Please pray with us

Post date: Aug 28, 2012 7:12:15 PM

Something that has been on my mind concerning prayer was a small point that was made during a recent sermon I heard. Of course, I don't remember where in the Bible this is, somewhere in the old testament (maybe one of you Bible whiz's could let me know?). And I surely don't remember details, but someone committed to fasting and prayer for three weeks. At the end of the three weeks, he had heard nothing in answer to what he was praying for. Then, God came to him to tell him why. God explained that there were spiritual battles going on regarding that situation and that He had set out to answer his prayers on day one of the three weeks, but it took that long for God to fight the battle and then, only after He had called an angel to help Him was he able to send an answer. I was so encouraged to pray. In a way that I never had been before. And I can see now why it is of great benefit to keep praying for the same things. Over and over. For, we do not know what may be going on behind the scenes.

For that reason, could we ask you to pray for and with us? For those of you who practice the discipline of prayer, here are some current things in which we are praying over:

- Sept. 7-16 we will be in Orlando for New Staff Training. I am excited, terrified, and nervous to name just a few of the current emotions I'm experiencing about this. In my mind, it means the beginning of our transition into the next season of our life. I have no idea what to expect and since I'm a natural born skeptic, my expectations scare me. Thankfully my parents will be meeting us there to watch the boys, but I haven't left them for longer than a few hours at a time ever. I know that I have great flexibility to be available to them when they need, especially since Eli is exclusively nursing, but I also want to be able to soak in as much of the training as I can. So, I'm expecting a pretty sizable balancing act that will be taking place. Add on top of that the fact that all four of us will be in a one room hotel room in which one of us (ahem, 6 month old), wakes up screaming an ear piercing scream several times a night, a toddler who isn't the most adaptable in new environments, and a tired mom on a special diet (more on that in a minute), and you can see my apprehension for that coming week. So, if you would, please pray that my expectations would be blown out of the water. It's probably more my attitude that needs adjusting more than anything else. And I know that God is already pouring out His grace in how uncharacteristically well I'm handling the stress already. But, I need more. More and more grace and mercy.

- We close on our house about a week and a half after we return from NST. Please pray that we will stay organized and on top of all the packing that needs to be done. So far, I'm on schedule with the packing, but there is still a lot to do!

- About two months ago, I had some routine blood work done and discovered that my thyroid is way out of whack. The numbers were so far off, I'm surprised the Dr. didn't order a thyroidectomy. It is severely under active. I will be seeing a specialist later this week to develop a more natural treatment plan rather than hormone replacement therapy. This will require some diet and lifestyle changes. I have already started a (mostly) gluten-free diet, which seems to help some. But, I can't even begin to describe how difficult this has been. I live in a constant fog (think, mommy-brain times 20), have zero energy and just generally do not feel like myself. In the last 6 weeks, with only changing my diet I have seen the numbers improve, but there is a ways to go before I reach the normal zone. Please pray that it will bounce back soon and that I will have the necessary resolve and discipline to stick to the diet and life-style changes, especially while we are in Fl. Also pray that the specialist will be able to properly diagnose what is causing my thyroid issues and that the treatment plan will solve it. All of this adds another layer to my stress about the training. It's extremely difficult for me to take in new information and to function well under added stress. The two things that will be happening during the training. So, I don't know exactly how to pray for that, but if you would, please just lay it before God.

Thank you in advance for partnering with us! It means so much to us to have such a great team of people willing to pray with us.