Sunday, November 14, 2010

Pray without ceasing!

I haven't blogged in about a week. It seems as though it has been months. I did post a blog or two, but they were borrowed (stolen) from my BFF and myself, from a blog I wrote a month or two ago. Pathetic. I know. The truth is, I have been working alot this past week. It feels as though I worked about 1,000 hours... Okay...not that much, but it feels as though I have. I struggled with working so much. I didn't get to see my family hardly at all. Being with them, and soaking up their love is my green spinach, it fuels me to keep going...not seeing them or spending time with them is my cryptonite...it drains me of all I have. I don't do well with it. I don't care to work so much. Yes...I know...patience. Wait. Be still. I get it. On the other hand, I guess I shouldn't complain. Okay..I KNOW I shouldn't complain. I keep praying for God to provide. He does. He is. How does the saying go? Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Or...don't slap a gift horse in the mouth. Wait...maybe it's...don't punch a hippo in the face. Ahhhh... heck I don't know...I'm not sure. You get the drift. I think I may still be a little tired and delirious. Sorry God. I am thankful for your provision as always!! As I said, it was a busy week. Besides working late every day, and pulling a 14 hour shift on one day, my homelife was still moving along as usual. One thing I figured out, when you are extremely busy at work...life at home doesn't stop for you, it keeps going and sometimes gets even more hectic than normal. And of course, this happened this week. I began the week with a simple prayer..."God you know all that I have to do this week. Please be my strength, my courage, my energy, and my stamina. And amongst all the business of the week, let Your light shine through me to others." I prayed this every morning, and even throughout my days. I would even say it in my conscious mind at times, not even realizing it. I had no idea, how much all of this prayer would become exactly what I needed...and exactly what He would give me. I began the week extremely tired from the weekend. We had traveled out of town to get my daughter's music recorded and we returned home at midnight Sunday...a school night. That was a bad thing from the start. My youngest cried from the moment he realized he had been up so late, and as soon as he woke up Monday morning for school. He cried the entire way to school and the next day too. And not just a tear or two...no. The kind of cry that makes you snort and eat your own snot. A huge cry! But...I prayed my prayer. He went to school. He survived. If I haven't mentioned it before, my husband and I work two different schedules every other week. This week was that crazy schedule. He worked nights. I worked days. Uggghhh! I didn't see him much...or at all on some days. My kids are great, but...sometimes I just need to be with my husband. I miss coming home to adult conversation. You get me? This week was one that I really needed his presence at the end of my day. I didn't get it...so I slowly proceeded to lose it. I had a crying breakdown. I cried for a couple of hours. I was lonely, tired and frustrated. None of it was his fault...I might add. It was all me. He was just a poor, innocent bystander of my emotional explosion. Poor guy. He stayed calm the entire time. He was great. He listened to me rant and cry. Then...he hugged me. It was over...and I prayed my prayer...again. The next day, I left from work a tad bit earlier and snuck into the salon to get a very needed trim on my hair. Low and behold...as the hairstylists began to trim my hair...some of my hair began to fall out....AGAIN! Are you kidding me? Really? This? Not this again. Yep. Again. The hairstylists consoled me and cut my hair a little shorter, and in a different style, to hide the gap where there was now missing hair. I was on the verge of tears. Verge-the extreme edge. Yep...that's exactly where I was! We suspect that it's hormones. It would definitely explain the short trip to Crazyville the day before with my husband. Sigh....Oi-vay. That night, my daughter brought me a packet that she had received from school. It was her senior packet from the Josten's company. Her graduation announcements. O-M-G!! I sat down at the table with her to go through the packet, and decide on what we were going to purchase. The lump in my throat grew larger with every page we turned to. I was on the verge...again. She looked at me with teary eyes and said, "This is it Mom. I'm really graduating." I then quickly proceeded to lose it...right there...at the kitchen table...all over her graduation packet. I cried my eyes out. But at least I wasn't alone...she cried too. We cried a little while, then laughed at eachother's snorting cries, wiped our tears, and continued to order her announcements. I sat looking at her sitting next to me, all grown up. In my mind...quietly...I prayed my prayer. The next day came and I was so exhausted physically and emotionally I felt like I could just cry. I do that when I am tired. Cry. (Shocking I know.) But, I sucked it up knowing I had a very long day ahead. So there I was...sleep deprived, husband craved, hair thinned, broken hearted, and very emotional...attempting to put a smile on my face. I prayed my prayer...and very hard this time. I know I couldn't have looked too pretty at this point. I would catch a glimpse of myself from time to time in front of a mirror, and see the horror that others were apparently seeing. Frightening. Not pretty at all. My eyes were read and swolen...can't on earth begin to know why. (haha) I looked like someone had stuffed fat little caterpillars underneath the skin of my eyelids. I prayed my prayer...all day. That night came, and it was time for the event of the week, that we had been preparing for at work. My job was the greeter/hostess. Oh boy...this should be good. I greeted each person with a huge grin and a happy hello...all the while praying, and praying hard. The night went on without a hitch. My fourteen hour day was over and it was time to go home. I prayed my prayer all the way home. The next morning I awoke, and headed back to work. As I was getting ready to leave, I had found the money that I had gotten paid the night before. In my rush to end the evening, I had just stuffed it in my purse without looking at it. Finding it in my purse on this morning, I would realize that it was much more than I had expected. I had received a very nice bonus. (There's that provision.) I headed into work to clean up from the long week. As soon as I entered my workplace, the compliments began to flow. Many people had approached my boss and told them how impressed they were with our services and our attitudes. They could not thank me and my coworkers enough for all the great work that we had done. Many of them asked my boss to personally thank me for my hard work and friendly hospitality. WOW! I prayed a simple prayer...all week...without ceasing. God answered my prayer. Every detail. Nothing went unheard by Him. Prayed for provision... got it...check! Prayed for energy....got it...check! Prayed for strength...got it...check! Prayed for courage..got it...check! Prayed for stamina...got it...check! Prayed to be a light amongst all the business...got it...check! I prayed and asked. God answered and gave. It's that simple. Even though I knew the week was trying to get the best of me at times, I kept praying... and never stopped believing. I just kept praying and knowing if I did, He would take care of me. And HE did. As always...He did. It's not always about how you pray...its' about that you pray! Pray without ceasing! Thank you God for walking with me, and carrying me at times, through my week. You are my strength!
I Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.
Ephesians 6:18
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the spirit and with this in view, be on the alert with all perserverance and petition for all the saints.
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to eachother and prayer for eachother so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

3 comments:

  1. God Bless You Sweetie! You had me crying with you! I really miss my husband!

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  2. I remember when our kids were young and I was teaching and my husband was away on business a LOT. I had many weeks like the one you described. Back then I didn't know how I made it through at times. Now I know. HE carried me even though I wasn't deserving. Thanks for a great reminder of the power of prayer!

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  3. You big cry baby! ;~) You know I love you! I am happy that you were blessed. You're in my prayers, too!

    ReplyDelete

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