Power of prayer

Praying for someone and not telling them is like clapping with one hand. I used to have that saying on our refrigerator. I really do not know what happened to it. But I do agree with it.

I remember when Shaun was killed and I was not capable of praying (I know that sounds strange to some of you and I hope you never have to go through a time like that) many people shared that they were praying for us. I knew that, I could feel it, that is why we survived that awful experience, because of the prayers of others... thank you. I remember a women telling me I would know when people stopped praying. (she has 2 children awaiting her arrival in heaven) I don't remember when that happened but I do know it did. Even thought I know people pray for me now I do not feel it like I did then

I have just finished reading the book 90 minutes in heaven by Don Piper. WOW what an amazing life he has had. Not an easy life, by any means though. He was dead for 90 minutes after a car accident, a preacher was stopped in the traffic from the accident and was lead by God to pray for Don even though he was already dead-- The preacher even felt for a pulse and there was none. But he obeyed Gods prompting and spent time praying like never before, singing and praying. Then it happened as Don was about to walk through the gates of heaven, he was a part of the singing in heaven and the next thing he knew he was singing what a Friend we have in Jesus with the pastor who had been praying for him.. WOW, I had to reread that part of the book a couple times because it is so awesome. You should at least try to read the first 50 or so pages of that book. I was imagining Shauns (and mine) welcome to that HOLY place.

I know that I tell people that I pray for them a lot. Because I know what it means to me to KNOW people are praying for me. SO when I tell you that I am praying for you. KNOW that it it happening!!

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.

Jo­seph M. Scriv­en, 1855. Scriv­en wrote this hymn to com­fort his mo­ther, who was across the sea from him in Ire­land. It was orig­in­al­ly pub­lished anon­y­mous­ly, and Scriv­en did not re­ceive full cred­it for al­most 30 years

Clap with both hand

To make you laugh and to make you think

Brooke thought my last blog was really lame-- so I will try this to see if it is better-- I love you Brooke (note end of my blog)

Did I read that sign right?
TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW

In a Laundromat:
AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT

In a London department store:
BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS

In an office:
WILL THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP-LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE RETURN IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN

In an office:
AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAINING BOARD

Notice in health food shop window:
CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS

Spotted in a safari park (I sure hope so)
ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR

Seen during a conference:
FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN’T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAYCARE ON THE FIRST FLOOR

Notice in a farmers field:
THE FARMERS ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES

Message on a leaflet:
IF YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET LESSONS

On a repair shop door:
WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING (please knock hard on the door - -the bell doesn’t work)


A group of children, aged four through eight, were asked to answer the question: "What does love mean?" Some of the answers are amusing. Some are rather earthy. Others show a wisdom far beyond their years. Some of the answers were:

When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toe nails any more. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth. (is that awesome or what!)

Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and
they go out and smell each other. :-)

Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your french fries without making them give you any of theirs.

Love is when someone hurts you. And you get so mad but you don't yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings.

Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.

Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.

Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.
(WOW I like that one)

When you tell someone something bad about yourself and you're scared they won't love you any more. But then you get surprised because not only do they still love you, they love you even more. (So True)

There are two kinds of love: Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them.

Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.

Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.. (Ahhhh)

Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.

Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.

Valentine's cards say stuff on them that we'd like to say ourselves, but we wouldn't be caught dead saying.

When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.

Love is when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.

You really shouldn't say I love you unless you mean it. But if you mean
it, you should say it a lot. People forget. ( I LOVE YOU!!)

For GOD so LOVED the world that he GAVE his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Washers, microwaves, TVs and toster ovens OH MY!!

So the last couple weeks Dave has been having trouble turning on the TV, It just won't turn on, but when it finally does it seems to work OK. Then on Monday morning I was in the kitchen, Brooke was in her room, the dog was even in our room -- The TV turned itself on in the living room--I kid you not this really happened. Hasn't happened since-but it did. It reminded me of a couple years back, our microwave would turn itself on when ever-- I woke up once in the middle of the night and the microwave was running. So we bought a new microwave, the old one was only about 20 years old. That is about how old the TV is, we really don't remember where or when we got it-- But it is a GE and the salesman (SHAUN, LOVE THE SPELLING) said they (GE) haven't made TVs for about 18 years. So we did it, we bought a new TV.

In Sunday school Sunday we were talking about needs and wants we shared about looking at TVs (we actually were going to get one for each other for Christmas-- but then the washer broke and we bought a new washer, this one had only lasted 6 years the washer before we had for 20!) We even had a toaster oven that we had received for a wedding gift that lasted us for 25 years, we bought a new one that lasted 14 months.-- Anyway we had been looking at TVs for a while knowing that we would soon be in the market for one. We know that having a TV is not a need, but we have been praying about it. (I wonder what God thinks when we pray for stuff?? but we feel he provided us with this one!) We wanted a TV and now we have one--It is crazy we set up housekeeping almost 28 years ago when we got married, Now slowly appliance by appliance we are getting new things, (that we know will not last like the old stuff!) not because we just want new stuff, but because we have worn the old out. (I never did figure out how to turn the old TV on properly through the VCR). It just amazes me the different things that we have purchased. When we first got married very few people had microwaves, I thought we would never get one because we had both lived without one all our lives and it was not a necessity (of course as young married people we didn't have much extra money either. ) We didn't get a microwave until several years in to our marriage--actually we had moved to Ohio and bought it with a Christmas gift certificate probably about in 1987--then there was the computer, we had gotten a few used ones and used them until they were unusable, then we even got the internet. When I think about all the technology we have purchased since Shaun died I am amazed. We thought new microwaves, computers, the internet and big screen TVs were nothing we would ever have. --Now we don't have a toaster oven--But I miss it, we will probably get another one one of these days. But for now I will enjoy our new TV. Thank you Jesus!!

GOLD

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.
An angel hears his plea and appears to him, "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you."
The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.
The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.
Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. Seeing the suitcase Peter says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"
But the man explains to him that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough,. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through."
Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement?!?!" (Revelation 21:21)

Happy New year Have a BLESSED 2008

Well here it is 2008, As I look to the year ahead I wonder what will happen. We have a few things that our family is looking forward to doing/celebrating, Things we hope will come to pass. Dave is hoping to go to Mexico on a mission trip. Caleb is planning on graduating from Hesston College in May, and working someplace for 10 weeks this summer helping people somewhere. Brooke is planning on graduating form High School May 25, working at camp Luz this summer and attending Bluffton in the fall. I plan to support my wonderful family on all of the exciting things they have going on in there lives. WOW 2008. The year my baby girl will graduate. Time just seems to march on. We are as the song says a flower quickly fading, a vapor in the wind, But we who love Jesus belong to him, he will see us through all that lies ahead in 2008.
Who will have their life changed by death, cancer, an accident, or other illness, Who will be left behind as loved ones move on to heaven. The pain of being left behind when your child dies in immense.

On Christmas eve a senior at one of our local High schools was killed in a car accident. It really bothers me how many people came up to me and said something about how hard this must be on me (and my family) to hear and have a slight connection to this young persons death. We just celebrated our 10th Christmas with Shaun in heaven...10! (It is not any harder on us today than any other day, we think about Shaun all the time, we do not need to hear of another tragedy to rememebr Shaun.)This family survived their first Christmas with their daughter in heaven. No, time does not heal the wounded heart, but you do learn to live with it. When I learn that a young person is killed in a car accident It does bring up hurt that we have learned to live with. Our hearts are so heavy for this family. The pain is so intense. They wonder if they will survive the day, they cannot even look to the future at this point. They are in indescribable pain. Emotional pain I pray I will never have to go through again. Please pray for them. If they are like we were, they are not capable of praying so we need to intercede for them. Pray that they will recognize the Holy Spirit and that he will comfort them as they need comforted. You see we have survived several years with out Shaun, I finally felt like celebrating Christmas this year, not just surviving. Learning to adjust to someone you love living with Jesus is VERY HARD. You are not sad for them because you know they are with Jesus, you are sad for you because they have left a huge gaping hole in your heart and life.

I wish people wouldn't only remember Shaun when someone else has a tragedy in their lives. I also wish people would ask us what can they do to help this family. I wish that when people saw our family they would see a family who survived a terrible tragedy, and are now living again. (There is a big difference between survivng and living) A family that has grown closer to Jesus, and let Him hold them when they needed to be held. Please don't feel sorry for us any more, use us and our experience to find out ways you could possibly help someone suffering. I could go on... maybe someday I will write a book about this, But most Christians failed at supporting us. Or they just didn't care.

I didn't intend to got there with this blog, I was just going to look ahead and wonder what will happen this year that we plan, and what will happen that we do not plan. No matter what remember, Jesus loves you He will never let you go. So don't let go of Him in 2008.

A special thank you to Brooke for posting a more current picture of me. She chose one of me and my Mom. My mom is great, I hope I am like her when I am 80, or I am in heaven!!