Shoes For Africa.

Probably the perfect Halloween.

I had my girls over - six of them - for dinner tonight. Soup and grilled meat and cheese sandwiches. We ate in my apartment, talked, laughed, and then... went shoe shopping.

We had the opportunity to buy shoes for an orphanage in Africa. So I encouraged my girls to bring a few bucks to buy some shoes for the kids. And they did.

So together, we drove to Wal-Mart. We ate candy from the candy dishes. We ran up and down the shoe aisles, counting money, totaling costs, replacing some shoes with others, before finally settling on thirty - THIRTY - pairs of shoes to send to the kids. What a delight, to see the girls agonizing over which shoes they thought would be best.

Pink sparkles for the girls, regardless of how practical they were.
Brown work boots for a little boy, because they were so cute.
Four pairs of $2.00 sandals for babies, because it is hot in Africa.

Then praying in Wal-Mart over the shoes, asking God to bless the feet that will wear them.

What a mighty God we serve.

Prayer.

This is the thing about prayer.

If I really believed it mattered, I would pray.  If I honestly thought it would change things, nothing would be able to keep me from being on my face, back to the sky, before the Most High God. I would pray unceasingly. My prayers would be effective.

The Bible claims prayer is important.  "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." James 5:17-18.

It's important to praise as part of prayer. We see that over and over in the Psalms - glorifying God in the middle of a cry for help.

Acknowledging sin in prayer is important, too. Sin leads to broken relationships, which leads to broken communication.  David recognized his broken relationship with the Lord after his sin with Bathsheba (and the accompanying ones!) and he poured his heart out to right that relationship in Psalm 51.  And through David's life, we see that forgiveness leads to restored relationships and restored communication. After all, the Savior of the world came from his line!

Abiding in the Lord is what makes the real difference. Elijah knew how to abide in the Lord, as a vine is with the branch. John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you."

Rightly abiding in the Lord automatically lends itself to not delving into sin, which springs from our own evil desires and ultimately leads to death (James 1).

Rightly abiding in the Lord keeps those channels of communication open, where we know He will hear our fervent requests and our praises to Him.

Rightly abiding in the Lord means we already know what to ask for and we can hear His guidance in those areas.

Believing that it matters is the beginning.

My Friend.

So. So. So much love for this girl. What a blessing, talking with her tonight.

My heart is full and the Lord is faithful.

Lord willing, I will even get to see her in a couple of months. Huzzah.

John 6:63A

THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE.

THE FLESH COUNTS FOR NOTHING.

You Know You're An Adult When...

You go shopping... and splurge on a 50% off memory foam bath mat.

Too Late At NIght.

Right now is the time to go to bed, not to be up writing on my blog.

But, a few highlights of late:
- moved into apartment.
- drastic haircut.
- accepted to Grad School!

Details on each to come soon.

Astonished.

"I have bad news for you: You're not clairvoyant. Not even a little. You have no idea how the future will unfold. But it will unfold, slowly and quickly and slowly again, in ways that you cannot now begin to imagine. So stop trying to guess what's coming next. All the effort you put into figuring out what will happen, all the scenarios you play out in your mind -- they're useless. And that's a good thing. Relax and let the future arrive on its own time and in its own way. Allow yourself to be astonished." - Robin Bernstein