can't You hear me, God?...

some of the most painful questions my children have ever asked me are:

"how come when i pray and pray and nothing ever happens?"
"why isn't God helping me?"
"why isn't He listening to me?"

they're not the only ones who have wondered those very same things.

i've asked God those many times as well...
but this is what i've ultimately learned and passed onto my children, family and friends:

God never sleeps
He's never on vacation or on a coffee break
there is nothing too trivial or insignificant to bring to God in prayer.
if it matter to us, it matters to Him.

and though we are human beings with finite vision, God is not...
He is always working on and for His children...
for our own good and for the glory of His eternal Kingdom.

the truth is, we can't even see enough ahead to know what will happen in the next 5 minutes of our life, yet alone, all the secret and divine work that our Father is doing on our behalf.
that doesn't mean that He isn't working with all His power and might to heal and restore His children...
He is.

and yet again, as everything in my walk with Him seems to come down to just one vital question, i hear His tender voice in my heart:

"elaine, do you trust Me?
with your life and the lives of your children and loved ones?
do you trust Me with all the fears, hopes and dreams in your heart?"

and though trusting comes hard for me...He's helped me trust Him more,
bit by bit and day by day.
i've prayed often: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
*Mark 9:24*

i don't pretend to understand His timing or why He answers some prayers quickly and others have yet to come to pass,
but i believe i can trust in His ultimate plan for us all...

"“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
*Jeremiah 29:11-14*

i just love that kid!

(this is originally published at www.heartlight.org)

I Love that Kid!~by Rubel Shelly

I don't know Josh Ripley, but I love that kid! Let me tell you why.

Sixteen-year-old Josh is a junior at Andover (Minnesota) High School.
He was running a 5K race on Sept. 16 in a field of 261 competitors.
With the race less than half done, the 6-foot-5-inch runner heard a
scream and saw a runner he didn't know crumpled against a fence --
holding a profusely bleeding ankle.

The injured athlete was 5-foot-5-inch Mark Paulauskas, a freshman at
Lakeville South High. Here is Mark's account: "He just picked me up
without saying anything and started carrying me and trying to calm me
down. He said, 'It's going to be OK. I'm going to get you to your
coaches.' ... I think it's amazing."

Sure enough, with his own coach trying to figure out why Josh hadn't
passed the halfway mark, he spotted him. "I was wondering what was
going on, why was he so far back," said Scott Clark. "Then I see Josh.
He's got the kid in his arms."

Josh Ripley carried Mark about a quarter mile! He handed him off to his
coaches and family and then -- dead last in the field of runners now --
sped off to resume his race. He passed 50 kids to finish 211th out of
261 runners. No excuses. No disappointment. No explanation. He just
finished what he had started -- only to be asked by one teammate why he had fallen so far behind. "He just humbly says, 'Oh, I picked up a
kid,' " said sophomore Simeon Toronto. "And I'm like, 'Dude, you just
picked up a kid and carried him?' That's incredible!" Then added
Toronto: "It was just so typical Josh."

I love that kid!
And while most of the news reports I tracked down cited this as a
supreme example of sportsmanship and compassion among
athletes, I think they missed the real force at work in Josh's action.
The details make it pretty clear that it was the unfolding of a very
practical faith that Josh embraces.

He does volunteer work at Living Word Christian Center and -- by both
Mark and Josh's account -- prayed over Mark as he ran with him in his
arms. He prayed for Mark's pain to stop and for him to be all right. He
even asked Mark's permission before he started the prayer! And Josh
seemed honestly bemused by all the attention being paid to him later.
He insists he did "nothing special" -- but said he was just thankful
God let him be there for someone who needed help.

Mark's ankle needed 20 stitches to close the gash some runner's spikes
accidentally created. Blessedly, there were no damaged ligaments or
tendons. He should recover fully, after he gets out of a walking boot
and off his crutches.

Josh has reminded me again that there are wonderful people out there
who are always doing kind and good things with no expectation of being
noticed or rewarded. Great kids who aren't threatening teachers or
doing drugs. People whose faith is not a banner or excuse, but a daily
lived reality.

I just love that kid! Don't you? And I want to be more like him.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may
see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

a perfect prayer...

(this prayer is found at www.heartlight.org)

this prayer perfectly expresses my heart...

O Lord God, I appeal to You in the name of Jesus to have mercy on me.
Have mercy on me for my weakness, hypocrisy, and sin.

Lord, please do not just forgive me, but strengthen me
and enable me to be a more sturdy and faithful disciple.

Have mercy on me in my time of confusion and need.
Heal my illnesses, mend my broken heart, and still the storms of my troubled mind.

Have mercy on me as I try to decide Your will for my life and as I try to discern the path You want me to take in the decisions I must make.

Have mercy on me as I seek to minister
and as I need Your strength, wisdom, and compassion to touch others.

Lord God,and Jesus my Master in whose name I pray, have mercy on me.

Amen.