Deb's thoughts

Dear Friend, 

I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores.  You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of fact, you didn't even bless your meals, or pray before going to bed last night. You are so un-thankful, I like that about you.

Thanks to you, I'm really showing God who is boss in your life with all of the good times we've had. We have been watching dirty movies, cursing people out,  stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, and those in leadership positions, no respect for the Church, bad attitudes. 

SURELY you don't want to give all this up. 

 
You are so gullible, I laugh at you. When you are tempted to sin, you give in
HA HA HA, you make me sick. 

 

 Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life. You look 20 years older, and now, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin.  All you have to do is smoke, get drunk or drink while under-aged, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and live  being as selfish as possible.  Do all of this in the presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.  

 

I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, Fool, you are mine.  Remember, you and I have been going steady for years, and I still don't love you yet. As a matter of fact, I hate you, because I hate God.  He kicked me out of heaven, and I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay him back. 

Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now. I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, you would run somewhere, confess your sins, and live for God with what little bit of life that you have left.

It's not my nature to warn anyone, but to be your age and still sinning; it's becoming a bit ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I still hate you. 

 

(I received this today, it was right on time, guess who didn't pray at all yesterday!)

IT'S JUST THAT YOU'D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR CHRIST.

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE … enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to…
 A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE . something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE a youth she’s content to leave behind….
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE . a past juicy enough that she’s looking forward to retelling it in her old age….
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …. a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE one friend who always makes her laugh… and one who lets her cry…
 A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .. a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE . eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE . a feeling of control over her destiny.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… how to fall in love without losing herself. .
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without; ruining the friendship…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… when to try harder… and WHEN TO WALK AWAY… EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… that she can’t change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… that her childhood may not have been perfect…but its over…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… what she would and wouldn’t do for love or more… EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… how to live alone… even if she doesn’t like it…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. whom she can trust, whom she can’t, and why she shouldn’t take it personally…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… where to go… be it to her best friend’s kitchen table… or a charming inn in the woods… when her soul needs soothing…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW… what she can and can’t accomplish in a day… a month…and a year…


This poem was written by Pamela Redmon Satra, it was originally an article written for Glamour magazine titled "What every women should know by the time she is 30".  I have had a copy  of this for  years, I keep it posted in my bathroom and read it every day. I think it has some wonderful advice in it and wanted to pass it on.  I have also gave my daughters copies of this when they moved out of the house.

Not sure what category (that's the hardest part of blogging here for me), guess I'll put it under Faith.

Do you ever get that "gut" feeling? You know, that feeling that something is wrong. Do you listen to it?

I do.  I also made sure I taught my children to listen to it.  Here is the main reason I feel so strongly about this.
  My kids were small, about 9, 6 and 18 months. My husband was always bringing people from work home with him.  One night he brought this guy named Joe home. When I opened the door and saw Joe, it was like looking the devil in the eye! The hair literally stood up on the back of my neck, my gut was giving me that "look out, somethings wrong" kind of feeling. My son was outside, but the girls were with me. Joe stayed about 2 hours, he was polite, did absolutely nothing wrong, but the bad feeling I had just got worse. I made up an excuse and took the girls and went next door to the neighbors, I called my husband from her house. When he answered I was crying, ( I am not someone that cries a lot, he knew something was terribly wrong if I was crying)  I told him he had to get this guy out of the house NOW, I told my husband I didn't know why, I could not explain it,  Joe had not done anything, but GET HIM OUT!.   I have to give my husband credit, he made some excuse up, the two of them went to the corner bar, had a beer and my husband came back home. He asked me what that was all about, and I had no answer - I could only tell him how Joe made me feel, it was really strange - Joe was polite, even funny, he did not act strange, nothing - just this awful feeling that this was a BAD man,  I will always thank him for listening to the crazy woman on the phone. 
My husband and I separated about a year after that,  he called me one day and asked me if I had read the morning paper ( The Globe Democrat was still being published) I told him I hadn't  had the chance yet, then he told me that the Joe I had asked him to get out of our house had just been arrested for raping two 3 year old girls.  I got down on my knees and thanked God for protecting our daughters, and for making my husband listen when I had no reason to put this man out of our home, other than a "gut" feeling that something was terribly wrong. 

I honestly believe that "gut" feeling is God telling you to "watch out, something is wrong, pay attention here!"  I have never been wrong when I listened to my gut feeling.

Another time, I did not listen to this feeling and almost had a serious problem. After my husband and I separated I went out with this guy I had met at the grocery store of all places, when I gave him my phone number that "gut"  feeling started, but I ignored it, put it off to the strangeness of meeting someone at the grocery store. He called the next day and we made a date. We had a great time, he was intelligent, funny, a good dancer, but that "gut" feeling was there. Not as strong as in the story  above, but something wasn't right. We went out again, and on the way to the movie I asked him if we could stop at my sisters for a minute, I had to drop something off. We did - the evening went very well and I came home. This time that feeling was a bit stronger. We were supposed to go out again, but my oldest daughter and I were having some issues, I called him, got his answering machine (before the days of the cell phone) told him I had some family issues to deal with and would have to cancel our date. He called twice after that, but I was not home when he called, the third time he called I told him again that I had family issues going on and I just couldn't go out with him at that time.  He asked what the issues were and I was not comfortable talking about them with him and told him that.  He didn't like that, but we talked abit more and said he'd call again in a couple of weeks. the next day he showed up at my sisters and asked her what was going on - what my "family issues" were. Of course she did not tell him and he got mad and left, I also found out that he had gone to my job and talked to someone there asking her the same thing, I'm still not sure how he found out where I worked, I had only told him the type of work I did, this scared me, I called him and told him how I felt about all of this and that he was never to call me again,  About a week after this I looked out my window about 12:00 at night and he was sitting in his car out in front of my house!

I went outside and told him to leave, I told him a second time  that I would never speak to him again and to leave my family and friends alone.  I ended up having to call the police about a week later, he kept following me. This guy was a stalker!  I should have listened to that feeling!  I also never went out with anyone again that I did not meet through mutual friends.

I could go on and on about this, but I won't bore you.  How about you? What are your stories?

I know the pain and agony of losing a son.  I would like to give you this poem, I do not know who wrote it.  When I came home from my son's funeral it was in my mailbox., I don't know who gave it to me.

I hope it gives you the same comfort it gave me.   I am so sorry for your loss, your family is in my prayers.

He Only Took My Hand
(author unknown)

Last night while I was trying to sleep,
My son’s voice I did hear
I opened my eyes and looked around
But he did not appear

He said: "Mom, you've got to listen,
You've got to understand
God didn't take me from you, Mom

He only took my hand

When I called out in pain that day,
The instant that I died,
He reached down and took my hand
And pulled me to His side.

He pulled me up and saved me
From the misery and pain.
My body was hurt so badly inside
I could never be the same.

My search is really over now,
I've found happiness within,
All the answers to my empty dreams
And all that might have been.

I love you all and miss you so
And I'll always be nearby
My body's gone forever
But my spirit will never die!

And so, you must all go on now,
Live one day at a time
Just understand - Mom,
God did not take me from you,
He only took my hand.

 

Hi, didn't know any other way to contact the people running this site.  A group of us have a blog "Our Prayer Circle"  it seems to be something people want and need.  I get asked on my other blogs for directions to find this blog.   I have also been asked to keep it going. I have 2 questions for you: 1) is there a way it could be kept on the Faith blog site permanently? If that is not possible, is there a way to find it easier that going thru the 32 pages of faith blogs?


Thanks for your help,

Do you ever feel like God just bopped you in the head with a 2x4?  You know,  that not so subtle message you get sometimes.  Let me give you some examples:

I was taking the bus to work one very cold, snowy winter morning and feeling sorry for myself 'cause my feet were cold, I didn't want to go to work, couldn't understand why I wasn't married to some rich guy.. ok, you get the picture. I was unhappy, cold and pouting when the bus stopped to pick up someone.  (God's 2x4) The person that was waiting at the bus stop, had on 1 tennis shoe, he was on crutches because he only had 1 leg.  There was at least 2 inches of snow on the ground and he was on crutches!  All I could do was chuckle and look up at God and say "Point taken!"

There is a lady I worked with a couple of years ago. (God's 2x4)  We became friends. She was my friend more than I was hers and here's why:  Over the last two or three years I would hear from her every so often, sometimes I would respond, some times I wouldn't I  was too tired, or too busy or  too ????

This year on the day that marked my son's murder, I got an e-mail from her.  She remembered the date and sent me an e-mail to let me know she was praying for me. (I did not know her when my son was murdered, I met her about a year later) I responded after I caught my breath.  She literally took my breath away with that e-mail.  It is not a day I expect anyone other than family to remember. I called her the next day telling her how much her e-mail meant to me, and to apologize for not being the friend that I should have been. We talked for a long time and in the course of the conversation I learned that not only does she have Parkinson's, but her husband has had a major heart attack and almost died, and has has several strokes.  I was so ashamed, here I was too busy, I was too tired, but this lady with so much going on, took the time to reach out to me when I needed it. 

I really am not a selfish person, just get caught on the "pity pot" ever so often. When that happens God has no problem bopping me with that 2x4 and reminding me just how blessed I truly am.   I have a job, a home, healthy children and grandchildren, children that some how managed to avoid the drugs, gangs etc. My grandchildren are getting close to that age, but they are smart, grounded kids and I keep praying they will avoid those things also. My health is fantastic, especially for someone that doesn't take the best care of herself. In the last 15 years I have not had the flu, can't remember the last time I had anything other than a sinus infection. 

When was the last time God bopped you?

If you need a prayer or if you know someone who does please list it here.  We are a group of MYFOXSTL.COM bloggers and we will pray for you. 

If you want to pray with us, please do.  We welcome everyone, regardless of religion.  Don't belong to a particular religion?  Not sure if you even believe, but think "a prayer won't hurt"?
Join us or post your prayer request.

I promise I will check this site 3 times a day.  I would like to get at least 2 to 3 people to agree to pray at the same time, for the Bible says:  Matthew 18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

My prayer time is usually in the morning but  I'm flexible.

So far Sophia121, gone2thedogs, din_4747, VBallR, dannbetty, figman, mr_wildflower, have agreed to join our circle.  (dannbetty and mr_wildflower agreed that it was a good idea, I think that's the same thing, if I'm wrong, I apologize). We welcome everyone.

If you want to post your prayers, please do.  If you choose not to that's ok too.  I just know from personal experience the power of prayer.  God always answers, sometimes yes, sometimes no and sometimes not yet,. but He always answers.

I would first like to pray for this prayer circle.

Father God,
Open our ears, our eyes and our hearts to you today. Bless our prayer circle and help us to be your arms and to willingly encircle all who need comfort or support.
Open our eyes so we may see all that you ask of us.
Open our ears and shut our mouths so we may truly listen and hear all the needs of Your children. 
Open our hearts so we will look for and recognize the Child Of God in everyone.
With Your help, may we sow peace, happiness and kindness where ever we go.
Amen

I will be praying for the family of Kk_mom's son Zak, and also for the family of Cindi Grassi, the lady killed by the "accused" drunk driver. 

I keep adding to this, but I just saw this quote in my prayer journal and I think it is most fitting for this site.  I have to credit Corrie Ten Boom for the quote. I took it from a book called "A Life of Prayer".

"The devil smiles when we make plans. He laughs when we get busy, but he trembles when we pray - especially when we pray together!"     Let's make him tremble!

I was reading some of the other posts, and I am wondering if it would be possible to start a prayer circle.  Would that be allowed here? I wonder.   Would anyone else be interested?  I saw the post about  Zak and his burns, I said a prayer - but what if a bunch of us agreed to pray for Zak at the same time?  What if we could agree on a time of day and prayed for anyone that posts a need for prayer? 

This probably isn't the proper place for this, but I thought I would throw out the thought anyway.