule. Yes. Sometimes, all three would fall asleep. Yes!  Most of time, I would.  Even now, as I am older, I have a downtown rule. It is extremely rare that I am not home and relaxed by 7:00pm. 7:00pm has become our family’s time to be done with the cares of the day. There are exceptions, this week being one of them. But then again, this week is totally out of the ordinary. Thank God. I couldn’t handle many more weeks like this is shaping up to be. Late night games, coupled with late night LifeGroup, coupled with work and out of town guests.  Yowsa.

Well, here’s hoping you are able to get some rest.

Some pure

heart calming

soul peaceful 

rest.

Rest in the Lord is always preferred. 

God Bless!

P.S. Tonight we are lighting a fire in the fire pit, making smores, playing some music and just chillaxing. But not until after LifeGroup and Soccer.