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By Melanie (as posted on her blog Keeping it Simple)
Well I don’t know how things are in your part of the world, but around here, the past two weeks, everyone seems to be in complete panic mode regarding the H1N1 flu pandemic…
News of the 13-year old hockey player and now the 2-month old baby who have died of H1N1 have for sure fueled the panic. Add to that the vaccine shortage… people lining up 5-6 hours to get their shot… people getting turned away because they don’t fit into the high risk groups (kids 6 months to 5 year being among the high risk group accepted at the moment). Lots of indecisiveness and confusion about what to do with the vaccine… We are bombarded by conflicting information on a daily basis. We have decided to go ahead with the H1N1 vaccine (despite my having been the biggest skeptic when it comes to the regular flu shot, I’m thinking that this isn’t the year to be a skeptic and I’m trusting the advice of my friends and family who are in the medical world!) I’m not writing this to get the debate going about whether to vaccinate or not… that’s a personal decision… do your research and decide for yourselves!
Rather, I’m writing to address the mass panic… It is easy to live in fear… in fear of getting sick… in fear of germs everywhere… in fear of our children getting sick and ending up like the kids we’ve heard about on the news…
PANIC
FEAR
WORRY
I have caught myself begin to panic a few times over the last couple of weeks… but I just need to recognize it, and change the fear and worrying into prayer… The panic around me has fueled my prayer to God for my children and our family… for health, for protection, and for so much more…
Prayer and looking to God’s truths in scripture give me peace as they take my eyes away from my circumstances, and rather remind me that there is an all-knowing, powerful God who is present and at work – not just in a cosmic distant way, but in a close and personal way. He knows me, my family and everything about us, and even better, He loves us and cares for us. Prayer keeps me focused on who God is and melts away fear and worry.
Now does that mean that we will be free from illness, tragedy and heartache in our lives? No. But I do believe that God hears our prayers and answers them in ways that He knows are best for us in the long term. That can be impossible for any of us to understand depending on what we’re coping with. In the face of those difficult times, I do believe that God gives us the strength to handle whatever we are up against just when we need it, and that it somehow fits into a larger plan that I may be unable to make sense of in the moment.
Here are two of my favourite verses that bring me hope and peace – as well as a few others!
“Ah Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretch arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” – Jesus (Matthew 11:28)
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you” Isaiah 43:5a
I leave you with this prayer from Romans 15:13 : May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
By Andi Hawkins (as posted on The Running Mama Sept.9/09)
My running partner, Jerri, and I have gotten very close in our three years of yapping running together. Things between us got honest right away, since we both have unflattering mucous habits during exercise. You can’t put on airs while hocking and blowing phlegm every quarter mile, and we settled for intimate friendship over mutual disgust. Recently, we decided to use our vulnerability with each other for a deeper purpose. Instead of spending the last half of our run rehashing the conversation from the first, we do something more spiritual… you know… like pray.
There is a beautiful street at the end of our run, lined with tall trees. When we round the bend to this last stretch, it is praying time. There are no rituals to make God seem far away. Our hands can’t clasp, we can’t bow our heads, we can’t even close our eyes. We are two friends talking to each other and to our God who is as close as our own breath. Our prayers spout and gasp, but they surround us like little lamps, warming our insides with freedom and energy.
There is no pretension. Our confessions, our worries, the stones of our souls, they float off like bubbles as we stomp down the road. We pray for our favorites- Her Jerrod, My Greg, and the four babies between us. We fight for them, with all the fervor our legs can muster. We can’t help it, as we speak we run faster and faster, as if our effort is the measure of our passion.
When we finish, we are breathless. We have shown each other our ugliest, our best. Like two lovely warriors we walk along, sweaty and peaceful, ready for another day.
Andi is a stay-at-home mom who runs in the morning to justify the late night ice cream. Read more on her blog The Running Mama.
By Melanie (from her blog Keeping it Simple)
This morning as I lay in bed, I could hear my 6-year-old daughter singing quietly to herself in her bed. What a great way to start the day. I much prefer when she wakes up singing then when I have to wake her up, exhausted on a school day, and she’s whining and complaining that she’s too tired to get up yet… I choose singing over whining any day of the week! (if only it were my choice to make)
I do have other choices to make that affect my mornings though… will I press snooze, which results in a rushed morning to get myself ready and everyone up and going too… will I eat breakfast right away as I feed the girls, or will I get busy with 1001 tasks only to realize that I’m grumpy because I still haven’t eaten (I don’t function well without breakfast)… and the one which has the greatest impact on my day: will I sit and take a moment to read my Bible as I eat breakfast before I rush off and continue with the rest of my day (before or after the kids have eaten)…
Why is that last one so significant? Because I find that reading my Bible in the morning sets me up for a better day. It gets me refocused, invites God into my day from the start, and leads to a heart of prayer as I sit in the car driving to work, or doing tasks around the house – praying for my husband, my girls, friends, family, etc. In short, it puts life in perspective and reminds me that God is with me through each moment of my day.
I find that I’ve not been starting off my day right the past while, and I’ve been feeling it… impatience… rushing from one task to the next feeling like I’m not getting ahead… I have had seasons where I can pour into deeper studies, and others where I can barely get to just read a brief devotional with reflections written by various people based on a short passage.I’m in a busy season, and knowing that I’ve been missing the mark too often in past months, I’m back to picking up a devotional, though light, it at least is a start to get me focused in the morning and is better then nothing!
So I may not be able to choose if my daughter will wake up singing or cranky, but I can choose to take even just a minute to refocus my day by reaching for God’s Word. What a difference it makes to my day!
By Melanie (posted March 28th on Keeping it Simple)
Today was a beautiful day. Sunshine, a new niece, my babe cut her first two teeth, the girls had their first swimming lessons of the season, and we enjoyed a BBQ with good friends. A beautiful day of blessings.
Yesterday was a day of waiting… Waiting to hear from my “baby” brother for news of the induction and labour/delivery, this being another high risk pregnancy for my sister-in-law… Waiting to hear from a good friend as she awaited news of a major decision that has been a long-time coming and a longstanding prayer request…
Yesterday I took the kids to the park before lunch and enjoyed the sunshine as I continued to prayerfully and anxiously wait. Funny to have two things I’ve been praying about for months both come to a head on the same day. If only all prayer requests had a date when you knew the answer was due!
The funny thing is that yesterday I woke up feeling like it was going to be a great day filled with blessings. I don’t particularly get strong feelings like that often, but yesterday I did. It felt like God would just be pouring out His favour down on many and be in the business of answering prayers.
If only I always had such confidence in how things would turn out when I pray and life feels uncertain. I’m getting used to God’s answer being WAIT, instead of a quick resounding YES! Often times, I’m learning that the waiting has been to prepare me, to mould me, to stretch me… deepening my faith and reliance on God by the time the answer finally does come.
Maybe it’s easier to be confident in expecting an unmistakable yes when praying for others then when you’re the one in the midst of a crisis, decision, or life event (major or minor). I suppose that’s why it’s so important to have others around us praying for us as well, so that their confidence encourages and strengthens our faith when we need it!
So yesterday I waited, expecting big things from God… and God did bring upon blessings but mostly in the trivial (like dry pants on my preschooler after a few accident-filled days!). Sure enough, I still had to wait… wait another day for the beautiful healthy baby girl who made her appearance early morn!… and wait longer still for my friend’s situation to get resolved. So we keep praying and waiting for that one, all the while thanking God for the blessings and answered prayers of the day! Beautiful blessings indeed!
By Andi Hawkins (posted on her blog The Running Mama, April 2008)
God knows I love my boys.
I love my boys with painfully passionate longing.
I love them so much, in fact, that I find it hard to trust them to God. “God”, I say, “Here they are, the very marrow from my bones, the very beat of my heart, the very best of me. I lift them up to You to protect and nurture because you can do it better then me.” Then I don’t lift them up because my hands are white knuckling their small, vulnerable shoulders and I just can’t let go.
Someone told me once that when I feel the need to protect my kids, it is good to pray a special prayer for them instead. So, as I tuck them into bed at night I ask God to give them STRENGTH and give them WISDOM. Not to shield them from any harm or obstacle, but for the tools to overcome it.
How do you pray for your most sacred treasure?
Andi is the mother to Toby, 4, and Charlie, 1. When she is not wiping boogers she chronicles life with her young family on her blog, : “The Running Mama” www.andihawkins.com.
