Yes, I know I have been quite again, but I am beginning to feel up to writing again. And I am going to make a disclaimer right now; if you do not know -  I am a Christian; I believe that God is the Father, that I am Saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ and Baptized by His Holy Spirit. AND I AM NOT PERFECT. But, I love my Heavenly Father even though I have been walking in the valley for a long time now, but eventually you have to climb out of the valley and when you start to reach those small ridges and look back down. You have this wonderful sense of accomplishment and joy! Then you turn around and realize there is more mountain above you to climb.

I love it when HIS answer is finally Yes. I know things are in HIS time, but I am feeling truly blessed tonight. I have a wonderful husband who puts up with all my random and crazy mood swings. I have two beautiful and handsome children, who I know try their hardest and care about their work in their school (Let's hear it for our A and A/B Honor Roll Students) and in their extra activities such as scouts. And finally after a year of fighting with the mortgage company for a loan modification, we were finally approved for a WAY lower % rate and (Bless You Lord) ... It's a FIXED RATE! What a ridge on this mountain of worries to climb to and rejoice. Friends, I say this to you because I truly believe in God and His son Christ Jesus, and I believe in the power of prayer, but somewhere in the turmoil and sinking feelings of the last 2 years, I have realized, Pray is not a Christmas Wish List. Prayer is a funny thing, God already knows all of our wants, needs, and desires.  He knew us in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13), and even then when we did not know how to pray, He knew what we needed. So, why do we pray? We pray because God wants us to communicate with him, to be in relationship with him. He uses prayer so many times to teach us those lessons that we do not wish to learn.

...

Sometimes the answer is No.
Humilty.
Communicate with Him.
Patience.

These are all lessons that each of us has to learn in our lives at some point or another, but we get caught up in the instant gratification world we live in. Information avaiable at the click of a finger - almost wherever you are.  Want to talk to someone? Almost everyone has a phone on their personage  in our society. Do we all need them - probably not - but hey isn't that cool that we are that accessible to those who just want to talk? Or what about the instant conversations taking place every moment in text messages? We are now more interlinked with each other that our need for contact with others is instantly gratification almost anywhere. Has prayer gone by the wayside or at least lost its way? Many pray in the way that I found myself praying so MANY times ...

Dear Lord, please GIVE me this, please MAKE this happen....

That world does not exist. We are here to find out way - to blaze our trail. God is not Santa Clause. He is not a magical fairy godmother who can swing her magic wand and wisk us off to the ball. He is our father. Fathers do not make everything right and perfect for their children. Parents know that some children need to go through adversity to remember the better choices. If you have children, you know what I mean. When they were young and still learning, I would tell the kids, don't touch the stove - It's hot. And you know what happened. They touched it, but with a mild 'owie' they learned and important lesson. Hot means don't touch. We as His children from the beginning have been looking at the proverbial hot stove, and His word is telling us Don't Touch, and we pray God Make sure I don't get burned. Of course, the answer would be No, that is how we learn our lesson. And, like our own children this is usually where we learn humility, because now we have to own up to it, so that the burnt hand can be treated. We have to admit our wrong choice. We have to deal with the pain of that choice. Some of us have to rinse and repeat, but we learn. God is not the magical answer. He is the Answer. He created us to have a relationship with us, to be our Abba, Father, Friend, Counselor, Comforter. His names are endless. But, relationships are not one way streets. We must communicate with Him, and folks, God does not have email, and we come back to the world of instant gratification that we live in. Prayer is more like sending a letter in them mail. You sit down and with out demanding a performance from Him, you write your letter. I wonder if  my letter would look something like this:

Dear God,

Hi! How are you doing? I hope all is well in Heaven and that you are enjoying the Blessings of all your children who are already there with You. I know you already know the needs, worries and desires of my family. I know you have a plan for us. Please Lord, you know the right paths for us and I know in your time you open the doors that you feel are appropriate. You know my family's hearts, you know our sins, you know our joys and we thank you for each blessing you have bestowed upon us. You know there are many of my friends and family who have needs and you know each of them. There are those who are rejoicing in your miracles, and those who need to find a relationship with you. I praise you for your gracious gift of your Son Jesus. Thank you Abba. Amen.

Until Next Time,

Your Loving Daughter

Of course then, you have to WAIT for the post office .... and wait for the reply. That is the hardest part of all isn't it. Waiting for that reply. Waiting for that answer. Maybe your prayer letter had a more  specific request. Maybe to ease the pain of a loved one, or to find a job. Whatever your needs are ... now you have to wait. Patience is sometimes the hardest lesson for us to learn. Not having it makes us worry ... but we don't have to worry. He knows us. Pray to Him, have patience, be humble enough to understand that sometimes the answer is No, but sometimes... PRAISE BE TO HIM ... SOMETIMES THE ANSWER IS YES!

Matthew 6:25 - 34 tells us

25 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.