Melissa

Luke 11: 1-13

1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." 2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' "
5 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' 7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

My eighteen-year-old niece was diagnosed three weeks ago with ovarian cancer. She'd been feeling bad for only a couple of weeks but had lost about 15 pounds in the second week. Two days later the doctors removed part of her female anatomy and scheduled her for a follow-up visit. At that visit, they told her the cancer was in her lymph nodes. She began chemotherapy last week. When I spoke to her after the operation, I joked, "You know, Melissa, there are easier ways to lose weight." We both laughed. We had already cried our separate tears. I am persistently praying for her recovery.

Jesus tells us in this passage that "everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened" (v. 10, NIV). I am praying for Melissa's recovery as I have prayed for few things in my life. Does this mean that my prayer will be answered? I don't know. I hope so; I pray so. "…yet because of the man's persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs" (v. 8, NIV).

In the last few weeks, I've learned much about ovarian cancer. It's very aggressive. The vast majority of women who get ovarian cancer are older than Melissa. I'm praying for her recovery.

Please join me in my prayers.

--A few months after I wrote the above words, Melissa died on August 1, 2003.


A Faithful Response: Read a book on prayer – and put into practice one suggestion.

Victoria

Hosea 1: 2-10

2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel." 6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God." 8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. 10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'

Hosea 1: 9 Lo-Ammi means not my people.

Victoria is my step-daughter. She is not my biological child. She was about 19 months old when her mom and I started dating. You see, her father had moved out of state and she lived with her mom all of the time. She began calling me "Bad" because she missed some syllables - I think.

She is four now and says all of the great sayings one can expect from a four year old. She expresses her mom's love of coffee, "Let's go to Starbuck's and have a frappuccino!" She is eating almost all the time; we try to limit her junk food - "can I please have one more junk?" She loves to "hug" her one-year-old brother and pull him down. And she loves to touch her older step-brother. She thinks her teacher is all-wise and corrects us when we say something "bad": "Oh, Mrs. Wasserman won't like that."

And going to bed is always a chore. There are many excuses each night: "I need a drink of water/vitamin/my doll/my bear/mecidine." "I didn't kiss you good-night." "You didn't say 'Sweet dreams, too.'" After all that, she comes out squinting: "I can't go to sleep. You guys are being too loud." But the real clincher is when she says: "I love you, Daddy." You see, sometimes she calls me "Brad" and sometimes she calls me "Dad," but it really doesn't matter because she is learning from me how a dad loves his child. I imagine that is how Hosea felt…


A Faithful Response: Take your daughter/step-daughter out on a date.

Grace For The Journey....

This is an introduction for a blog featuring christian devotionals that I have already written and published. (Smyth & Helwys has given permission for me to re-publish these). This first blog will give you a little of my background.... I grew up in New Jersey attending an Episcopalian Church one a week. I was also in the choir - kids were allowed to join at age 10. Going away to college in Kentucky, I stopped going to church for several years. When I began again, I attended the local Methodist Church and Baptist and occasionally, the Episcopalian one. Formal church was not a big draw but I really enjoyed the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship my graduate year in school; I realized that church groups can mean community. I'd never felt that before. I flirted with the idea of going to seminary then but decided against it for a few years. I moved to Louisville, KY, and attended a Presbyterian church for a while, singing in their choir, and decided to attend the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (it was cheaper by far). I graduated in 1986 and then worked at a university as a hall director, using counseling skills to help students through life's events (like a suicide and community fund raisers and blood drives). I then worked as a Youth and Education minister from 1989-1993. I began writing and publishing articles then. I knew I did not want to stay a professional minister but also knew I wanted to keep writing.

The phrase "Grace for the Journey" comes from a former theology professor who autographed a book for me with that phrase; it's what I think we all yearn for. Sometimes Grace delivers us from the bad thihgs we do in life or the horrible things that have happened to us; sometimes we hope for Grace in our future; and sometimes the pain is so bad all we can do is know the promise that Grace will come very soon....

This blog is about Grace in my life and Grace for all of us to experience....

Many are from the following and Used with Permission

Reflections, Volume 4, Number 2, January 23-29, 1995.
Reflections, Volume 6, Number 3, June 23-29, 1997.
Reflections, Volume 8, Number 2, March 22-28, 1999.
Reflections, Volume 11, Number 3, August 19-31, 2002.
Reflections, Volume 13, Number 3, July 13-26, 2004.
Reflections, Volume 16, Number 2, April 19-30, 2007.

Smyth & Helwys Publishing Inc.
6316 Peake Road
Macon, GA 31210