Tributes and prayers

Life has been a whirlwind lately. My sister and brother-in-law went with Justin’s mom, wife and some other family members to Ft Hood, TX last week for something they do to honor the service men and women stationed out of there who have died serving our country. Evidently they do this every 4 weeks. For some reason, I assumed they did it once a quarter or something, but when my sister told me they do this ceremony every 4 weeks, it was just another thing to drive home the impact that this war is having on so many families. From what my sister said, it was a very powerful and touching ceremony and I'm glad to know that they have something like this for these families that have lost loved ones. It is still hard to comprehend all that has happened so far this month, even to me. I still just can't imagine that Justin won't ever be there to eat my sister's cooking at Christmas again! He absolutely LOVED my sister's cooking, and she's even made the comment that she doesn't know if she'll be able to make oyster dressing again for a while. The little things like that are the hardest, you know? While they were gone to Ft Hood, I got to play ‘mom’ to two sweet girls. We had fun and stayed on schedule the whole time, believe it or not. I was glad! I am also glad that I am close enough to my nieces that I can step in and take over without too much change to their schedules. The circumstances are sad, but I was glad to be able to fill in.

Aside from all of this though, I have been giving a lot of thought lately to the topic of intercessory prayer. I suppose this is on my mind and heart so much because of all of this with Justin, but just as much, because so many people I know are going through such hard things right now. There are several people who immediately come to mind…and I don’t mean people who are acquaintances, I mean close friends. In the midst of remembering these people and praying for the needs that I know about, I have been reminded of something I read in an article once about intercessory prayer and how often we may say we will pray for a need someone has shared with us, then go away and never give it another thought.

WOW.

That is still an extremely powerful and convicting sentence to me because I am sure I have been guilty of this at some point, no matter how mindful to remember I may have tried to be. It got my attention enough to make me respect and honor the promises of prayer that I may make to others. It made me make a mental note to not let requests and needs of others fall between the cracks of a busy life. My friends deserve better than that. They have given me a glimpse into the things that are most important to them…how can I possibly not honor that?

Being single, one of my main focuses is on my friendships and the people God has placed in my life for whatever reason. The older I get, the more I realize how much I have just in relationships and I realize more and more how much of a gift I have been given in having the trust, transparency and openness that I do in my friendships. With this being the case, intercessory prayer for these friends and their needs is not only a responsibility, it is an honor, and one I am glad to fulfill!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12:

9Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.