Honored to Pray

This morning has already been a morning of prayer.  Every time I log onto Facebook, it seems I see another prayer request for someone.  Many times I know the person caring enough to post the request, but I don't know the people who need prayer.  The neat thing is that I don't need to know them -- the Lord does.  I am honored to lift up these individuals and their families before the Lord.  I have been blessed in the same way many times by people who did not know me personally but know the Lord -- and seriously, that's what matters most.

Today, I am honored to pray for a sister who struggling with liver-related issues, a young boy battling the complications of a brain tumor, a young pregnant woman whose heart rate skyrockets to dangerous levels, and a 6-year-old girl on life support whose transplanted heart is straining to function properly.  If anyone reads this, which is doubtful because I haven't shared the existence of this blog yet -- but you never know who may stumble upon it -- please pray for these people through their challenges. 

"The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.   Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit."  ~James 5:16b-18

In Christ, Talya

Just Posting Today

I started this blog two years ago as an experiment. My first and primary blog was a homeschoolblogger blog. They had been going through some changes with their formatting, and I wondered if I would like blogger better. I decided to start a quick blog on blogger to assess the ease of posting and fiddle with the layouts, but I realized I really didn't blog anymore anyway, so I never did anything on here beyond my first Civil War post.

Well, here I am. Homeschoolblogger is no more, but blogger remains. I still don't anticipate posting on a regular basis. My intent was always to post as the Lord gives me something worth writing. It seems that those times are few and far between now. I get into enough trouble posting stuff on Facebook; I'm not sure I want to wade back into potentially controversial blog posts.

I've learned I don't handle disagreement very well. I used to think I did, especially before I was saved and had no standard for my beliefs anyway. I was solidly on the "believe what you want to believe... it's all good" bandwagon. Now that I know the Lord and know how important belief on Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior is, I don't handle disagreement well at all. The stakes are higher now. Disagreement about things of the Lord, most specifically from people professing to believe in Jesus Christ, bothers me the most. It stresses me, angers me, bothers me and all of the above. Let me qualify, I can better handle a thought out disagreement based on Scripture than disagreement based on random feelings, experiences, the news, or Oprah.

Sometimes I feel I should only post about universally fun things -- baking cookies, my child learning to add 2+2, "What I Did on My Summer Vacation". Life would be much easier and I wouldn't feel heart palpitations as I approach my computer screen to read someone's response. I wouldn't have to be reminded to pray before I post or respond because baking cookies is... well... baking cookies (unless I talk about organic vs. conventional, whole foods vs. synthetic foods... oh, the list goes on and on and would plunge me into further depths). Okay, back to happy things -- I certainly wouldn't have to search the Scriptures to truly understand what the Lord is really saying about the topic du jour. I wouldn't be forced to admit that my understanding was in error and I must apologize. No, posting about baking cookies would absolve me of such angst.

BUT... where would be the challenge in taking the safe route? Where would be the refinement? Where would be the opportunity for the Lord to be glorified in my words and interactions with others? Where would I be reminded to crucify my prideful flesh and minister grace to my brother or sister in my responses? Where would I have the opportunity to share the message of the Gospel? I mean it's a little challenging to transition from baking cookies to the Gospel -- "Oh no, I burnt my cookies, but that only happened because we are all born sinners, depraved at heart." I'm not sure that was the smoothest transition.

In the end, it's most important that I post things that would glorify the Lord, challenge myself and others, and build up my brothers and sisters in the Lord. Sometimes that might be a post about baking cookies, but at other times that might be a post about false teachers. Lord willing I will post again sometime soon. In Christ, Talya