Wow Lord, the end of November – and the end of six months of prayer journaling!!  Looking back over this month I see I have only missed one day in the whole month!  I’m learning lots, growing…and I don’t know whether it’s me or not (in fact it’s probably not me at all but you!) but I really do feel as though I am handling things in a calmer way than I used to before I started this prayer journal.  Thank you for the way you have blessed me over this past six months.

It would be interesting to know how many of us that started off prayer journaling on Daniel’s recommendation that are still going.  I wonder if I’m the only one or not?  Speaking of which, Daniel was very good again yesterday.  He talked about several things out of John 6.  First and foremost was the ongoing lesson that the way in which you lived your life was through dependence on and obedience to the Father.  Even the food to feed the five thousand only came after you had prayed and given thanks.  Your words constantly refer not to your own power, influence and motivation but to that of the Father.

Re-reading the passage this morning I think the thing that struck me most was that even from this early point you always had your eye on the end game – and were dedicated to seeing it through unwaveringly.  Your relationship with Judas Iscariot is also shown in this chapter – and seems to me so full of grace.  To treat someone whose heart was not entirely with you – and who would ultimately betray you – with such inclusiveness is to me entirely amazing.

It’s that brother of mine’s birthday today.  It’s pretty hard to know how to pray for him but, though he scarcely deserves it, I pray you would bless James today, Lord.  May I offer to him even a fraction of the grace you extend to all sinners.  Birthday dinner tonight, so I had better get a move on.  I pray we would have an uneventful family time tonight – and that I would manage the extra dynamic of having Linley here as well.  Bless her as she gets out there job-hunting today.

I pray all in the mighty name of Jesus…Amen

Morning Lord.   Here we are, Sunday morning, and I thought (as usual) that I’d have a quick prayer session before getting under way for the day.  I must confess first and foremost to feeling a bit bleary-eyed this morning on account of the late night last night…but it was a good evening…more or less.  What with Linley’s complete lack of finances, dire unemployment and desertion-by-last-boyfriend, the collapse of Caroline’s cruisy life, and my on-and-off motherhood issues we certainly weren’t the most effervescent band ever assembled – but in a weird way it was more like old times with all of us being able to share, give advice and just be there for one another.  It’s hard work being real with people whose lives have all the ‘i’s’ dotted and the ‘t’s’ crossed, believe me.  At least messy evens the playing field.

Anyway, that’s not to say I take pleasure in anyone’s pain.  I guess the most concerning thing of all was hearing how much Caroline and Logan have been fighting – and not just about Christian, but about a whole raft of things.  They’ve always been such a dream couple – gorgeous, classy, upwardly mobile – that I assumed they had the substance to get through anything.  It makes me feel quite useless so I pray, Lord, that you would provide the substance they lack to help them endure.  Some things cannot be gotten over, but they can be gotten through, I think.

Anyway, I’ve encouraged Caroline to try and come to church today and that I’ll help out with the kids if need be.  I suggested to Linley that she could come too, but she looked at me as though I’d suggested she drink a pint of arsenic for the good of her health.   Oh well, one battle at a time.

Be with us at church today, Lord, and bless Daniel as he brings your message to us…in Jesus’ name…Amen

Okay, Lord, just when I was thinking that things couldn’t get too much more frantic what with Linley staying, trouble with Nathan, Caroline up to her eyeballs in disaster not to mention any other number of things, then yesterday afternoon happened.  When I turned up at school to find no sign of Madison whatsoever and Emily innocently saying she had no idea where Madison had gone, I immediately assumed the worst – that Tony had turned up and stolen her away.  All on account of the fact that I couldn’t get a park within a million miles of the school and had to drag a reluctant, tired, capricious Nathan along so slowly that we were late.

Of course when it turned out that Madison had taken herself off to her mother’s work as she did not want to come to our house again because Emily was mean, I didn’t know whether to be relieved or mortified.  I mean it was good that Madison turned up safe and well (with only a score more grey hairs for me) and that Tony was nowhere in sight, but it hardly reflects well on our family – not on me for being late or for not sorting Emily out sooner, nor on Emily for being an uncharitable, spoilt little wretch.  Sigh.

Anyway, Emily is officially grounded for the next week – which, for this weekend, means we are all grounded since her having to stay home means so do we.  And since grounding is hardly a significant punishment for a seven year old I have also banned television for a week as well.  Not only that, she is going to have to withstand several lectures from me – right after I work out what on earth to say to her that is.

It has also raised the question about the appropriateness of Madison coming every day after school – so Jess and I have agreed to take some time to think about this issue and see what is best.

Then I’m having a break.  Linley and I have decided to take Caroline out tonight for a catch-up – as long as Logan agrees.  This relationship stuff is hard work, Lord, but I pray you would supply all I need in this regard according to your will.

I pray all in the name of Jesus…Amen

Morning Lord.  I’m hiding in the bathroom so I can spend some time with you since Linley looks as though she entrenched here today and keeps wanting to chat.  Yesterday’s meeting with the employment consultant was not the happy event she had pictured.  He painted such a bleak picture of the economy and the unemployment situation that she’s now thoroughly depressed – and I appear to be the Prozac.

I was hoping for a little quiet time today to be able to process the things Miss Hollis told me at the meeting yesterday.  Thankfully the children behaved themselves while we met, and thankfully the news was not as dire as I pictured.  Emily is still doing well academically and is not about to be expelled.  However, Miss Hollis is concerned that Emily is being unnecessarily distracted by friendship issues, particularly in relation to Madison.

According to Miss Hollis (Educational Goddess), Emily is being teased about her friendship with Madison, and how, since Madison comes to our house every day after school they must be lesbians and in love (crickey!) and how our house must stink because Madison stinks etc. etc.  Miss Hollis said that Emily is starting to be deliberately mean to Madison by making disparaging comments, say if Madison makes a mistake in class, and although Miss Hollis understands that it is a very difficult situation, and that Emily is just trying to fit in with Brittany and some of the other so-called cool girls, she would appreciate my intervention in the situation…blah, blah.

Of course I wasn’t completely oblivious to the fact that there were problems (the zoo trip showed me that if nothing else) but the two girls seem to be getting on reasonably well at home.  This makes me wonder what is worse – the fact that Emily is, with malice aforethought, being mean to a long time friend, or the fact that she can be two totally different people – one at home and one at school.  If she’s able to dissemble like that already, think what she might be like by teenage years.  It makes Libby’s teaching yesterday about ways of channelling our children’s strengths and weaknesses so much more pertinent I think.

Anyway, as I always, I pray for the wisdom to know how to handle this.  I had better go before Linley starts asking pointed questions about my bathroom habits.

In Jesus’ name…Amen

Morning Lord.  Well, Linley has just taken herself off to see an employment consultant, dressed to the nines and wearing so much perfume I feel as though I’ll be smelling it in the house until Christmas (which is less than a month away now!).  She said she doesn’t know what time she’ll be back so it looks as though I’ll be fresh out of luck on the babysitting front this afternoon.  If worse comes to worst I’ll just have to get the girls to supervise Nathan on the playground and suggest to Miss Hollis we sit somewhere where I can see what they’re up to.  Luckily there haven’t been any more ‘Tony’ sightings so I guess Nathan is the bigger concern of the two of them.

Last night was a bit tense with Linley moving in.  In spite of my advice that she try and find somewhere to store the majority of her gear, she still turned up with more stuff than your average department store.  In the end Andrew shifted both of our cars out of the garage so she could put most of it in there – something that did not best please him.  In that respect he has way too much of William’s blood flowing through his veins in that William practically wipes his car down when he brings it home (rain or shine) and the last time his car spent a night outdoors was when it was at the caryard pre-purchase.

Anyway, hopefully it won’t be for long…I pray it won’t be for long!

Bible Study this afternoon – this will at least keep my mind occupied before this afternoon’s meeting.  I can’t imagine what it’s all about – I hope Emily’s not about to get expelled!

Be with all our little family today, I pray.  Amen

D day, Lord.  After having survived the rigours of the kindy disco, a new battle line has formed – Linley moves in today.  I pray that we might be able to offer her all that she needs at this time, and that things might run smoothly.  I pray we might be able to accommodate her, and that she might be able to likewise accommodate us – perhaps more of a challenge given her aversion to anyone under the age of about twenty-five.  I pray she might soon get a job and be able to re-establish herself – although her prospects don’t sound very bright.  I pray you would supply us with an abundance of patience, because I’m very much afraid we are going to need all the help we can get.

I live and hope that she might be of some use to us as well – maybe a spot of babysitting?  As it is Miss Hollis has asked that I come and see her after school tomorrow as she wants to ‘discuss a few matters with me’ (sounds ominous) so maybe Linley might oblige by looking after the kids.  I could dash them home then dash back again and have a meeting with Her Perfectness without having to worry about what to do with the three kids.

Anyway, I’m sure I will lie awake all night worrying about just what might be said at this mysterious meeting, so I pray you would give me your peace that passes all understanding, and help me not to fret unnecessarily.

Thank you for your love, and for your many blessings…Amen

Afternoon, Lord.  It’s so late I may as well not have made it as far as my prayer journal today, but I’m feeling nice and grateful so wanted to check in quickly with you while Emily, Madison and Nathan are happily grazing on afternoon tea.

Thank you so much that Dad’s check up went well today and that the news, post heart attack, is positive.  It sounds as though he was lucky to have suffered such minor effects, that it was definitely more of a warning to slow down, eat well and keep fit, than a major “You’re in serious trouble…warning…warning!!”

Thank you too that the hospital were running on time and I was able to stay with Dad for his entire consultation, and still be back in time to pick the kids up.  Surely a minor miracle in itself!  Not that we’ll be home long, Lord, since it’s Kindy Disco Night – an event that would be quite beyond my imagination was it not for the fact that we went through the same thing when Emily was there.  Thankfully I don’t have to worry about Nathan wanting to go looking like a pole dancer in training unlike some of the girls Emily was at kindy with.

Of course it’s all a fiendish plot to have us part with more money – fizzy drinks, glow sticks, gold coin entry, sausage sizzle.  And, just to add insult to injury, both the children came home today with forms asking us to order calendars that they’ve illustrated for another fundraiser.  By the time I buy both of them, plus copies for the grandparents, I’ve spent a small fortune.  Still, all in a good cause I suppose.  So much for the concept of free primary education, though.

Anyway, the natives are getting restless so I had better go and supervise!  I pray that a good time would be had by all this evening, and that I might be gracious about whatever money might end up whizzing out of my wallet!

Amen

Afternoon Lord!  Funny how I’ve actually started to look forward to Mondays to be able to spend a bit of time with just you and me without the interruptions of the weekend.  Having said that, though, it was a wonderful weekend.  Church yesterday was great, lunch with Ashley was great (although having to not mention it to Ma and Pa Copeland in case they wanted to come too was a challenge) and taking the kids for a windy walk along the beach yesterday afternoon was lovely too.

Daniel was fantastic yesterday.  His preaching is getting better all the time on account of that local Bible College programme he’s been doing.  I think a lot of people are surprised – not least his wife.  I heard Abigail muttering to Sarah that she thought he was taking everything very seriously these days, and looking for changes at home, and it seemed clear this was not a good thing from her outlook at all.  You can see that as he goes deeper, Abigail’s life is being thrown into sharp contrast for the shallow shell it is.  Mind you, I suppose I shouldn’t judge since I was hardly a model Christian at one point (perhaps still!) – although I was never interested in looking like something out of a fashion catalogue the way Abigail is!

Daniel said that the big thing he had been learning was about how so many Christians believe the essence of Christianity is to be Christlike – which they interpret to mean being as like Christ as they can manage to be.  But Daniel said that this attempt to be Christlike can be frustrating and dissatisfying because of how impossible it is for any of us to attain, and that it can lead to hypocrisy when we try to do one thing and end up doing something else instead.

Daniel talked about John 5 and about some of the startling things you said about how you lived.  First off, Daniel talked about Philippians 2: 5 -8 which says:

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

Then Daniel paralleled these verses with two things you say in John 5…

v19 “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

v30 “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”

He also mentioned John 8:28, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”

Daniel said that rather than trying to be Christlike we should be trying to be like Christ – like you, Lord.  You made yourself nothing, you were humble and obedient – and you testified that you did nothing, said nothing, and made no judgments on your own.  You lived entirely under control of the Father, willing and available to do whatever, wherever, whenever – even to death.

Wow, Lord!  Here’s me trying desperately to be the person I think you want me to be when, according to Scripture, what you really want me to be is dependent and obedient, and for you to do the work!  This is quite revolutionary…

Daniel has said there is much more he wants to teach us on this subject, and I for one can’t wait.  Neither can Andrew.  As you know we had a huge discussion about Daniel’s message yesterday!

Well, I did pray you would teach us and show us where we were going wrong!  I feel as though I’ve just found a big piece of the Christian jigsaw puzzle that I’ve always missed… although quite how I don’t know.

Bring it on, Lord!  Amen

Okay, Lord, so I’m up and rearing to go today after my marathon lie-in.  Of course by lunchtime yesterday I was actually quite bored with lying about so got up of my own accord, and all Andrew could do was laugh at me!  It seems I can’t sleep in any more, and I don’t even have the endurance to stage a small protest either.

In the end, though, it was very sweet.  Andrew went out in the late afternoon and bought all sorts of interesting things for dinner so I didn’t have to cook, and we had a funny picnic on a rug in the middle of the lounge floor.  (It was going to be in the garden until a very large black cloud came and put the dampeners on that idea).  The kids thought it was hilarious, and it really was one of the more precious family times we’ve had in a long time.  It just goes to show the benefits of not having too rigid a routine and occasionally adopting the spirit of spontaneity.

Anyway, I have to go and make a few preparations towards lunch now since we’re doing the second round of sibling invites and have Ashley coming for lunch.  I pray you would bless our time at church and with her afterwards, Lord.  And, as always, I pray you would forgive me my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness for your namesake.  I pray you would help the children be model citizens in Sunday School, and I pray you would speak to all of us today according to our need.  Be with Daniel as he comes to speak to us.

In the name of Jesus I pray…Amen

Morning Lord!  Just a brief prayer session for me today.  After trying last night to find a babysitter so that Andrew and I can go out tonight, and failing miserably, I have decided to stage a small sort of a protest and spend the morning in bed.  In fact I found a new word that might describe me perfectly.  I’ve decided on a new career as a librocubicularist – otherwise known as someone who reads in bed!

Hence, I have a stack of books by my bedside, a cup of tea, my breakfast and my “Go and ask your father,” answer all ready.  In consequence, I pray you would make my duvet soft and warm, the troubles of my children light and momentary ones, and my husband obliging and filled with paternal wisdom and joy.

It’s a bit childish I know, but sometimes a little bit of something out of the ordinary is just the ticket!

Catch up properly tomorrow…

Amen