prayer
He is near
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Like many, I can’t seem to pull myself away from the television wanting to know all there is about the nightmare being played out in a small town much like the one I grew-up in. Many of the shootings that have played out since Columbine (that’s the one that I remember most vividly as the beginning of this horrific type of crime) have rattled my heart. But this one seems to have hit me harder than most.
I find myself praying for them—the parents, the children, the first responders, the community and town as whole, everyone affected—multiple times a day. Tears often follow.
Perhaps it is the fact that I am a mom now to a sweet little boy of my own and I am always thinking of how to protect him.
Perhaps it is the fact that we are considering what small town we should move to from the big city to provide a better place to raise our children.
Perhaps it is because I grew-up in a small Connecticut town just a few miles from Newtown, similarly small and quaint.
Perhaps it is because this tragedy reminds me of the fear that I wrestle with on an ongoing basis: The knowledge that no matter what I do to try to protect my child I am limited.
Perhaps it is because no matter how hard it is to admit, evil does exist. And it comes in many forms.
My heart breaks for the parents of the children, the families of the teachers and the family of the killer. All are victims in this senseless tragedy and my human heart and mind cannot grasp what they must be feeling and thinking right now.
It’s situations like this when I need to turn to His word to know the Truth in the matter. If not, my emotions will tell me what to think and what to believe. And I know that those emotions too, can come from a sinful place, an evil place. But His word is Truth and He tells us He will never leave us nor forsake us. Sometimes that means taking us to Heaven earlier than we might think is right. He tells us that His plans are not to harm us but to prosper us. But He is also clear that we have a real Enemy who is out to steal, kill and destroy and that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,against the powersof this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Today and in the days to come I will continue to pray for these families and the Newtown community. I cannot imagine the pain and gut-wrenching sorrow they are feeling. I hope I never have to, I hope no one else ever has too. But I do know a Healer and Comforter who promises to be near to the broken hearted and to heal the afflicted.
May His peace surround you today and His love abound as He comforts and guides you through this horrific tragedy. May His healing hands embrace each and every heart and bring an everlasting calm to your souls.
Read MoreMiraculous Prayer
The doctor walked into my hospital room and said,
“You must be getting help from somewhere else because I can’t believe you are still here.”
I smiled big, “we have an incredible church family praying for us as well as all our friends and family. God’s taking care of us.”
“That must be the case as I really didn’t think I would still see you here.”
Have you ever been on the receiving end of what appears to be miraculous prayers?
I have been, but not quite like this. I’ve watched Him orchestrate my life in ways that I never thought possible. But never have I seen the answers come so quickly nor in such a way that it contradicts science. But we are blessed to say that is where we find ourselves now.
The doctors have grown more candid in their descriptions of the events that occurred a week and a half to two weeks ago. Literally using terms like “scary” {no joke}.
And yet, tomorrow marks 31 weeks. Truly no one, except Mr. Z, thought we would make it to this point. We all hoped we would, including the nurses and the doctors, but I don’t think any of us really believed the little one and I would.
But the Bible tells us in the book of James that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. We are blessed to testify that this is the TRUTH and truly, God is not a respecter of persons and you cannot earn His response.
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Lord knows we are not perfect; we have not done everything “right;” and, we are not some kind of holy couple. We are simply Lindsey and Peter who have been blessed with a church family that believes 110 percent in the power of prayer, family and friends who do as well and a God who delights in answering the prayers of His children.
We don’t know how long our little one will stay put, but we do know that making it this far is a miracle in itself and we have grateful hearts.
So thank you to all who have been praying and please do not stop ;-) We know God is in control and His mighty hand is on us. We are forever grateful.
Read More5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We Request Your Prayers
I sent this email to a bunch of our family members {and I apologize now to any I might have missed, my brain is a little foggy} and thought it best to share it here as well. We covet your prayers right now as we trust our faithful and loving God with our lives and our little Baby Z.
Hi Family :-)
I think many of you have heard already but Peter and I wanted to let you all know what’s going on with us and Baby Z and the detour we’ve had to take as we would appreciate all the prayers in the world right now. We were admitted to the hospital yesterday around noon as I was dilated 3 cm and having contractions. We spent the next 24 hours trying to subdue the contractions and prevent any more dilating.
I continued to dilate to 4 cm but praise God, they were able to keep me from dilating anymore and I am now officially stabilized. My doctors have determined that the best course of action is for me to remain in the hospital on bed rest until our little one arrives. There is no way to predict when the baby will come, we have to simply take each day at a time.
Thankfully, God has kept our little one happy and healthy. S/he is moving around quite a bit and has a super strong {and beautifully sounding} heartbeat. We just need my body to stop thinking it’s time for us to meet this little one face to face. I’m at 29 weeks and 2 days and we would like to be full term of course, but we’ll settle for 34/35 as that’s when the lungs are in best shape.
So we ask you all to please keep us in your prayers. As you may have already concluded, it is also tax season, not the ideal time for a child to be born to an accountant ;-) But truly, we are trusting God in all of this. We have such a peace and trust in His will and His perfect plan. We know He loves this baby even more than we do {thought I must admit it is quite hard for me to grasp that!} and will do what is best for us and for the little one inside of me.
Thank you for all your love and support. As you guys know, our faith brought us to the altar {after a bit of drama :-)} and as we have seen the power of prayer bring our lives together we know He will use prayer to bring us all through this.
Love you all!
Lindsey & Peter
Read MoreGod Answered
This afternoon the Lord brought one of His own home to Himself. From Christen’s husband Joe just a few minutes ago:
The Lord took Christen home to be with Him today. The pressure that was in her brain was too great for the blood to get to her brain stem. I want to thank all of you for praying and want to encourage you not to lose heart and to know that the Lord will receive great glory from this. Please continue to pray for my kids, Audrey & Hudson, as well as for me during this time. For those that may want to come to the hospital, we are keeping it to just family at this point. Funeral service details will follow. I love you all. Thank you for your service in prayer and love.
Please continue to keep this precious family in your prayers. Our hearts are breaking for them right now but we trust in out Father and know He will receive glory through this loss.
Read MoreThe Block: URGENT Prayer Request
{Re-posted from The Block for today}
Friends:
Many of you are friends with one of the three of us that write in this space on Facebook. But for those of you that are not who may check your reader before you check your Facebook account, I write directly to you today, this morning in fact, with an urgent prayer request.
A dear friend of all three of ours has been sick for some time with intense migraines, vertigo and sporadic hearing loss. Over the Christmas holiday she became quite ill with flu-like symptoms. The result of that ended up being intense fatigue with long bouts of sleep and less time awake.
When they were able to have an MRI taken the doctors found an inoperable tumor in the middle of her brain. Immediately they prepped her for a biopsy to help determine the proper course of treatment. I am unclear of every little detail, but the long story short is there is now significant brain swelling and the neuro-surgeon and neuro-oncologist do not see an adequate treatment plan.
My husband and I were out of town this weekend and when we were flying back this is the update Joe, Christen’s husband, sent out:
“Tough day here at the hospital. The drain they put in did what it was supposed to do (drain fluid) but did not get the results desired (relieved pressure). After weighing whether or not to do major surgery, the doctors and I determined that there was no further course of action that could realistically & beneficially be taken. We are now waiting for either the Lord to work a miracle or for Him to take her home. God bless you all in your prayers.”
This is our prayer. That our God, who is has the power to raise people from their sick beds and heal as if nothing ever happened would perform a miracle at this time. Christen has an amazing husband and two beautiful children (5 and 3 years old).
Please pray for a miracle. All I can keep saying, believing and praying is NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR OUR GOD!
And the song, Our God Is Greater keeps running through my head, as well as Healer. Please pray. The Bible says that the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous availeth much! And that is the TRUTH.
Last night my husband I were able to gather with a few to pray for her and her family. We learned that many have been praying Psalm 18 over her. I have included it at the end of this post. Will you join us? I will come back to this space as soon as I can to update you on the status of this sweet sister in Christ when I know anything. Thank you for storming heaven with us.
The Ringle Family
PSALM 18
1 I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death entangled me;
floods of destruction swept over me.
5 The grave[a] wrapped its ropes around me;
death laid a trap in my path.
6 But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.
8 Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.
9 He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
10 Mounted on a mighty angelic being,[b] he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.
12 Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him
and rained down hail and burning coals.[c]
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
his lightning flashed, and they were greatly confused.
15 Then at your command, O Lord,
at the blast of your breath,
the bottom of the sea could be seen,
and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.
16 He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
but the Lord supported me.
19 He led me to a place of safety;
he rescued me because he delights in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me for doing right;
he restored me because of my innocence.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
22 I have followed all his regulations;
I have never abandoned his decrees.
23 I am blameless before God;
I have kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord rewarded me for doing right.
He has seen my innocence.
25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
26 To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.
27 You rescue the humble,
but you humiliate the proud.
28 You light a lamp for me.
The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.
30 God’s way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
31 For who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is a solid rock?
32 God arms me with strength,
and he makes my way perfect.
33 He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.
35 You have given me your shield of victory.
Your right hand supports me;
your help has made me great.
36 You have made a wide path for my feet
to keep them from slipping.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them;
I did not stop until they were conquered.
38 I struck them down so they could not get up;
they fell beneath my feet.
39 You have armed me with strength for the battle;
you have subdued my enemies under my feet.
40 You placed my foot on their necks.
I have destroyed all who hated me.
41 They called for help, but no one came to their rescue.
They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.
42 I ground them as fine as dust in the wind.
I swept them into the gutter like dirt.
43 You gave me victory over my accusers.
You appointed me ruler over nations;
people I don’t even know now serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they submit;
foreign nations cringe before me.
45 They all lose their courage
and come trembling from their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!
47 He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me
48 and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.
49 For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.
50 You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.
Water for Kenya
morenewmath.com via pinterest
We had a streak of extremely hot and humid temps in Chicago this summer but it seems those days might be behind us. Thankfully the weather hasn’t seemed to affect my training runs like I thought it might. Frankly, I’ve found my heart to be much more of an obstacle during this training than any outside factors.
I’ve had my fair share of painful blisters and seem to have a weekly battle with my water belt, but my heart still seems to be the biggest hindrance. For some reason I’ve had a hard time getting the commitment I have made from my head down to that small but powerful organ in the middle of my chest.
Today on my run, in between spurts of conversations with my Team World Vision running buddies, I tried to think of things that might inspire me to be fully heart-committed as well. One of the first thoughts that came to mind is my mom. She had her fourth child at 32 and I’m pretty sure that childbearing and child rearing are much more difficult than training for a marathon. If she, at 32 could continue to be committed to another child, certainly I can be committed to a fourth marathon.
And then of course my mind wandered to the mother in Kenya who can’t feed her children right now nor simply supply them with clean drinking water. And I wish I could say the inspiration came flooding into my heart like those epic scenes in movies when the hero finally recognizes he is a part of something greater than himself. It wasn’t like that. Instead I just asked God to burden my heart for the people of Kenya that desperately need the water well we are helping to raise funds for.
As the end of today’s run was approaching I was exhausted. At 14.8 of the 15-miles I was ready to stop and walk. My knees ached and my hips hurt. I could feel the hotspots that were most likely the beginnings of more blisters on my toes like coals in my socks. But I had committed earlier in the run that I was not going to walk {not that there’s anything wrong with walking, it’s just I knew if I began walking I was giving up}. But I also knew something had to change.
I began to pray and ask the Lord for strength. I quickly realized in my spirit that this was the wrong prayer and began to pray for a burden. “Lord, burden my heart for the mothers and children and families that need this water so desperately. Lord, give me the heavenly perspective of this situation, your heart, your eyes and your love for these children of yours stuck in a situation they did not chose but cannot leave.”
And I began to run hard. For the last .2 miles I took off with long strides and purposeful prayers.
I finished my run well today and I’m thankful for the strength of the Lord to complete the run but my prayer is still the same, “Lord, burden my heart for this nation and it’s people.”
I learned that the money our Chicago team raises, if we meet our goals, could provide water for 20,000 people. That is a lot of people. I can’t imagine not being able to place my cup under the faucet for a glass of cold water. I can’t imagine looking at my child’s face and only being able to give them the muddy waters that run through the trickle of a stream that used to be a river. I can’t imagine being the mother who doesn’t even have the stream to dip from and longs for that muddy water because at least then she had something to give her child.
It is such a desperate situation in the horn of Africa right now, but I will continue to believe that my God is bigger than the circumstances. Please join me in praying for the people of Kenya and for God’s miraculous hand to move on that nation.
Read More