God is Good!

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Philippians 4:6

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
1 John 5:14-15

The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Proverbs 15:29

Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
Psalm 17:1



This photo was sent to us from my dad on his cell phone when he and my mom went to get Benjamin. Unfortunately my Mother-in-Law is awfully sick today so y'all please keep her in your prayers. Apparently it is something different from what we had. Anyway, my Father-in-Law had to take Benjamin to the McDonald's for my parents to get him. He is doing very well and can't you tell he is really enjoying that ketchup??

As for us... I am so delighted to tell you all that we are very well on the mend! Hubby has been fever free for over 48hrs, and I have been fever free for 24hrs! That is a sign to me that the infection has been fought off, so we are going to be able to get Benjamin earlier than I was thinking yesterday {I was thinking Friday - I was being pretty cynical I guess!}. I am so excited! Now, if we can just get this congestion out of the way! And the garlic smell out of my ears...

Thank you so much for your prayers! God is so good! He answers prayers, I know He does!

Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.
1 Chronicles 16:11

Praying Just to Pray

Every day it seems that someone new is requesting prayers for some difficulty a friend or family member is having in their life, or maybe even for themselves. I love to pray for other people. I know God has commanded us in His word to pray for the sick (James 5:24) and to pray for God's people (Philippians 1:9-11) by Paul's example. I like to remember to pray to God for our daily needs (Matthew 6:11), and especially for forgiveness when it's needed (Acts 8:22-24). I pray for strength and to resist temptation when I'm faced with one (Matthew 6:13, 26:41). I even try to remember to pray for my enemies (Matthew 5:44), even though I really don't like to call anyone my enemy. We always pray when we sit down to eat, too!

But I was just thinking today... when do I ever pray just to pray?

I have reasons to pray every day. There are so many hurting people out there. And there are also so many reasons to be thankful and to rejoice! But when do I ever just sit down and pray just to pray to my God? Just to talk? Just to let Him know what's on my mind? Sometimes I just feel like venting and sometimes I go to my husband and let him know what's on my mind and what's got me so riled up. Why don't I go to God like that? When something's upset me, how come I don't just sit down and talk through it with the Father?

I think about Daniel, who three times daily knelt down in his home (while in captivity!), to pray to God. Three times daily! Daniel made time to talk to God, and I just pray when we're about to eat or when I get to thinking about those who have asked for and need prayers. I sing the song to Benjamin in Bible Class "Read Your Bible, Pray Every Day" - Listen to God and Talk to God every day - yet I find that I don't do that half the time! Isn't that awful?

It's something I need to work on. It's something I am going to work on. It's something so crucial to my walk with God, and it needs my attention! God needs my attention just as those I pray for need His.

So, the question for you is, how often do you pray just to pray?

awe-struck.

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
James 5:16b

Our prayers have been answered.

Our prayers to strengthen the Gray family have been answered in a tremendous, incredible, amazing way! Praise be to God!

Brian told Kristy tonight that Helen had not survived the crash. I got a few texts from my good friend Reagan recapping for me, and I was so encouraged and in awe of Kristy's reaction that I needed to share with you.

Kristy said that she felt like God was trying to comfort her because she felt like Helen was gone, but was waiting on Brian to tell her. Our God is good! Her first words to Brian after he told her were, "And you've been dealing with this all by yourself?"

Wow.

I have the greatest desire to go embrace my Sister in Christ, for her example, her strength, her courage. For facing something that no parent should ever have to face, with such an attitude. I am amazed. Kristy Gray is such a wonderful example!

I just had to share this with you all this night! Hopefully it will help you all end the day with a smile on your face and hope in your heart! Please continue praying! It is quite obvious to me that there is power in prayer!

Glory be to God!

Papaw's Guitar

UPDATE ON LYNDSAY:

Friends, your prayers are working! Keep them coming! The fluid is off of Lyndsay's lungs and she is breathing without the breathing tube! Praise God! Please, continue to pray as Lyndsay is not out of the woods yet. But as you can see, your prayers are working. Please, keep them coming.

To read more about Lyndsay's condition, please check out this post.

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It's been over two years since my Papaw died of skin cancer that had spread to his liver. You can read my post where I remembered him this past July 5th here. Anyway, one of the things I remember about him every time I see the guitars in my house or my mom and dad's is the fact that my Papaw was a great musician. He played the guitar and was taking dobro lessons. He passed his talents on to my dad and then on to my brother. Me, I got the short stick, it seems, with no musical talents to speak of, save some clarinet skills and a bit of singing. Other than that... total loss.

Anyway, when my brother and I were growing up, our Papaw gave us a guitar and said we could keep it if we learned how to play. Steven, my brother, did learn and is pretty much a master of any instrument he picks up.

I tried to learn. I really did. But I'm just not good, and I have baby hands (seriously, they are tiny) that hardly fit around the neck.

I got married a little over a month after Papaw passed away. When I was packing stuff to move to Memphis, Tn, I asked my dad if I could take the Samick Papaw had given to us. He said I could.

Yesterday, Benjamin discovered it propped up in the corner of the room. He leaned against the amp as he stretched to pluck the strings, and he would stare at it in sheer wonderment. I had to take pictures - and I was looking at them last night and realized that I cherish these pictures beyond what I had thought before. I thought I was just capturing Benjamin playing with an instrument in the corner - but what I had really caught was Benjamin interacting with my Papaw in a way. Does that make sense?









Benjamin, I wish so much that you could have known my Papaw. You would have loved him. And he would have loved you so much, his first great-grandchild.



And now my heart hurts ...

The Power of Prayer

There are a lot of things that I have learned over the past year or so... especially while living in Memphis. I can't begin to explain how many changes I went through in such a little time. I graduated in May, got married in August, and moved away to Memphis. Just like that. And, I guess like probably everyone who's ever experienced combining your life with someone else's, 'til death, it comes with it's own set of worries and stresses... and there comes a time when you finally realize that no, you're not going to be able to do it by yourself. You are completely helpless alone, because you do not control your own life. Don't even try to. You can't do it. Life is too big a task for you to think you can handle it all on your own.

I learned very quickly that I couldn't get by if I didn't place all my trust in God. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer. Sometimes it takes the possibility of having just escaped certain death, or at least injuries of you, and the one person you love above all others on the earth, to convince you.

For me, it was when Carl and I were driving to Arkansas one Sunday morning and we hydroplaned across the median. I had been asleep, and woke to find grass flying everywhere and Carl's arm across me. We didn't flip. We landed facing the opposite direction on the shoulder of the other lane. And maybe 15 seconds later, a semi drove past us.

Before we had gotten on the road, in the McDonald's parking lot, we prayed for safe travel as we always did on Sunday mornings. And I called my mom once I had calmed down, and it turned out they had also almost encountered an accident, a head-on colision, and that mom had prayed for us as well. Yes, God answers prayers.

And He's answered another one. Carl landed the job in Fort Valley! It's what we'd both been praying for. And deep down I knew that we would get the job. I was so confident we would. Because we needed one so desperately, with this baby on the way. God continues to care for us, and for that, I am SO thankful!


So really, I said all of that to announce that we finally got a job, and we're very excited about it! We don't know when we start, but we understand that things like that-- all the technical stuff-- takes time. So until then, I'm going to enjoy the rest of the time I have with my family, and start looking into OB/GYNs in the Fort Valley area... and start thinking about maternity insurance, because I don't think Medicaid will cover me after this... but, again, God will provide for us and take care of us, I have no doubt!

A quick, very shameless plug, and I'll be done: http://www.babyhomepages.net/carlandkristensfamily/index.php.

Love,
Kristen