Praying For...

I'm sure you've noticed the blog makeover. I hope one day I'll be able to afford a complete makeover that makes it cute and me, but for now it's just this.

I've also added a "Praying For" section over to the side bar because I've been very convicted of my prayer life lately. It's not a secret here on this blog that my faith is the most important thing to me. However, my prayer life has left much to be desired recently, and that's not a good thing when prayer (my main communication with God) becomes less than a priority.

So, I've created this section as a reminder for me (and you) of what I should be dwelling on each day. Not money, not being tired, not how much I want to not be working. But I should be thnking about those around me and in this world who need me to be storming God's throne on their behalf.

So, I've started a running list and I'm going to keep those requests on the list until they are answered. If you have something or someone you'd like me to add to the list, please leave me a comment.

God has called us to come to him on each other's behalf (Acts 2:42), so why wouldn't we be adamany about that?

One Single Struggle

I started this post as another edition of Blog-Linkity Goodness but this one link I have to share kind of calls for a whole post of its own.

Let me preface...

Lately, I've been burdened a bit (read: a lot) by the direction my life is headed. I've prayed for many years Psalm 37:4.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

I think for a long time I've just been praying the second half of that verse.

Recently, I've really been confronted with frustration about my singleness. If you would have asked me four years ago if I would still be single at the age of 26, I would have laughed in your face and told you my whole wedding plan.

Nowadays, I'll tell you my whole wedding plan, but I just am not laughing as hard anymore.

So many thoughts run through my head. My parents were married at my age. My sister was four years younger than me when she got married. All but two of my best friends are married. I see college friends who have now been married for four or five years and are now having their first or second child. Girls who were freshmen when I was a senior in college are married and having kids. I'm watching people live the life that I thought I would be knee deep in by now.

And it is a little bit disheartening. And I guess it is okay because that is the way God made me. He gave me these desires and these emotions for a reason.

However, over the last two or three years, I really started concentrated on the first part of that verse.

"Delight in the Lord."

For a large part of my life, I didn't really understand what that whole "delight" word was about. Except that is was half of the title of the best Stone family dessert - Chocolate Delight.

But God has recentlyshown up in my life in a way that I've never seen before. He has shown me things about myself and Himself that I had failed to notice before. And I think that I wasn't noticing those things because I wasn't looking for them and I had been distracted.

I'm a believer in the notion that nothing is coincidence. God has a purpose and plan for everything that happens in our life because it all fits in to His will to bring glory to His name.

I think the mixture of maturity and singleness, along with the grace of God and the love of family and friends, have made me who I am today. I think that at the end of high school and throughout my college career, I was distracted by the feeling of falling in love and finding a husband when I should have been actively pursuing my One True Love.

I had replaced desire to be loved and fulfilled by God, the one who loved me first and will never stop loving me, with the desire to fall in love to a guy and be married and start a family.

It's what every girl dreams of, right? The guy, the proposal, the ring, the dress, the church, the house, the picket fence.

What I have just become to grasp is that I've been going about it all wrong.

God has commanded us to love him with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love each other as we would love ourselves. THEN everything else flows from that.

I have realized that what I need to focus on is being in the center of God's will. After that, everything will fall in place. And if I'm not pursuing a relationship with God day after day, what the heck am I doing? Why would I not want to spend my time getting to know the person who created me, who knows my ins and outs and still loves me anyway. Isn't that really what all of us girls are looking for in a guy anyway?

You know, Psalm 37:4 is written the way it is written for a reason. In elementary school, we are taught cause and effect right? One thing leads to the other. If push the gas pedal on my car (cause), it goes (effect).

When we delight in God, when we actively pursue him and long to fall deeply in love with him, his desires become our desires.

I know there were times when I dated a guy and became interested in something that he was passionate about because he shared that passion with me. And vice versa. That's what happens in our relationship with God.

After "the break-up" my junior year of college, I really (surprising myself and taking a lot of advice from my sister) dove deep into God's word and tried to figure out where my fulfillment was coming from. Was it coming from God or was it coming from this boy? Before I could really figure that out, I became entangled in that relationship and again and never really learned that lesson. It took God transplanting me into a completely new life for me to figure out that was tapping into the wrong source of fulfillment.

So...I say all that to say this. This morning I stumbled upon, or shall I say, God led me to Jimmy Needham's website for a reason. Not only is this guy and talented musician who loves the Lord and writes about it from his heart, he's given his wife, Kelly - a girl who struggled with the same burden I am currently struggling with - an outlet to share her story and to encourage girls like me. The wisdom and humility in what she writes is overwhelming and I found myself feeling like I was reading the inside of my own heart.

I know that I'm not the only girl struggling with this burden because I know that I'm not the only girl out there who feels like the desires of her heart aren't being satisfied on the timeline that she thinks they should. So I wanted to share Kelly's Page with all of you fellow singles out there.

Kelly gives some amazing insight in how she walked through this struggle before meeting Jimmy and backs it up with some incredible scripture. As all things should be.

One of my favorite quotes (because I have a lot) from what she writes is this: "Instead of finding fulfillment in Jimmy, I found in him an incredible gift from God that daily turns my attentions back toward Jesus. I love that our God is a jealous God. he longs so much for our affection, that he won't give us anything that will threaten his place in our hearts."

I don't want my husband to be a distraction from my affection towards God. I want our relationship to be a gift that we praise him and give him glory for everyday of our lives. Because that kind of love only comes from God and only He alone is worthy of the glory.

We Gotta Pray Just To Make It Today

I"m a huge believer in the power of prayer. Prayer has undoubtedly saved the lives of several family members, healed sickness for just a little while and even forever.

Prayer has drawn me out of some of the most troubling times of my life and saved my best friend from an eternity in hell.

Prayer has built up churches all across the world and torn down governments and leaders who were up to no good.

In so many words, prayer works y'all.

See, prayer is this neat thing we Christians use to talk to our God. Some of us are good at it and some aren't. Me? I'm one of those that isn't really good at it. But you want to know some good news? God doesn't care if I'm good at it or not because in his eyes, elaborate words and fancy phrases aren't what make me or you a good pray-er. It's our honest and humble heart that we bring before him.

We all think that prayer is the "Dear God, Amen" type thing. The truth is, there should be no beginning or end. The Bible says to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). You know what ceasing means? Yeah, no stopping. Like never ending. It's a continuous conversation with our Lord. Our best friend.

And the awesome thing about it is that its unlimited. Free nights and weekends. No overage fees. No operators standing by. Because there's no need.

See, back in the day, like before Christ, people wanting to bring their requests to God had to take it to the highest priest in their church. They had a "go-to guy", if you will. But the neat thing about that is that when Jesus came, he totally put that guy out of business. Jesus said, "Hey dude, we're not going to be needing you to do that anymore. Feel free to stick around a help out with the people's needs and the clean up and stuff, but I got this whole praying thing covered. If people want to speak to my Father, they can just come to me (John 14:6)." Because you know what. The Father and the Son are one in the same.

(FYI, that's my favorite part of the Superman Returns movie. "The son will become like the father, and the father like the son." Brilliant.)

Anyway, so because Jesus/the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf to the God the Father, we can pray however, whenever, wherever, and however long we want to. And we don't even have to use words. He's our interpreter.

Romans 8:26 says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

I'm seen God does some crazy good things as a result of his people praying. He's always faithful to answer our prayers, although they may not be in the way we want him to. See I've been praying for husband for about five years now and well I'm still as single as a one dollar bill. But I've come to understand that he doesn't just put desires in people's hearts for no reason and he's God. He's not a vending machine. He's not always going to give us what we want, when we want it. It's always in his perfect timing.

When I start feeling really pitiful and resentful about being single, I think on the things that God has allowed me to do because I wasn't single. There are so many ministry opportunities that I've been able to be a part of because I wasn't tied down to a significant other. He's allowed me to use my past and present experiences to minister to and bond with girls that are younger than I am that are thinking and feeling the same things I am. And most importantly, it's one less distraction that I have from Him. God has shown up in big ways in the last little bit and I can't help but think if I would've missed those appearances had I been focusing all my attention on some boy.

God wants me all to himself for right now, and I'm pretty okay with that. I mean, I guess I don't have a choice in the matter, huh?

Anyway, this post went from one thing to another but I got inspired after reading Jim Cymbala's book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. Cymbala is the pastor at The Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York and his wife is the minister of music.

This book is filled with stories from Jim Cymbala about how the power of prayer and Spirit of God took a rundown church in Brooklyn, N.Y., and transformed it into a body of believers who desire to live in the center of what God is doing in the community around them and the world. Through complete faith in God's provision and petitioning the Lord for their needs, The Brooklyn Tabernacle has transformed the lives of the people in their community and brought them to the heart of God.

So, I want to do two things.

Number one. I want to ask you first for prayer. My parents and I will fly out at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning (July 18) to join many others from First Baptist Church of Jackson, Miss., on a mission trip/choir tour to New York City. We will be there until Thursday and will be doing several concerts as well as mission work with the homeless, Bowery Mission and the New York Fire Department.

Here are several things I ask you to pray for:

- Traveling mercies (safety to and from airports, in the air and on the ground, no lost luggage and smooth journeys)

- Safety throughout the duration of the stay. It's New York, y'all. Although I've been there twice before, it's still New York, y'all.

- Good health. I'm nursing a head cold acquired from the beach and I have to sing a solo in one of the concerts. I'm significantly better than I was a few days ago but the voice is still a little rough.

- No distractions. This trip is different than say going to Honduras or Africa. There's a lot in NYC that can distract me from what I'm really there for. Pray that my eyes are focused on what God is doing rather then the "pretty lights and neon signs."

- Pray for the people that we will be working with as well as anyone who may hear us sing. Let everything we do be a reflection of God's glory and may the Lord prepare the hearts that he wants touched.

I will hopefully be blogging about what's going on during our trip. And I'll be doing it over here. I hope I'll have time to do it every day because I want to talk about it while it's fresh on my mind but that all depends on internet access and time.

Number two. I want to be praying for you as well. Whether you are a regular reader or just happened upon this page, it's not by accident. Please leave a comment or feel free to email me (KtJane726@gmail.com) with anything that I can be praying for. You don't have to leave your name. Just let me know what I can pray for. And I will.

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 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 and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." James 5:13-18

What is REALLY going on in Honduras?

If you've read this or this or this, or seen this or this, you know I've been to Honduras and what a life-changing event it was for me. And how much I love Honduras and the people there now.

Recently, Honduras has been getting a lot of media coverage lately with the craziness that is going on with the president. If you don't know, read here. The article will tell you that it was a military coup. As you will read below, this is not so. President Obama even came out saying that the "coup" was illegal and that President Manuel Zelaya should remain the president. He had no clue what he was talking about.

Please read the below emails that I receive from a friend, Emily, who is currently teaching in Honduras. Obviously, there is a lot of confusion going on down there but clearly the Honduran people know more than we will ever know.

Please pray for Honduras and do anything you can to help in this situation.

Please:
If you are receiving this email it is because we need your help.

There has NOT been a coupe in Honduras , The country is NOT in crisis. This all started over a year ago when our president Mel Zelaya with the help of Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega began shredding the Honduran Constitution and setting the stage for him to become dictator of Honduras . As we neared the November elections that would seat a new president Mel Zelaya became more ruthless. Zelaya was informed more than once that his actions were outside the bounds of the Honduran Constitution. Zelaya earlier this year denounced democracy and announced he would seed an Venezuelan style of government, he then began receiving large sums of cash from Hugo Chavez.

This last week tensions mounted as the National Congress after a ruling from the Honduran SUPREME COURT that Mel Zelaya has committed crimes against the Constitution. As Chavez and Ortega offered Military assistance the National Congress of Honduras, The people of Honduras and the Courts of Honduras did not flinch, They stood beside their Constitution and detained by order of the National Congress Mel Zelaya for crimes against the Constitution.

President Zelaya and a small portion of the population tried to highjack the country and destroy democracy in favor of a Chavez-style government. Zelaya was shredding the constitution he swore to protect in order to stay in power past constitutional limits and firmly align Honduras with Venezuela .

President Zelaya was clearly, and more than once, informed officially that his actions were outside of the constitution and law. Given his obedience to Hugo Chavez and Chavez’s money, Zelaya was a traitor to this country in the truest sense of the word. I am writing to you as an American investor living in Honduras to express my admiration and respect for this country and how its government handled this crisis. They were faced with a difficult situation that was only growing worse. This was NOT a coup, but a criminal arrest. Hondurans should be applauded for how they handled this! They used their Constitution and stood firmly in the face of Chavez, Ortega, Morales, and Castro and said no to this form of Government. You would think the US would be applauding the situation. The US will if not careful give Chavez and Ortega the fuel they need to invade Honduras and remove our democratic form of Government. We can not believe the news reports and the statements by our representatives. We need your help. All Americans and Hondurans are franticly emailing and sending information to the US . We need you to forward this email to your local news station, CNN, contacts that you may have at any level of government. Email your senator, congressman, etc. Please pass this along. If the US ushers Zelaya back into power they are condemning this country to a communist regime.

Has a deal been struck between the US and Chavez for Honduras ??????
Written by Kent Burns

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No big surprise, but the media is getting it ALL WRONG on what is going on in Honduras. This is NOT a coup. A coup is when the military or others take over the government without regard for law and constitution. This is not what has happened in Honduras at all.

In fact, the military did not initiate any of what happened yesterday. The Supreme Court--constitutional civilian authority--ordered that the military arrest the president because of his illegal orders and activities. The military followed the civilian orders but took no control of the government nor took any unconstitutional authority. The Congress voted unanimously--and that includes the majority of the Congress which is from the Liberal Party (Zelaya's own party)--to remove him from office and to swear in Roberto Micheletti, the next in the constitutional line of succession for the presidency. Micheletti has been the president of the senateand is a member of the Liberal Party. It is clear that this was not a coup but was a clear commitment to the constitution and to the checks and balances that are there for just such a time as this. Gen. Vásquez, the chief of staff who was fired by Zelaya for refusing to carry out an illegal order, showed great courage and commitment to his country, as did all the members of the military, in standing for law and justice rather than doing the "politically correct" thing according to Zelaya.

We are really encouraged about what has happened in Honduras in these days--signs of political maturity, not a return to the days of the banana republic. They are actually showing the rest of Latin America how to stand up to would-be dictators and power brokers. Good for Honduras!

Most sincerely,

Karin Thomas

Birthdays and Prayer

Happy 1st Birthday to the cutest and coolest nephew in the world. My sweet little William, Boo, Buddy, is turning a year old today and my heart breaks that I can't be there to celebrate because of work. I hate that I'm missing family getting together and missing getting to see some of the greatest in-laws in the world. Happy Birthday little Boo! I know all other presents and card will pale in comparison to Auntie KK's because I'm just that cool.

Me and my buddy

Also, I just wanted to share something I got via email today from my oh so wise daddy. He was responding to an email in which someone had sent a petition to get prayer back into a particular school. My dad has pretty great experience with this subject after dealing with "Prayer-gate" at Wingfield High School about 15 years ago.

I can't tell you enough how proud I am to be this man's daughter. I am what I am today because of him and the things that he had taught me and the way that he has shown me to follow, obey, serve and trust my Lord and Savior.

Here is his response. Think about it.

"I’m sorry, but any time I get anything about putting prayer back in schools I want to question 'Where did prayer go?!' The scriptures tell us to go into the prayer closet. Jesus wants us to realize that it is our hearts and not the volume of our prayers that he hears. We all know that prayer is one of the most powerful things associated with the Christian faith but it is also the most personal. We as members of the faith family should openly share with others our personal concerns as well as those for others ('where two or three are gathered…').

Here is the other side of that coin. If we were to allow 'prayer' in schools as it was when we were young, who would pray??? The Christians of course, right, huh? Of course, we would say the Christians but the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Muslim, Wicker, Satan’s church of what is happening now are asking why not them. We cannot allow the schools to become a platform for religions and cults to infect our children with pretty self-absorbing stories or philosophies. Diversity is a wonderful thing. It broadens our children’s minds but we are talking about a foundational stone of most religions and surely one of the Christian way of life.

Please consider this when you are approached with the 'Prayer in Schools Thing.' If those who claim to push this platform are genuinely that concerned, they should start a 'Campus Life Club', a 'Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club', or a 'Baptist Student Union High School Addition'. Then they can put an genuine emphasis on pray and praying for the changing of negative things in our school and homes of those who attend schools."

Bobby Walden
“The Assistant Principal Of Prayer”
Wingfield High School 1992-1994

I'm currently doing two bible studies (church and work) that just happen to be going through James. Maybe God really wants me to learn something from James, huh? I encourage you to read it. It's only five short chapters, and last night we compared it to a well written essay, but it's chock full of God's truth that is forever applicable. It's an easy read, time-wise, but a hard one. Very convicting but also very encouraging.

Last night in my church bible study, we finished up the book and talked about chapter five. The last seven verses talk about prayer and the power of prayer. I don't think that I've seen the power of prayer played out in my life more than this past year. It's amazing and it's overwhelming to look back and see how God has worked in my life and the lives of those around me. I'm currently trying to memorize this book because there is so much truth and so much wisdom that I just want to have it in my brain all of the time. I encourage you to do the same. Think of it as 109 verses, not a five chapters of the Bible. Doesn't sound as daunting of a task now, does it?

Here are the last seven verses. Meditate on them and really see how James explains the simpleness, yet complexity, and the power of God through prayer.

13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, 20 you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

See also James Chapter one. This is like the thesis statement of the well-written essay. This is good stuff people!

Reaching by Prayer and Teaching

I've been pretty emotional today. I'm not really sure why. I'm sure it's just a girl thing but it's a fact that I've been emotionally moved by a couple of things today and as a result, this post may turn into a jumble of random tangents. Bear with me. I'm writing as it comes.

This morning as I was doing my daily blog-browse, I read two specific posts by to people that surprisingly brought tears to my eyes. Both involved prayer. Both involved school. And both were written by teachers.

Prayer has been a huge part of my life. It's been how I've praise, thanked, communicated, wrestled and argued with God, my Savior, through so many of the highs and lows of my life. It's been the avenue of answers and silence from God, both are blessings. So I'm touched when I'm told stories of prayer being a part of circumstances that are often looked upon as circumstances in which prayer is not allowed. Like school.

One of my favorite memories of high school was praying with the football after games. It was only the Lord's Prayer, and it lasted only about 12.5 seconds, but it was a highlight of my night. I remember my friends Jennifer, Jessica, Lana and I would make it a point to go out an pray with them. It was inportant to us. So, now, it makes my heart soar when I see 30-40 college football players circle up in the endzone a few hours before the game, holding hands and praying, fervently, for themselves, each other, their opponents, the fans and whatever else God is laying on their hearts at that time. And, yes, we have a public prayer before our games. We can do that. We are Baptists.

See prayer isn't really welcomed in schools. There was a big to-do about it when I was in fifth grade that involved my school district and more specifically, the school my dad worked at. I won't go into all the details now, mainly because I don't know half of what went on, but I will say, rules are rules. Most are meant to be abided by, few are meant to be broken. But no one should be forced to do anything that they don't want to do. (And the tangent has just reared it's ugly head for the first time in this post.)

Anyway, both of these girls shared stories of when prayer was used in a school setting. One by a group of eighth graders. Another by an eight-year-old hoping God would help him and his classmates do well on a big test. Eight years old. I don't care what anybody says, that's cool.

So shifting gears a bit, to the teaching part of this post, teachers hold a very special place in my heart. So many teachers have had a huge impact on my life. I went to a high school where just about every other teacher/coach was like another mother or father to me. But a few stick out among the crowd in the impact that they had on me. First, there's Coach Rob. The coolest teacher every who made world history the most exciting subject ever. After his class, I wanted to become a world history teacher in high school. Coach Rob is an amazing man of God. He was one of those teachers you could go talk to about a friend who just didn't get the God thing. I had several of those convos and prayer sessions with him. His test bonuses were bible verses. He'd put a bible verse on the board and we would get bonus points if we could memorize it and write it out on the back of our tests.

Another on was Mr. Bridges. He's another great man of God. He was never afraid to speak truth into someone's life because he knew that was more important than any math problem he could ever teach. He's a great friend.

There are several more but I want to talk about the three most important teachers in my life. My Dad, my mom and my sister. They are all educators. Yes, I'm the only one in my family who doesn't have a summer vacation. Anyway, I was privileged enough to have my mom as a teacher. It wasn't as bad as you would think. It was actually lots of fun (lifetime supply of passes, ha). Anyway, she knows how much fun it was; I dedicated my senior Valentine's Day column in the school newspaper to her. Back when she retired from JPS, her friends made her a little book of memories and photos. They also had students from years past write her letters. I took the book this past year and made it into a scrapbook to give to her for Mother's Day. I was a little nosey and read the letters. It touched me to know how many people and in how many ways my mom had touched. To most of them, she was a mom away from home. Most even just called her Mama Walden. My mom was there to talk or give a ride home. She scolded and encouraged, confronted and comforted.

My dad is a principal now but he started out as a teacher. A science teacher (my dad rocked my science projects). He was a teacher/coach. He coached soccer (they won the district championship, or the state championship. I don't remember. I was five.), football and track, if I remember correctly. Most of his soccer players ended up spending the summers with him as he roped them into being lifeguards at the Y where he was aquatics director. There are several of them who actually go to my sister and brother-in-law's church now. I think it's been neat for him to see who they were then and who they are now. He's had a pretty heavy impact on a lot of kids. Just like my mom. There's not a place we go where we don't run into a former student of theirs and the last thing they say is what an impact my mom and dad made on their lives.

Thirty-five-ish years later, they are still making their impact. My mom is in a different school and my dad is too. Different settings, new set of people to impact. Their job is truly their mission field. My mom love to have her kids sing sacred songs. Not because they sound good, but I really think it's because she can shed a little God-light into the lives that she is with 8 hours a day. My seriously prays for every person he encounters every day, whether he likes them or not (you know, pray for you enemies). My sister has only been a teacher for three years but I know she's impacting people already. She did it even before she was teaching, back in high school and college. And of course, she's had a pretty huge impact on my life. She's pretty much one of my spiritual heroes.

Anyway, to sum it up. I owe a lot of my life to teachers. We all do. Most of them spend more time with our children than we do (I don't have children. I'm speaking generally.). Whether they or we like it or not, they do have an small (or large, depending on who you are and where you come from) effect on how we mature and grow up.

Do them a favor, thank a teacher today. Whether it is yours, your child's or just one that you know. Thank them for what they do and who they are. They don't get half the paycheck or credit for the things that they put up with these days.