Lord of Miracles

God is into miracles. Little ones. Big ones. Ones that require only a little bit of faith. Ones that require a mountain range plus Mt. Everest of faith. Ones in which it requires a little prayer. Ones in which a whole community rises up and surrounds a person or event with prayer. There are not many things that I am sure of, but of this I am - God is into miracles.

Two of my friends from college have been on an incredibly arduous journey of faith in trying to adopt two Ethiopian children. They have been on this journey for about two years. Two years of heartache, yearning, pain, obstacles, and now, insurmountable joy. For finally, FINALLY, the last leg of the journey is over and they are now currently on their way, journeying toward their children, ready to bring them home and start the family that God has created. He has been so unbelievably faithful to them, it brings tears to my eyes. And their faithfulness to Him is an epic tale of two people refusing to give up hope and to cry out to Him in the obstacles, in the pain. I invite you to take a look at some of their previous posts on their blog, Every Bitter Thing is Sweet. I have been praying for them and this journey for months now and to see how the insurmountable obstacles just melted away these past few weeks is beyond any description that I can give.

Some of my other dear friends just celebrated the one-year birthday of their daughter - a daughter who was born with serious heart defects and has, in her one year of life, already had multiple heart surgeries. Yet this sweet, beautiful little girl is the picture of health, love, and joy and again, the testament to how a community surrounded an impossible situation with prayers and how our Mighty Lord answered and gave us her life as a living reminder of His miracles.

Then there are the little miracles that the Lord of Lazy Susans, and now apparently Leather Couches, creates, reminding me of His sense of humor and how He can be involved in the little details of our life.

I need one more miracle though and I must ask you, whoever reads this, to pray with me for a friend of mine. She recently lost her mother and is so, so lost spiritually, mentally, and physically. I worry and fear for her, but I also know that I can have hope for her because of who God is and how He can work miracles. But this is a miracle that needs community, and so I am asking you to please keep my friend in your prayers. Pray for healing, for peace of mind, for strength to continue living through her pain, and that her physical needs would be met (she is in search of a job, home, insurance, etc.). And please pray for those of us walking with her through this, that we would have wisdom in what to say and what not to say, how to listen, and yet how to speak Truth into her life. My sincerest, heartfelt thanks to you. And Thank You Lord of Miracles.

**PS, Note on the Picture - I actually took this photograph one day as I was driving my country roads around lovely Fauquier county. Isn't it beautiful! It reminds me of God :).**

Thoughts for a Thursday

There have been a lot of thoughts running through my head these past few days. But I always have problems articulating my thoughts, so I'm going to try to use this post today to sort through some of them.

*Praying in Color
I just finished reading this book (you can see a review of it, if you click on my goodreads link on the side) by Sybil Macbeth and it is wonderful. It has introduced a whole new prayer form to me - prayer in the form of art and in the process of creating a drawing. This really appeals to me because I love art and creating things and I also love the idea of praying in whatever we do. She even includes a chapter of how to "Pray in Color" on the computer. It just is a really, really neat idea and prayer form and I'm excited to really start practicing it. Sybil also a good friend of Phyllis Tickle's, who I know is greatly admired by a lot of my friends.

*The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
I finished reading this book on Tuesday night and it is an amazing memoir. But I think the thing that has stayed with me since reading it is the depth of love that Walls has in relating her story about her family. The things that she and her siblings endured because of her parents' choices and personal battles, could have embittered them and created a wellspring of hate, but that is never apparent in the rendition of the story. What is apparent is the love that Walls had for her siblings, her mother, and most of all, her father - because the events that Walls relates could not have been written without it. That love shouldn't have existed, but it did, and it is an amazing testament to the strength and bonds of familial love - in spite of everything - horrible, awful things that no one should have to endure.

*The Oppressiveness of Getting Older
I know I shouldn't let my age worry me. There are plenty of people who are older than I am, but I can't shake this feeling that I've been living with ever since I turned 26 that things should be different than they are. That my life should look a lot different than it does. Like, what am I doing living in my small, provincial town during my twenties? That I should be in a different job, having a more important title, more important duties and responsibilities, more this, more that. That I should look like I am successful and important and have accomplished all of these world-changing things that I look around and see other people my age doing. That there should be a PhD or MBA after my initials.

Where does this come from? It would be easy to blame my parents and the pressure I feel from them to always go that extra step. But I am the one that gives them that power - I can reject or internalize their words - that is my choice. Or I could blame it on the fact that I was named "Most Likely to Succeed" in High School. The fact is, this is a blatant lie that I am half-believing from Satan. But I am really struggling with trying to see past this lie and be content with the life that I have right now.

I was talking about this feeling the other night with one of my friends and she was relating to me that it doesn't really seem to matter what point or age in life you are in, this feeling that "I should be something else" is always there, lurking under the surface. It is something that we have to constantly fight against and know that our worth doesn't lie in what we do or don't do or haven't done. And I know this in my head - I really do - it just is hard to look past this lie right now and believe it in my heart.