UPDATE on the update:
Really???!!! Only two people out there have anything to say about prayer???? (Thank you Megan and Beth!). I'm hoping that we can generate more of a discussion than the three of us. Maybe some of you are taking time to think before you write (something I'm not very good at, as I'm sure most of you have witnessed!).
C'mon!!!! DISCUSS!!!!!!
Pretty please?
: )
First, for the update.
I had a great time at the lake with V and G and think Son #3 really enjoyed having G here to tube with and hang out with.
You all know that we came home a day early, due to the break down of an AC unit.
Well the next day, an AC unit here broke down.
And it was all I could do to hold it together.
But I managed. Not easily, but finally.
My brother and his family came down from Oklahoma (yes, they have decided to move to Oklahoma, rather than Florida, which is nice because they're closer now) on Wednesday night. The three Sons and I joined them at the lake on Thursday. Two aunts and an uncle joined us later that day, too. And then Daughter #2 came up on Friday.
We had a great time.
I think all of the kids, including my two beautiful nieces, had fun on the boat, tubes, wake boards and jet skis.
And the boat worked fine. Yay boat!
It was so good to see them. I hadn't seen my sister-in-law or nieces since the summer before Jim died. That was our last family vacation .... to Alaska.
I'm so glad we went.
Daughter #2 and I came home this morning.
I had a "coffee date" today.
And it was ok.
Then I came home and did laundry and packed.
And everyone else came here late this afternoon and we all went out to dinner.
One last dinner before my brother drives back home tomorrow.
And then D2 and S! and I went to see "Crazy, Stupid Love" at 10:00 p.m.
I slept on the way to the theatre.
But managed to stay awake IN the theatre. And liked the movie.
Then we came back home and I finished packing.
And now it's almost 4:00 a.m.
Again.
Three nights in a row that I've been awake until 4:00.
Hopefully I'll sleep on the plane in the morning.
That's when I am outta here and outta this crummy, boiling heat.
I'm heading to San Diego to visit J & L & S, Jim's brother and his family. Then I'm going to Camp Widow.
And.
I.
Can't.
Wait!
It will be wonderful to see old friends again and to meet newer friends.
Very wonderful.
But before I go you know it's customary for me to leave you with a question for you all to discuss while I'm away.
I'll still have my computer with me, especially as these are the last few days before CW and there is still a bit more work to do.
I've had a few discussions lately (again) about .... prayer.
A month and a half after Jim died I wrote this post.
My belief about prayer and the way I had always prayed changed drastically on December 18, 2007.
They have not returned to my former beliefs.
I pray.
But I pray much differently now.
Still.
Before Jim died I prayed very specifically.
And many, many times, those prayers were answered in the affirmative.
I don't know why .... I didn't know why then.
Maybe it was because I was more "in touch" with God and so I prayed for things or occurrences that were already in His will.
I don't know.
I do know that God has blessed me with the gift of sometimes just "knowing" things .... without being told, or reading something .... just a deep-feeling knowledge, a certainty, that something has happened or that something is about to happen.
Jim learned to trust this gift over the years and to just go with whatever I said, especially when I would say, "I don't know how I know, I just know."
It's defined as the gift of "Prophecy". It also manifests itself in an ability to read people, to see beneath the surface, to read between the lines, and to tell the "Truth" when I feel God nudging me to say it.
So maybe that "gift" shaped my prayers.
Maybe.
All I know now is that I don't pray that way anymore.
I rarely ask for anything specific.
I don't believe that my prayers cause God to act one way or another.
I don't believe that my prayers cause God to intervene.
I don't believe that my prayers change God's mind.
I don't believe that my prayers cause God to heal anyone.
Not anymore.
I do believe that prayer is for me and for my relationship with God.
I believe that as I pray, I grow closer to God.
I believe that it's best to pray for people that are hoping for a certain outcome.
So I pray for them and for their acceptance of whatever that outcome will be.
I pray for them to experience peace, love and strength .... no matter what.
But enough about me.
What about you?
What do you think about prayer?
Do you pray?
Do you "meditate"?
If you do pray, why?
And have your thoughts about prayer changed over the years? How so?
If you don't pray, why not?
And is that something that has changed over the years?
Please feel free to discuss this as much and as honestly as you can.
There is no judging here.
There is no right or wrong answer.
There is just my curiosity on how people pray .... and why.
I think there's a lot of interest in that topic, from the many things I've heard over the last few years.
So please discuss.
Yes, even you lurkers. :)
And discuss only what you believe, or what your friends have told you they believe.
Please don't comment on what anyone writes .... especially in any negative, critical or judgmental way.
I will delete any comments that are written in that context.
I'm proud to say that I've never experienced that here .... from any of my readers of this blog, so I don't expect any of it now.
You are all wonderfully supportive Peeps and I hope that you'll jump in and discuss.
So, discuss amongst yourselves ..... and enjoy the different viewpoints.
I know I will.
:)
And thanks .... ahead of time.
And Happy Sunday, Peeps.
The next time you hear from me I'll be in a MUCH cooler climate.
YAY!!!!
So ..... Prayer.
Now discuss.
:)
