Mom's Empty Chair

A woman's daughter had asked the local minister

to come and pray with her mother.

When the minister arrived,

he found the woman lying in bed with her head

propped up on two pillows.

An empty chair sat beside her bed.

The minister assumed that the woman

had been informed of his visit...

'I guess you were expecting me, he said.

'No, who are you?' said the mother.

The minister told her his name and then remarked,

'I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew

I was going to show up..'

'Oh yeah, the chair,' said the bedridden woman

'Would you mind closing the door?'

Puzzled, the minister shut the door.

'I have never told anyone this,

not even my daughter,' said the woman.

'But all of my life I have never

known how to pray.

At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer,

but it went right over my head...'

I abandoned any attempt at prayer,'

the old woman continued, '

until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me,

' Prayer is just a simple matter

of having a conversation with Jesus.

Here is what I suggest..

'Sit down in a chair;

place an empty chair in front of you,

and in faith see Jesus on the chair.

It's not spooky because he promised,

'I will be with you always'..

'Then just speak to him in the same way

you're doing with me right now...'

'So, I tried it and I've liked it so much

that I do it a couple of hours every day.

I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking

to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown

or send me off to the funny farm.'

The minister was deeply moved by the story and

encouraged the old woman to continue on the journey.

Then he prayed with her, anointed her with oil,

and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called

to tell the minister that her mama

had died that afternoon.

Did she die in peace?' he asked.

Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock,

she called me over to her bedside,

told me she loved me and kissed me on the cheek.

When I got back from the store an hour later,

I found her .

But there was something strange about her death.

Apparently, just before Mom died,

she leaned over and rested her head on the chair

beside the bed. What do you make of that?'

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,

'I wish we could all go like that.' 

In Everything Give Thanks

First and far most I want to thank you Lord for answering everyone's prayers. I noticed through out the day that I no longer have the bleeding. However I do intend to keep things at a slow pace until Monday when I can go back to the gym!

Thank you everyone for all your prayers! I believe in the power of prayer that's for sure. We all should. Lord teach me to pray (Luke 11:1).

I felt great this am. Even did some yard work relieving some stress. Man it felt good! Don't worry it was no where near strenuous. All I did was light some leaves on fire. We did quite a bit of house work. My (real) stress relief; a hair cut!

So how do I feel? Well I don't have morning sickness but I do have afternoon, evening, and night sickness. Yep all but "morning sickness". I didn't get a nap in today so I feel sleepy and fat and I'm not even showing yet.

The best news today! The hubby will be home tomorrow night!!! Thank you Lord for keeping him safe while he was away. As of now that's all folks!

A converstaion with God...

A minister passing through his church
in the middle of the day,
decided to pause by the altar
and see who had come to pray.

Just then the back door opened,
a man came down the aisle.
The minister frowned as he saw
the man hadn't shaved in quite a while.
His shirt was kinda shabby
and his coat was worn and frayed.
The man knelt, he bowed his head,
then rose and walked away..

In the days that followed,
each noon time came this chap.
Each time he knelt just for a moment,
a lunch pail in his lap..

Well, the minister's suspicions grew,
with robbery a main fear.
He decided to stop the man and ask him,
'What are you doing here?'

The old man said, he worked down the road.
Lunch was half an hour.
Lunchtime was his prayer time,
for finding strength and power.

'I stay only moments, see,
because the factory is so far away;
as I kneel here talking to the Lord,
this is kinda
what I say:

'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,
BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY.'

The minister feeling foolish,
told Jim, that was fine.
He told the man he was welcome
to come and pray just anytime

Time to go, Jim smiled, said 'Thanks.'
He hurried to the door.
The minister knelt at the altar,
he'd never done it before.

His cold heart melted, warmed with love,
and met with Jesus there.
As the tears flowed, in his heart,
he repeated old Jim's prayer:

'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,
BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY.'

Past noon one day, the minister noticed
that old Jim hadn't come.
As more days passed without Jim,
he began to worry some.

At the factory, he asked about him,
learning he was ill.
The hospital staff was worried,
But he'd given them a thrill.

The week that Jim was with them,
Brought changes in the ward.
His smiles, a joy contagious.
Changed people, were his reward.

The head nurse couldn't understand
why Jim was so glad,
when no flowers, calls or cards came, Not a visitor he had.

The minister stayed by his bed,
He voiced the nurse's concern:
No friends came to show they cared..
He had nowhere to turn.

Looking surprised, old Jim spoke
up and with a winsome smile;
'the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know,
that He's in here all the while

Everyday at noon He's here,
a dear friend of mine, you see,
He sits right down, takes my hand,
Leans over and says to me:
'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM,
HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN.
ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY,
I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY, AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN TODAY.'

It's all so bitter sweet..

Hello everyone!

My husband and I are thrilled to announce that he has been promoted! Mike scored so high on his exam that we will be seeing it in our income next payday! I am very proud of him and all his accomplishments. I must say, boy did our family sacrifice the time for this. It all paid off!

The other news. He has received hard cut orders and has been told that he start to get everything in order as of yesterday. Mike will be deploying to Afghanistan from Jan-Sept. We were told that he will be put in the safest zone possible. I was thrilled to hear that! I still know that either way there is a risk.

I only ask that everyone pray for a hedge of protection for my husband. The kids and I feel that the Lord has plans and it is out of our control. We are faithful and whatever is sent our way we can handle. Perhaps my husband is going to plant a seed in these people. Who knows. But what I do know is that all will be well because our God is a good God!

In the meantime; we will remain in Milton. This weekend we will be moving into a 3bd 2 bath off Avalon. He felt safer having us in a home. Thank you all for the upcoming prayers!

I trust you Lord.

I keep saying this as it is imprinted in my head. I thought I'd share.

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”. Matthew 18: 19-20(NKJV)