Answered prayer

Does God answer prayer? Yes, he answers lifesaving prayers, but also small, to many insignificant prayers. Both answers came to me last week. I had to undergo some minor surgery and the surgeon promised to leave me a note to say what had been done and what the result was. The first line that stood out to me when I read the note after I awoke was "benign." She did not even want to see me again unless I had further problems. I was ready to jump off the bed. To me this was the best answer I could get from a doctor and to me it meant a new lease on life and to be able to continue what I so much enjoy, like my reading, writing, crafts and music. 

By now it was 5 pm and I had not eaten or drank anything for 20 hours. Oh, did I ever have a craving for a milkshake to quench my thirst and stop the growling in my stomach. At 5 pm it is extremely busy on Main street in Winnipeg and I did not say anything to my husband when I saw a big M on the left side of the street. He would probably have made a U-turn to please me. I prayed that if the Lord would provide a big M at the right side of Main street I would ask my husband to stop so I could get a milkshake. Would you believe it that when we were almost at the Perimeter, where we had to turn off, there I saw a big M? Yes, it was easy to get there and the milkshake never tasted so good and quieted my stomach until we came to our daughter's home, where supper waited.. 

I thanked the Lord for answering my prayers twice that day. Yes, He answers prayers, great and small.

Answered prayer

Does God answer prayer? Yes, he answers lifesaving prayers, but also small, to many insignificant prayers. Both answers came to me last week. I had to undergo some minor surgery and the surgeon promised to leave me a note to say what had been done and what the result was. The first line that stood out to me when I read the note after I awoke was "benign." She did not even want to see me again unless I had further problems. I was ready to jump off the bed. To me this was the best answer I could get from a doctor and to me it meant a new lease on life and to be able to continue what I so much enjoy, like my reading, writing, crafts and music. 

By now it was 5 pm and I had not eaten or drank anything for 20 hours. Oh, did I ever have a craving for a milkshake to quench my thirst and stop the growling in my stomach. At 5 pm it is extremely busy on Main street in Winnipeg and I did not say anything to my husband when I saw a big M on the left side of the street. He would probably have made a U-turn to please me. I prayed that if the Lord would provide a big M at the right side of Main street I would ask my husband to stop so I could get a milkshake. Would you believe it that when we were almost at the Perimeter, where we had to turn off, there I saw a big M? Yes, it was easy to get there and the milkshake never tasted so good and quieted my stomach until we came to our daughter's home, where supper waited.. 

I thanked the Lord for answering my prayers twice that day. Yes, He answers prayers, great and small.

Time flies

Sometimes we are too busy

It feels like I am driven. It is difficult to explain. Time seems rushing by and my daily schedule is overwhelming. How can I find time to practice my pieces for Community Band or our church orchestra? The concerts will be in a few weeks. My homework is not done yet for the drawing course I am "trying" to take.

Sometimes I overbook a meeting and have to make a choice which one I should attend.

Medical appointments (out of town) for my husband have broken up my routine and today (Wednesday) I am doing laundry, which I normally do Mondays. I even missed sending one of my newspaper articles.

I know what is driving me. I enjoy all the things I am doing and try to squeeze in any many as possible, for as long as the Lord will give me health and strength. Some of the things I am doing now, like the music, my writing and my crafts and volunteering in the care homes, I enjoy tremendously and would not like to have to give up.

However in a few weeks my age will be three quarters of a century and I do not know how much time I have left. The activities I am doing now I could either not afford years ago, or did not have the time because I was raising a family and foster children.

I am convinced that the Lord is in control of my life and could stop me from doing these things at any time, but He knows that whatever I do I want to glorify and honour Him. When I participated in a girlsclub we learned the verse from Colossians 3:17 "And whatever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." Even in a secular situation, like the Community Band, I know that the Christians do influence the atmosphere (I do not hear anymore dirty jokes and swear words).

I just wanted to share with you what is driving me these days and the reason why.

Maybe someone can relate ..........

The Inscribe Fall conference

It is almost two o'clock and I am ready to go. The suite case is packed, the plants have been watered and my little dog is at the neighbour. My birds have also been cleaned, fed and watered and my husband's lunches for five days are waiting in the fridge. Now what do I do? I need to wait two hours before my husband will be home to take me to the bus. I sometimes wonder if I was born early, because wherever I need to go I always like to be there ahead of time. I am always early everywhere I go. Maybe this is a good time to put some of my thoughts on paper. The computer is the last thing that I will shut down. However to stay in touch I bring my little netbook.

I am very thankful that I only have to travel by bus to Saskatoon, approx. six hours from where I live. From there I share a ride with my friend. This will help us both because we can share the cost of the trip and we will have great fellowship together. On Friday morning we plan to leave bright and early so that we can be in time in Wetaskewin. As you can see it is quite an undertaking, but I am looking forward to see some of my friends at the conference and I need to be motivated again. My enthusiasm is at a low at the moment.

However the last few weeks I learned something valuable (we are never too old to learn). I was at a meeting which could be upsetting for me. I found out that as I started to take notes I felt at peace and was prevented from opening my mouth and maybe say something I would regret later. It was an eyeopener, so from now on my notebook will go wherever I go.

After the conference we travel to Edmonton, where Sheri will visit her daughter for a few days and my daughter, who lives in Whitecourt will pick me up and I can spend a few days at her place. I will also see my other daughter, my grand daughters and my sweet little great grand daughters. We might even go swimming I am told. My bathing suit is packed. I am so blessed that I can make this trip and us girls can spend some time together. When I come back the harvest is probable in the bin and my husband will be happy too. He does not mind that I go away to see the children and do some of my own things. That is a blessing.

On Tuesday morning very early my daughter will bring me back to Edmonton and I catch my ride back to Saskatoon, spend the night at my friend's house and catch the bus to go home the next morning.

It will be a packed, but wonderful trip and I wish you all could join me and share my blessings with me.

I am Free!

Yes, I am free indeed. This little phrase keeps buzzing through my head as we drive the highway on our way from Manitoba to Alberta. I keep saying this verse in John 8:36 repeatedly: "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." The Lord Jesus Christ set me free from being a slave to sin, so now I do not need to worry about anything, because He is in control. It seems that since I am getting older, life becomes more worry some. My husband is a good driver and very confident, sometimes a bit over confident, I think. I did come to the point that I was not willing to drive long distances with him any more. We talked it over and prayed about it and came to a sacrificial agreement: we will not drive 1000 km in one day anymore (from Swan River, MB to Edmonton, AB). So we put it through the test last week. I still had to remind myself that I AM FREE on several occasions and ask the Lord to take away my worry. But the glorious result was that every time I prayed He gave me the peace that I needed to enjoy our trip away from home. We went from home to North Battleford, from there to Edmonton, then to Valleyview, back to Whitecourt, back to Edmonton, then to Saskatoon where we attended a conference (including a cruise on the river) and home from there. All this in ten days and we had a wonderful time with family and friends and just being together on the road. God wants us to be free from any worry or oppression so we can enjoy life to the fullest and share with others what God is doing for us.

The last few nights I had some scary dreams. Last night I was sure that a man was standing in the door opening of our bedroom. When I looked again, he was gone. Again I prayed that the Lord would set me free from those strange dreams and I commanded this whatever I saw to get out of our home and disappear into the pit. The same peace that I received when we were travelling came over me again and I had a restful sleep. This morning I praised and glorified God for His faithfulness. It strengthened my faith and it is wonderful to experience this "peace of God which transcends all understanding" (Philippians 4:7).

Blog, blog and more blog. Why did I not get out of bed last night and wrote down what was on my mind. The urge was there, but then I was too lazy to get up. Sometimes I think that I should not be writing anymore. I am not producing any books or win any prizes at contests.
Then someone will come up to me and tell me that she enjoyed my little article in the local paper. I guess we all need encouragement at times and I know that eventually I will be driven to write again. This blog is all about "I", but it is good sometimes to spill the beans and let the fingers write what is flowing out of one's heart. This is my contribution for to-day. It feels good to have written it down and I hope someone will read it and understand my feelings.