How Now Shall We Pray?

Why pray? This is a topic I have wrestled with in my mind, much like many people probably do. I guess it isn't if I should pray. I know I should because the Bible says to and I believe that I should be obedient to God, even when it doesn't make sense. So the question is probably better posted as "how should I pray?" I have had some helpful answers to that topic in the last few weeks so I wanted to share those, in hopes that it would be helpful to someone else.

My husband and I had a conversation about this a little over a week ago. The steadfastness of his faith is something I really respect about him. It remains strong despite circumstances. I on the other hand, want to be that way. Want being the operative word here. My problem I guess has been the lense I was looking through, which is my own perspective. I don't think my question here is God's ability because I fully believe he can completely answer anything I need and do it in greater ways than I could imagine. The issue is, I know sometimes he doesn't by choice. The church answer to that is that regardless of how the circumstances turn out, it will be okay because God will strengthen us through it all and his ways are perfect. I know that, but I don't necessarily want that. For example, I pray for the safety and health of my two year old son. I really only want God to answer that in one way, with a clear yes. But, in my head I also know there is a chance that something could happen to him and I just can't, in my heart, say I would be okay with that. Again, I want my faith to be that strong, but it doesn't mean that it is. So my question is, should I even pray for his safety and health? Does it make a difference? And where does my peace come from in this?

Twice in the next few days after that conversation this topic was addressed, both indirectly and directly. Both echoed my husband's thoughts. It has really helped me in my understanding, giving me contentment without having the exact answer to fit into my perspective. First was indirectly addressed in a sermon from last week. In it was a verse that I have heard a thousand times.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-8

This is probably one of the go to verses whenever anyone talks about prayer. It finally caught my attention on Sunday though. And credit to my husband for not elbowing me when it was read (b/c it was the day after our conversation and this was basically his answer). My questions are simply addressed- prayer is not for the purpose of changing God's plan but I am encouraged to do it anyway for my benefit. The purpose is to relieve my anxiety through trust in God. And, unexplainable through my own lense of expectations, the result is peace. Not peace that I have to muster but peace that is granted through my heart and mind being protected by God.

The second response was from a blog I follow and I have linked the post here. I won't rewrite it because it doesn't need to be. So, click on the link and read it. The important thing to understand when reading this post is that it is from a blog called Bowen's Heart and is written by a family whose baby boy was born with a serious heart defect, causing him to be in the hospital from birth and has had seizures, a stroke, his chest opened up for surgery, multiple times where they thought they would lose him, all within the first early months of his life. If anyone has reason to doubt, to question the purpose of prayer, it is this family. The father addresses this openly and honestly in a helpful manner.

I hope this provides so guidance to you too.

Change of Plans

Well, I didn't move after all. First, I forgot to do it a month and 1/2 ago! But when I finally tried, it didn't go as seamlessly as I thought it would. Serves me right for trying to do something remotely technological.

So, keep coming to this address until further notice!

Moving

Part of the reason I don't keep up with this blog enough is that...well I'm lazy. But I am trying to help myself and that involves moving my blog so that I don't have multiple logins for all of my blogs. I am trying to combine so that it doesn't mess up other logins and I have one less excuse to not sign in and blog.

This should not cause any problem for readers. If it all goes smoothly, you shouldn't notice a difference. The same website address should work the new blog. Only followers will probably have to refollow the blog.

IF there is problem and the blog suddenly doesn't appear one day, it will be moved to jordans_jots.blogspot.com. I'll make the move in a few days, to give readers (if I still have any!) the chance to read this post.

How Firm a Foundation

As I laid down tonight (before I got up again to blog!), I felt emotionally tired. It can be hard to deal with people. The thing is, my line of work is people so I should be used to it! I don't think I'll ever be used to it though and sometimes it is a little more draining than other times. Not bad, just draining.

It has been an interesting two days. It started yesterday morning in my counseling work, which I can't divulge, but I can say that I was discouraged and sad. Then yesterday evening was filled with a lot of joy: I had so much fun playing with my growing little boy outside and then as I got him ready for bed I was reminded of how much he is learning and was overwhelmed with happiness for the little boy he is. At the youth group meeting that night, I watched two of the girls that I help teach really minister to a new girl and show her compassion and love, finding out later that this was the first time this girl had come back to a church after being treated hurtfully by another "church". I was in such a positive mood and had called my friend to tell her about the story when I got a call from another family. Everything immediately changed when I learned about a horrible tragedy in this family and they called me because of my profession as a counselor. That began conversations that included knowledge I wish I didn't have to have and my heart has been broken for that family. When my husband came home, we talked through that matter but I also shared what happened with those girls, still feeling excited for that time in the evening. Two other girls, that I have known for years, were brought up though and they are facing some real struggles and I need to reach out to them. As we talked in the dark, both my husband and I commented on the never ending work it is when it comes to people, both positive and not.

Then today came. It is my big counseling day but the early sessions didn't even play much into my feelings tonight. The day started with frustrations with the inconsistency of my job, went to continued discouragment from the earlier mentioned client's case, to sadness over decisions that friends are making about their marriage. And then an amazing thing happened, giving my husband and I hope for a friend of ours. I am still so excited about that one. Then I went to a group counseling session that I help with where I experienced great sadness for some of the ladies' pain but also encouraged with the work that was being done in their lives.

That is where I am tonight. I have felt the ups and downs of emotions, not for my own situations but for others. Usually I can handle it pretty well, that is one of the ways God has prepared me for my line of work. And really, I can say I am handling it fine right now. I am just tired. I am grateful for the positive moments in the middle of the difficult ones because they help me to have a breather and remain hopeful. Plus, I got an unexpected extra hour to hang out with my husband and son and we spent it enjoying the sunshine at the park. That is the best break from reality (or really, it is a cleared perspective of reality) that I can have!

Tonight when I laid down, my overwhelming prayer was a gratefulness that God doesn't change. He is a solid foundation to stand on when everything else is constantly shifting. I can rest in knowing that he is faithful in all that he promises and does not disappoint.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

Two Little Boys

I have been watching the Hope for Haiti telethon tonight and just saw the feature presented by Anderson Cooper of the orphaned children. There were hundreds of thousands of orphans in Haiti before the earthquake and now there are probably hundreds of thousands more. I have long had a heart for the parentless (whether they do not have living parents or the parents are absent for other reasons). I knew it would be heartaching to watch the segment on the orphans but I did anyways.

And then I saw a sweet little boy, probably under the age of two, looking at the camera with big, beautiful eyes and sucking his thumb. I have a sweet little boy under the age of two who has big, beautiful eyes and he sucks his thumb. But tonight he is tucked into his bed, in his room, in his house, knowing his parents are on the other side of that door and he has a day filled with fun and hugs tomorrow. My little boy sucks his thumb when he is tired, or hungry, or in a situation that he is unsure of. I wonder why that little Haitian boy is sucking his thumb...he is probably tired, because he doesn't have a home to rest in. He is probably hungry, because he is in a nation that was already starving and now they are fighting for food. And he is probably in a situation that he is unsure of...because he doesn't have a mama and daddy on the other side of the door and his tomorrow probably won't be filled with fun and hugs.

I thought of my little boy and as I write this I have tears running down my face. I cannot even begin to fathom my son without his daddy or me but I can't even let my mind go to think of him living abandoned and scared, without loving arms to hold him. This little boy had a mama and daddy too, who probably wanted everything for him like we do for our son. I am so grateful to know that we have family and close friends who would guarantee that my son was immediately cared for, and that he would have tomorrows of fun and hugs.

I told my husband that I wanted to go to Haiti and just hold and hug the sweet, young children. And then bring them home with me.

Dear Lord, please put your loving arms around these young precious children. Let them experience your love, while they cannot physically feel the love and comfort of another person right now. Give them the food they need, water to drink, medical care to sustain them, and more than anything give them people that care about them. Let them feel your comfort and peace, when their world is so far from it. And let your Name be made great in all of this. Amen.

Praying for Haiti

I was given the opportunity to study the people, history and culture of Haiti a few years ago for Cross Cultural Counseling while in graduate school. Each group in the class was given a region of people and had the responsibility of teaching the class for over two hours and constructing a large research paper. The purpose was to better understand the culture of the people groups in the regions and those who lived in the US so that we, as counselors, could better help members of those cultures we would interact with in our field. Our group was assigned the people of the Caribbean (I know, real tough...actually it was!). We selected the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti as our countries to focus on and I was to become the group's expert on Haiti.

It was the major assignment of the semester, a huge percentage of our grade and my group was counting on my participation for a third of it so I poured myself into studying these people. At the end of it, I was ready to move to Haiti, join in one of the communities and minister to this nation. I fell in love with studying these people. I had the opportunity to interview a student I had met at school who was from Haiti. We talked for over two hours about his home and he and his wife shared with me who the Haitians are. He told me to know the people of Haiti, I must first know their history (I love that kind of thinking) so he started from the very beginning and brought me to where they are now. They are a people of poverty because they don't look to the future. They are also a people that have faced terrible political upheavals and uncertainties that threatened their historical way of life, whether for worse of better didn't seem to matter. But what struck me was the most was that they are a people who value community. I asked my friend what a counselor would need to know to be able to effectively help a Haitian. He and his wife both agreed a counselor would never get the chance unless they lived with the people, in their community and earned trust over the years. In Haiti, they take care of their people. My friend told me that each meal was prepared with the anticipation that anyone may stop by to join the meal. If someone moved from Haiti to the US (usually with the intention of sending money home to take care of their family), it didn't matter if they knew anyone living here because they would quickly meet another Haitian through connections back home and they would be brought into their community.

All of that to say, I am so sad as I watch the devastation that an earthquake left on this nation. It is impossible to know the death toll and the number of people who are injured. But what really breaks my heart is seeing the look of hopelessness and fear on the faces of the survivors. For the most part Haiti is a lost nation, searching something to believe in. My friends shared that often Haitians are open to all forms of religion, and one might say he is a Christian, Muslim and Buddhist while participate in other forms of spirituality. They don't choose to believe one way. And now, they desperately need the peace that God provides, that isn't based on works or blessings or curses. That is my prayer right now, that the people of Haiti would begin to experience God's peace in this time and understand His love for them.

***And just a quick response to Pat Robinson's thoughts (he says this happened because God is punishing the Haitians for the pact they made with the devil so that they would win in their revolution from the French centuries ago): While there is some truth to the pact he referred to, it is likely much of it may be folklore. Regardless of that, Robinson's statement does not match who I believe God to be. Mr. Robinson seems to often forget that he, like all of his, are sinners in need of God's grace. Jesus did not spend his time cursing and destroying the people living in sin. Rather he loved them first and met them where they were for them to know him. In fact it was the religious leaders that Jesus corrected and dealt harshly with.

Worth Fighting For?

My husband has been watching Band of Brothers on tv. I like to see shows from the beginning so I haven't stopped to watch it with him but I did stop for a moment tonight. This episode was called "Why We Fight" and it involved the struggle the WWII soldiers were facing as the wondered if their sacrifice to fight was even worth it. They weren't sure exactly why they were fighting the Nazis, and if it mattered at all. And then they came across a concentration camp, not knowing those camps existed. Suddenly it was disturbingly clear to these young men why they were fighting. Their lives would be forever altered by the atrocities they saw, the evil they witnessed and the worst of humanity. There was not then and is not now many who question whether or not WWII was worth fighting for when thinking of the Holocaust alone. There was evil being done on the other side of the world and our country, as a strong nation, had the moral obligation to stop the harm being done to weaker countries and prevent the danger from coming to our land. The history books do not tell of wide spread dissention. Instead there are stories of sacrifice both from the soldiers and the people at home.

What will history books read about the United States and the fight we're in now? Likely that we pulled out before the task was complete and that Americans questioned the US' invasion and work being done in the Middle East during the entire war. But is the difference between why we were in WWII and why we are in Operation Iraqi Freedom? Why doesn't the US still have the moral obligation to defend weaker nations and prevent attacks on home soil? The cruelty done to the Jewish people, and people of other nationalities, during the Nazi reign is unimaginable and will hopefully never happen to that extent again. But it could. Why would Sadaam Hussein, or any one else, be less capable that Adolf Hitler of causing inhumane distruction? So why is it so horrible (according to so many Americans) that the US stepped in to prevent the escalating evil? Not to mention stop what was already happening? Mass genocide happened in Iraq, not only in Germany. How easily forgotten that is.

Thank you to the committed soldiers who are sacrificing, and whose lives will be forever changed by what they are going through right now. May you be protected from danger, honored for your work and know "Why We Fight."