Prayer & Faith

Physician's Prayer by Nathan Greene

My husband & I (and several others who we have engaged in dialogue) have recently been discussing prayer & faith. I think especially since we are going into medical missions & therefore will continually deal with disease, we are both trying to figure out where & what faith looks like in prayer.

My thoughts about this right now are rather scattered & I would love to hear what you guys all think -

What is the role of faith in prayer? Do we pray "Lord, if it be your will, heal this person"? Or rather "Lord, let this person be healed in the name of Jesus"?

What if they are not? Lack of faith? A misunderstanding of God's will?

Please share in our conversation. We would love to hear your thoughts.

Lost & Found....

Unbelievable.

This showed up today...

Yep, my wallet.

After all of that dumpster diving & the what-not, it was found a week later at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. And they sent it UPS to my house (obviously it was in a box & not just in the mailbox).

But it was all there.

Cash.

Cards.

Receipts.

And, most importantly, my frequent drinker card for the cafe at my church....*whew* (I have to admit I was mourning that loss because I had a free drink coming to me!! O the pain, the sorrow, the grief).

I am a Cracker Barrel fan for life. And a fan of whoever found it. Whoever you are, thank you, thank you, thank you.

In other news, check out what I did:

Cut those letters out free hand & I am pretty proud of my crafty-ness.

Also, I've been doing quite a bit of road-tripping lately, chasing my love all over the country as he goes & visits potential residencies and the etc.

On the way home from one of these I snapped a few pics of the sunset. Thought I would share:

Forgive the fuzziness. We won't discuss the speed I was going, or that I was driving as I took these, or that I might have also been trying to talk on my cell phone.

I leave you with this Old Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Just a little high

Well friends...it's been a little while since I blogged. Sorry about that....it's been a rough week.

First, I threw my wallet away. Not on purpose, of course.
So, I went dumpster diving. Behind McDonalds. In a cute shirt & jeans.

But no luck...

This guy isn't me, but it could have been...what an adventure.

Then, I got a kidney stone. Third one in a year. Wowzers. Actually, "got" is the incorrect tense. I have one currently as I am writing. And I am a little high on some pretty strong pain meds, along with some anti-nausea & antibiotics.

Unless....

In Our Younger Years

Because I think you need to meet the Joel & I that we first met.....introducing us in 3rd grade.

Here is my adorable husband as an 8-year old.

And here I am! This is actually right before I got glasses

that rivaled Joel's in coolness-quotient.

Hmmm....I wonder what our kids are going to look like. Probably a bunch of dark-hair, dark-eyed cuties. Probably.

And here we are a few years ago -- I love this picture of us.

They laugh at the days to come.

(just a slight modification of the verse, right?)

Most of you know the story that Joel & I met in 3rd grade in Kenya while his parents were studying Kiswahili there during that year....and then we met again in a bookstore 16 years later...

For three years after we met we didn't interact, weren't friends. We graduated from college & reconnected through the missions program at our alma mater. 9 months after we started dating we were standing at an altar.

What a glorious story.

A story only One author could write.

And He is still writing it....

I am not big enough

Thanks to everyone who has interacted with me on the questions I had during my last post...I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts. All of you have been encouraging and challenging my heart.

I think that this is the conclusion I have come to as I have thought & prayed about these and other questions:

"I am not big enough"

I am not strong enough, brave enough....

I think that God has so kindly but surely exposed a thought in my heart that was deep & unknown. I have thought I could hack the missions field because I am a MK (missionary kid). A few months ago I was reading a story about some missionaries serving in Chad.

Chad.

Like the really desolate place in Africa.

That has deserts.

And the female missionaries have to wear skirts and head coverings.

I remember thinking "there is no way I could hack that".

And the truth is that I can't. I need Jesus. I need the Loving & Good Shepherd of my heart to lead me there & take care of me.

It's a simple thought, but one that is shaking me to the core.

I must decrease, but He must increase.