Continuing on...

I have no really good excuse for not writing besides the fact that I have been putting all my time in other places - some necessary, some not. If you allow it, being engaged is sort of like being sucked in to a big black hole... You plan, you hang out with your fiance', you work out, you spend more time with your fiance', you squeeze in time with friends because you know some of this will change soon, you run back to your fiance', you meet with family, think about your fiance', you meet with florists, call your fiance', you schedule with bands, go visit your fiance', talk with photographers, think about how handsome your fiance' is, sleep, dream about your fiance'.... It's great!

But then at times reality seeps back in and you realize this is not all life is about. There are other things too. This week Pappap went to the hospital and found out he had colon cancer. One of my friend's just got left by their spouse. One of my friends lost their grandma this week. One of my friend's is broken hearted. One of my friend's wants to know how to forgive even though someone has hurt her so badly.

On the other hand some really cool things are happening too. One of my friend's just found out she didn't have a fatal heart condition that weeks ago doctors believed she did have. One of my friends was able to move into a new place with her husband this week that they've been hoping to have for quite some time. One of my friends just had a baby shower for a baby they'd been praying to have for years now.

All of these reality checks made me realize that I really need to be praying more. Yes, sometimes God ordains bad or unjust things to happen for reasons we don't understand, and that's fine, we really don'tDESERVE anything good, but there are other times when I wonder if I would just humble myself and fervently pray about things, if they would work out differently?

I thought of a passage of Scripture this morning when certain followers of Jesus asked Him why they weren't able to help a certain person as they usual were able to do. His response to them in Mark 9:39 was that because it would only happen by prayer and wouldn't you know - they hadn't tried that yet. (I'm so glad someone shares my ignorance!)

I love when Samuel gives his farewell speech to his people in the Bible and he says, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right." We aren't just to teach. We are to pray.

Lord, I need to pray more.