Sunday, March 27, 2011

Trying to blog more...

So the season of Lent has been upon us for a few weeks. I hear so much about people giving up something for Lent-which is fine and good. But... that is all I hear-I gave up this or that and went to church on Ash Wednesday. What does that do or mean really? Does it really show others around you the gift and ultimate sacrifice that our God gave us through his Son? Really-aren't you supposed to give up something so you can focus more on God and what His sacrifice meant for our lives? I was raised Baptist-Southern Baptist to be exact-and would still say I have a Baptist mindset although I have some differing opinions with Southern Baptist now. But regardless of denomination-I like the idea of Lent. More specifically the focus on the reason for our Easter season. So this season, I decided to focus more on prayer and use Facebook to help me. My life would be vastly different without facebook-but I digress because all of ours would be-but for this purpose it has really helped me reach beyond the scope of my everyday "wants" and focus on the "needs" of the world around me.

This journey has been interesting-and a blessing-to say the least. So much has happened that I have learned to pray for and through it all-God has been good-is good-and always will be good. The best part of this journey-by having more than just my prayer requests to focus on and lay at God's feet-I have been able to see so many more answered prayer request of those around me. And the more answered prayer request-the more I praise my Creator. I am able to understand more fully how prayer may not change the situation or give us the answer we want-but it helps us appreciate and see exactly how God has His hands in every situation in our lives. For me it has been cyclical-I pray for others-see God's answers-I grow in my faith in Him and praise him for his providence in it all-pray for myself and others-become more patient because I am faithful He will answer in His will as He has done in the past for me and those around me-and I see his answers- and I continue to pray.

Does this mean that "all is good?" No-there have been tears along the way and I still am waiting patiently but faithfully that He will, as He always does, answer in His time and will. I trust that He does know best and His timing is always right. This prayer journey has also made me focus on where I place my value-and I am still learning to completely rely on Him.

But through it all-I feel so much more peace. The peace that passes all understanding-that in the midst of a storm-there is calm.

And the journey continues...