Praying for Miracles

Two ladies I love dearly have advanced stages of cancer. After reading through a book about prayer together called "Draw the Circle" a group of us joined our friend Ashlea on a prayer walk to pray on behalf of her and an upcoming scan. I carry both of these women in my heart and prayers daily.

For the  prayer walk we walked a total of four miles, circling Ashlea’s oncology building seven times. We began and ended in prayer together. We wrote messages of encouragement for her along the path. We circled the building in a literal circle of chalk. I don’t even know how to describe the experience. I don’t know how God will work but I know he is in control and whatever happens, he will be glorified.

  

After our walk, we went for dessert, because even when showing up for the hard things, we can live and laugh and love each other and enjoy the pleasures of life together!

 

 

Two days after the prayer walk, a group of us decided to rise early at our individual homes across the Chattanooga area and pray on behalf of Ashlea and her oncologist visit that would happen that morning. We all texted her pictures of sunrises as we saw them across the valley. I am normally a late sleeper and only get up early for really important things, but this morning I rose with purpose to pray for my friend. I kind of think I should do this more often.

 

 

 

Update: Ashlea's brain scan came back showing her growths had shrunk and they felt like they could no longer call it brain cancer. Praise God.

Update 2: Brain cancer will always be a thing with Ashlea. Right before Christmas 2021, she learned she had some new growths. I continue to pray for her and love on her. None of us know how long we have on earth. God is still working in her life though. My other friend also continues to fight her cancer.

Pop Quiz

Is this a 4-lug tire or a 5-lug tire?

If you said 4 lugs, you are smarter than the guy working at Harbor Freight. 

Daniel is traveling to Nashville today with a loaded trailer of things that the moving company cannot move. As he was packing up, he realized he didn't have a spare tire for the trailer. He called around to see what stores were open and if they had the tire on hand.

Harbor Freight seemed to be our best bet. So I went to get the tire. Before I left the store, I opened the box to make sure it had 5 lugs. Unfortunately the worker could not count and they only had 4-lug versions on hand. So score 1 for a wasted trip out for me.

Once the trailer was fully loaded, we tested all of the trailer lights and realized that the battery on the Subaru was dead. This meant I ran to AutoZone for a battery {I also picked up an alternator just in case}. Then I ran to Northern Tools where I was able to get a 5-lug tire {evidently their staff can actually count to 5}.

It's been a heck of a day, followed by a heck of a week. 

Other things to be stressed about: our insurance company sent us a check for our roof/siding repair. They made the check out to me, Daniel and a mortgage company that we have never heard of before.... arrrgggghhhh!!!

There are a lot of other things to be stressed about right now. If you believe in prayer, please pray for us.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book 22

Life is complicated and ugly at times. We are all touched by things like job loss, job searches, a bad economy, cancer, unexplained illness, divorce, addiction, aging family members, hurt, loneliness and so on. It touches all of us. And sometimes we stand at the edge of this chasm and hold hands with cynicism, giving in to the despair that comes with this thing called life. We give up our hopes for the future and let the numbness of not caring set in. 

Overcoming that numbness through prayer is what A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World, by Paul W. Miller, is about. At this exact time in my life, this was a book that I really needed to read. My natural tendency is to get overwhelmed by life and think that the best solution is to not care, to give up hope. But when I stop caring, I die a little inside.

Instead of shutting down, I should be praying and waiting on God as he weaves together the story that is my life. It won't always be pretty, but it is my story of growth and relationships with God and those around me, one in which I should be an active participant, not just a detached bystander.

Some passages that really stuck with me from this book:

Few of us have {the} courage to articulate the quiet cynicism or spiritual weariness that develops in us when heartfelt prayer goes unanswered. We keep our doubts hidden even from ourselves because we don't want to sound like bad Christians. No need to add shame to our cynicism. So our hearts shut down.

If God is sovereign, then he is in control of all the details in my life. If he is loving, then he is going to be shaping the details of my life for good. If he is all-wise, the he's not going to do everything I want all of the time because I don't know what I need. If he is patient, then he is going to take time to do all of this.

If we think that we can do life on our own, we will not take prayer seriously. Our failure to pray will always feel like something else - a lack of discipline or too many obligations. But when something is important, we make room for it.

Many Christians stand at the edge of cynicism, struggling with a defeated weariness. Their spirits have begun to deaden, but unlike the cynic, they have not lost hope.

Cynicism creates a numbness toward life. {It} begins with the wry assurance that everyone has an angle... the cynic is always observing, critiquing, but never engaging, loving and hoping.

It's a short trip from determination to despair, when you realize that you aren't going to change the situation, no matter what you do. It hurts to hope in the face of continued failure, so you try to stop hurting by giving up hope.

Gospel stories always have suffering in them. American Christianity has an allergic reaction to this part of the gospel. We'd love to hear about God's love for u s, but suffering doesn't mesh with our right to the "pursuit of happiness."

I don't buy many books. This is one that I plan to purchase.

The Prayer of a Child.

Tonight, my mentor came and told me a story... Her 8-year old son has been praying for me every night. Specifically, he has been praying for the disappointment that I must feel from having been offered the job with Enventys and then it not working out.

How can an 8-year old have that kind of insight? I have never let on to him that this has been a difficult road. I expect the adults to get it, but an 8-year old? I am completely blown away.