Traffic!!!

When I used to work evenings and be tired after getting off work at 11:30pm things were okay. I'd be tired, but there would be almost no traffic, and no one would care that I drive slowly when I'm tired.

Not so much at 7am. People are downright nasty!

Some one honked and flipped me off because I took too long turning through an intersection. Oh, brother...

Be nice to other drivers. You never know why they drive the way they do. :-)

Prayer and fasting Wednesday

What an amazing blessing to have a night shift where I need to "fill time". It makes it much easier to set aside time to pray each night.

Last night I was praying for a few specific things

• For peace and strength for our family in this difficult time.
• For the Lord to show himself strong in the life of my sister, and that she would be safe in this time of wandering.
• For my dear friend, Erin, as she prepares to leave for Ukraine this Friday.
• For my Mom, as she also prepares for a missions trip to Moldova in October.
• For Highpoint church, that God would equip and ready us as we move forward into October.
• For our pastors and their families, that a special anointing would be on their leadership.
• For the community of Inver Grove Hgts, that those who are searching, hurting, and lonely would find forgiveness, healing and salvation in Jesus Christ.

You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Nehemiah 9:6

Psalm 61

Things have been difficult in our family life recently. I won't go into details, but I thought I would post these verses. They have been running in my mind throughout everything that has been happening.

Psalm 61:1-4

Hear my cry, O God;
Give heed to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For You have been a refuge for me,
A tower of strength against the enemy.
Let me dwell in Your tent forever;
Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.

Overnights...

I thought that working nights would be a breeze; get yourself in the groove and off you go. And so far, so good. Now after 5 nights in a row I have "hit the wall". I'm so tired my eyes cross when I try to read. Which is really not good since that's how I pass at least half the time. I even grabbed Starbucks before I came (something I have tried really hard not to do)! Thankfully I have Sunday night off and I can catch some extra Z's.
In the meantime, I'll dive into my, rather large, bag of tricks and try to get through till 7:00am.

The essentials for overnights:

1. The longest book I own: Lord of the Rings
2. At least 1 silly gossip magazine: right now it's People and US weekly
3. The B-I-B-L-E: I have time so I am out of excuses
4. Portable DVD player with in-ear-headphones: One ear on Peyton, one on the movie
5. 2-3 DVD's for the hardest part of the shift: 3am to 4am, the longest hour of my life
6. Diet Coke and some guilt free snack: carrots! (because eating keeps you awake)

Wednesday Night

Well, last night at about 1:00am was the start of my new venture with God. I read the Bible for a while, sang a few quiet worship songs and then started to pray.

• for the family that I work for-Peyton's continued recovery, peace and rest for everyone in the house, for their salvation
• for my family-God's will and favor in their workplaces, His protection against spiritual attack, the salvation of my Grandma and her husband, my Aunt Lisa and her partner Edi and deliverance for both of them
• for High Point Church-God's favor in the community, the equipping of our pastors, for His presence and guidence in the comming weeks, for His love to be shown in the way we all live and interact with others, healing-emotional, spiritual, physical for all who need it, His will be done
• for the city of Inver Grove Heights-that God would move and make Himself known in this community

Eventually I was at a loss for words and just prayed in the spirit. I still feel a sense of urgency to continue to pray. We will see what God does...

Called to Pray

Hey everyone!
I had been blogging on Myspace, but more of you are on Facebook. So, this will be my main blog site for a while.
Today in church, Pastor Tory was talking about how important it is for us to be in prayer. I have to be honest and admit that my prayer life has been less than wonderful. So often my excuse has been that I just don't have time, or I'm too busy. Pretty lame in retrospect. If I have time to mess around on Facebook, then I have time to pray. More and more lately I have felt called to start praying. I'm not quite sure why...but that's up to God, not me. Since I work nights, I have lots of time already set up in my work "day" to pray. I am going to be obedient and see what happens next. I feel like it is time for a change. My working environment has changed, my family dynamics are changing, it's time for my personal walk with God to change.