Random Thought #1:NDP
As we commemorated the Natl' Day of Prayer this week, I spent some time reflecting on what prayer means to me and the impact prayer has had on my life. Prayer has been in my life in some form for as long as I can remember. I also know that long before I started journaling and keeping up answered prayers in my life, people were praying for me and prayers were being answered. My first memory of being taught to pray goes back to my childhood. My mom was a single mom and traveled a bit for her job, so I spent a good bit of time staying with my grandmother & great aunt who lived together. My aunt had two twin beds in her room and this is where I slept. Each night as we would go to bed, we would say our evening prayers... I'd pray the typical children's night prayer (now I lay me down to sleep...) and then I would wait until my aunt finished her prayers (which ALWAYS took much longer than mine)! I have a vivid memory of one such time when I finally asked her what prayer she prayed that took her so long to say. She went on to explain that she wasn't praying a "memorized" prayer, but was actually speaking to God from her heart. She then told me all the prayer petitions she had lifted up that night and all the people she had on her heart to pray for. This was one of my first "aha" moments in my prayer life. In my adult life, prayer has remained a constant in my life. After Will was born and I started really engaging in regular Bible study, my prayer life continued to grow. This was the point where I really started having a quiet time of prayer every day. This was also a pivotal time in HOW I prayed. I had become really good at praying for very specific needs, but began to learn a very different way to pray. I also learned that no prayers go unanswered, but often times they don't necessarily get answered the way I want or expect! During one Bible study I did, we specifically studied the purpose of prayer. It was in this study that I learned an acronym for prayer that has really structured my prayer focus as it is today. It is ACTS which stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Each time I pray, I give adoration or praise for Who God is, Confession of sins, Thanksgiving for blessings/answered prayers, and supplication or making my current prayer requests known to God. This has really given me a structure for my prayer and has really given me more accountability to journal and keep up with my prayer. This study also really helped my focus my prayer intentions and taught me how to pray specific scripture for specific needs/requests!
For the last two years, I've been praying with a group of girls. We pray together every Monday very specifically for our children. This has probably had the most impact on me personally. I am so humbled by this hour where we come together and pray over each others' children, families and marriages. When I recently went to hear Beth Moore, she said that in order to become holy, we have to wholly give our life over to God. One way we do this is to be immersed in a community of fellow believers. This is specifically what this group is to me. We are friends, but we are also a close-knit community of believers that have been transformed by the power of prayer each Monday morning in a small conference room on our school's campus. As we celebrated NDP and our school year comes to a close, I am thankful for each of these girls and the impact they've had on my family's life through our prayer time. From illness to academics, school bullies to time in jail, we've prayed for it ALL and I want to let each of you know how much I love you and appreciate the time you spend praying for my family!
prayer group with Beth Moore
Random Thought #2:
Happy 11th Anniversary to my sweet hubby! I am so glad to be married to you and am so thankful for ALL you are in my life! I love you!
Random Thought #3:
We reached a HUGE milestone with our sweet boy this week! As most of you know, Will is on the Autism spectrum (very mildly, but on the spectrum none the less) and has some quirks that we as parents don't always understand... one such quirk has been his absolute aversion to taking his training wheels off his bike! I struggle daily with my wants/needs for Will and often have a very hard time just letting him be who he is. In my mind an 8 1/2 year old (well even a 6 1/2 year old for that matter) should not have a bike with training wheels! So for two years we have tried numerous times to convince Will to take his training wheels off his bike and probably had a huge part to do with the fact that he went through a good 9 months not even riding his bike to just get me off his back! So you must know how completely delighted I was Monday afternoon when my boy came running into the kitchen to drag me outside to show me this...
Yes, he was outside playing with some friends and just decided to get on his friends bike and try it out... and that was it. He ALREADY knew how to ride! Not a lesson to teach, not a fall to be had. So off went the training wheels and now these two little wheels and this sweet little guy are precious memories to be cherished...
Will (age 5) in his preschool bike parade shortly after getting his new bike!
Oh and of course... Happy, Happy Mother's Day to all my sweet "mom" friends out there!
I must do a whole post on the sweet Mother's Day Tea that I attended with Will on Friday hosted by the Dunham School's 2nd grade!
