I just finished reading Lamentations, on my journey through the Bible!

How is your journey through His word going? Has it been awhile? It isn’t too late to pick up where you left off, and continue reading His Word every day!

I am falling in love with the Word of God…

Lamentations was penned by the prophet Jeremiah soon after the terrible destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The word, Lamentations comes from the Hebrew word ekah which means “HOW”.

How did Jerusalem, God’s precious city and His favored people end up destroyed?

“How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations!” Lam. 1:1

How come they did not repent when given the opportunity?

How did God allow such distress and sadness, destruction and pain on those He loved?

Ah, life’s unanswerable questions…the HOW and the WHY.

Don’t we ALL have them?

Haven’t you been there? Asking God “How come?” “Why?”

I have…

Jeremiah asks, weeps, wails, but  PRAISE God, doesn’t leave it there….

This is what he writes in the midst of his tears, his agony and lack of understanding:

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘ The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” ~ Lam. 3:21-26

Wow!! God’s word is wonderful!! Trust Him, rest in His love and purpose, even in the midst of struggles, pain, and tears.

I am learning that

Even though I don’t understand, His compassions NEVER fail, He is faithful and

It is good to wait…

quietly…

for His salvation…

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It happened while showing off! I had to let my oldest son know I could still hold my own while playing racquet ball with his dad.

Five minutes later, the familiar pain, which I had held at bay for awhile, returned. I quit playing, feeling confident that I had proven my point, and handed over the racquet so my son could take over.

The pain progressed so that, by evening, I was flat on my back with an ice pack to my lower back and Ibuprofen in my system. Two days later, the pain from the herniated disc is abating, but reminds me with sharp, breathtaking spasms of it’s presence if I try to do too much.

So I have had time…time to work from bed, review Latin with my kids, to think deeply, and to pray. Funny (well not so much) how becoming incapacitated has allowed me time to renew and rethink…

I know I have always needed to pray for my children, and I have. But I wonder if I have ever REALLY prayed as if their life depended on it. Yes, I know I have a few times in the past. Off and on over the years I have sensed an overwhelming need to intercede for them. At times, going in the middle of the night and praying by their beds as they sleep. But regularly, truly praying for every aspect of their lives, no…I haven’t.

But after a phone call from my dear friend yesterday, where we talked and shared the concerns we had for our children, we decided to pray, really pray, for each of our children. So I dug out a book from years ago and began reading it again, The Power of a Praying Parent.

Listen -

“The battle for our children’s lives is waged on our knees. When we don’t pray, it’s like sitting on the sidelines watching our children in a war zone getting shot at from every angle. When we do pray, we are in the battle alongside them, appropriating God’s power on their behalf.” pg.21

Wow!! So very true…yet so easy for me to say a quick prayer for each one of my kids, and move on to the next request, or to make breakfast!

Stormie Omartian, author of the book, has created chapters for each area of a child’s life and has included sample prayers and scripture promises to pray. These are just a few:

• Releasing My Child into God’s Hands
• Feeling Loved and Accepted
• Receiving a Sound Mind
• Destroying an Inheritance of Family Bondage
• Finding the Perfect Mate

This is just one tool we can use in praying for our kids. But if you’re like me, I need a push and some help to keep me focused on what I need, and ultimately WANT, to do.

The point is, PRAY! I need to pray deeper, fuller and longer for the specific areas of my children’s lives, because if I am not praying and helping them through this battlefield, who is?

Guess I should be bed-bound more often….

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I gasped!

Stepped back, and swallowed my scream.

I was sure my eyes were deceiving me.

Could there really be a frog coming out of my kitchen sink?!

Yikes!! My fearless husband and children enticed the little creature to hop onto the window sill above, opened the window, removed the screen and helped it hop right out into the great outdoors.

YUCK! The rest of breakfast was spent discussing and wondering how in the world this critter could have found itself in our sink…

With discouragement, the night before, I laid my head on my pillow. Wondering how my words, my children’s attitudes, our home could be in the state of confusion, anger and downright ugliness.

Reactions.

Quick words and hateful looks.

Anger and dare I say it? Screams…

How does such ugliness find its way into my home? Into my heart?

I am still trying to figure that one out.

But I know where there is healing!

“Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed. Save me and I will be saved, for You are the One I praise.” ~ Ps. 17:14

Jesus promises to turn the old, ugly and hateful into something clean and new!

Almost like turning the frog into a prince (or princess)!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” ~ 2 Cor.5:17

But I hold on to the frog-like tendencies in my life. I find it hard to let go of the warty ugliness that is me; the pent up, hereditary, habitual, reactive yuck in my life.  I pray, yet again, for forgiveness, and cling to the Kiss of my Maker, that came at an incredible price, to make me new!

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