prayer please

well, we had a HUGE historical tree (100+ yrs old) in our back yard fall down yesterday... It is massive (I will post pictures on my blog soon!) It was intensely windy and I can't believe it fell down... It is SO shocking how it was uprooted... Anyway, it damaged some of our neighbor's property but not much really! No one was hurt, thankfully, and our house was miraculously intact. (The wind was so strong I remember saying a prayer off the top of my head, "God, keep us safe..." and he did!)
Please pray the insurance will cover the removal costs, etc. It is bound to cost A LOT and we honestly can't afford it...
Thanks

Redundancy looms

(Cross-posted from my blog)

I work in a primary school in South Wales which teaches children aged 4-11.

Yesterday we were told that, due to falling pupil numbers, it will be necessary to make two teachers redundant this year. It could be any of the ten of us who aren't part of the school's senior management team who get the chop.

The atmosphere of the school has now totally changed. People have been close to tears, everyone is worried about their futures and staff morale and motivation have gone out of the window. None of us want to be made redundant, but equally none of us want to see two of our colleagues - people we like and respect - get the axe either. We're all in a lose-lose situation here.

Prayer would be appreciated. The final decision on who is to be made redundant, assuming nobody volunteers, will be made on March 11th.

And so it goes

(cross posted from my blog)

Two days ago saw the hospitalization of my otherwise healthy (and young) mother. I'm not going to share details at this point, suffice to say they found a previously undiagnosed and unexpected, chronic problem. I will say it is a very good thing she got to the hospital when she did, because it could have resulted in something much worse than the miserable symptoms she's been having and the treatment she will now face. I'm thankful she's alive and has a great prognosis for recovery, with time.

However, of course, this has been difficult for me, a great sense of frustration that this was not diagnosed earlier, considering how much time she has spent at the Dr. these last few months. I'm frustrated that she had to become so ill before something was done. I'm frustrated that the amount of stress she's been under these last few years is a significant contributing factor, and like any good firstborn I keep wondering if there was something I should have done to help prevent it, or at least I should have realized something was wrong much sooner.

Of course, her symptoms have been somewhat mysterious these last few weeks, seeming very much like one thing, but then turning out not to be that at all. Dad and I both said now that we KNOW what's going on, it makes perfect sense and we both are kicking ourselves for not realizing it much sooner, even a year or two ago. I think maybe we didn't want to face the possibility.

In any case, I'm carrying a new weight around right now, and may not be as present as usual until things return more to normal. I appreciate your prayers for her recovery. Please pray for dad as well. Thanks all!

Update...

Well, I still don't know what is going to happen. I am trying to work up the courage to apply for a debt consolidation/reduction loan. Crunching the numbers. I don't see how they will give me one. But...

This has shaken my confidence. A lot of issues trying to fight for dominance....

For those of you that have sent me help, you know who you are... THANK YOU!!!

Kenya

Hey guys this is not a request for personal prayer but for an entire country. Alomost 6 years ago my hubby went to Kenya on a missions trip. Here he met a pastor called Aamos. Aamos lives in Nirobi slums with his family and does his best to in rich those around him whilst struggling to survive himself. He just popped up on my facebook chat thing and I did the socially acceptable thing and asked him how he was. He proceeded to tell me that Kenya is in the grip on a huge famon and 1000s die everyday and that he and his family are on the brink themselves. What do you say in response to that other than I ll pray. I feel usless and like a rich fat cat! Please can you pray for this country and this man

thx

Help?

Hmm... this hard. The tape running in my head says, "You made this mess, you clean it up. And don't expect any help."

I'm not doing so well. A mistake from my past that wasn't handled well - financial - is biting me in the ass right now. And it seems to have pretty big teeth. If things go the way I was  told on the phone this morning, the government could be taking 30% of my income starting next month. Which would make it so that I couldn't pay my bills.... Could you all think of me when you're praying? Thanks.

Prayer for Matt

HI all
Firstly let me wish you all a great 2009!
I was wondering if you could pray for my Hubby his name is Matt. For about 5 years he has been running his own web development business. He was not encouraged at all by our former pastor (the opposite infact) and suffers from a lack of self worth becasue of it. But he is brilliant at what he does. Any way he has decided to give his business one last chance to be able to support him full time and make money so until June 2009 he will be basically working 2 full time jobs. His business and the his salaried job, Means very long hours and lots of stress. We also want to plant a house church this year sometime. I am worried firstly about Matt overloading himself and secondly if it fails to meet its goal by June what are the consequences? I couldnt sleep last night for worrying about it.
I guess I need peace that it will be ok no matter what the outcome but I cant bare to see him hurting and am petrofied that he will crumble if it doesnt work.
Thx guys

Please Pray!

Please pray for Barbara and her son Keven tonight. I will leave it up to her to share more than that if she wishes, but I don't think she'll mind me asking on her behalf.

It's very important.

Thank you!

Stuffed up head

Back from Chicago, with a head cold, in more ways than one.
All in all, we had a pretty good time. We did something different-- got away for the holiday to define our own identity as a family more, just the three of us. It was a good step for us. A couple family members did not understand us leaving at this time, but that's the way it goes. We did what we needed to do. We are not overly fond of repetitive traditions that lose their meaning, because the tradition itself becomes more important than what it supposedly celebrates. What IS celebrated, anyway? Is it a facade to appear as though we are indeed close, when in fact we aren't?
I know this isn't true for all, but for many, it is.
It can all be so confusing for me, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Can't we just do away with the whole thing? What's the purpose anymore? I know, each person can chose for themselves...? But can they, really? What would you say to someone who is not celebrating Christmas? What would you think? Aren't people free to just not do it. Hardly. We chose to "flee" to Chicago, while we try to figure it out...
So the three of us gladly gave one another a few gifts, played games and sang some songs.
As far as the whole shabang is concerned, i still felt some dreadful guilt, and that is why I hate the whole thing. I felt pressure to participate, well, rather, to make it happen; why do I need to try harder during "Christmas?" It just goes against the gospel. It doesn't have to be that way, I know. The pressure was internal... trying not to feel guilty for saying NO to certain people.... We did something different but there was a cost.

It seems every year Christmas comes sooner and is more dreadful each time. Am I doing something wrong? Am I too fearful to just say I'm not doing it this year? Why is it all so freakin' confusing? I think part of it is because I have swallowed the blue pill, and nothing is as it once was and there is no going back. Deconstructing from foolish religious practices has it's price. Christmas season can be one of those heavily confusing periods... so many memories and expectations around it, not too unlike deconstructing from Churchianity... so that is why my head is all stuffed up. Can anyone else relate? ( I'm not asking for answers to all these questions...)
Pray for me...
thank God it's all over with for now

Missing child

My twins' friend has gone missing. He is 8 years old and has mild disabilities and never met a stranger. He has been gone since this morning and usually shows up at our house BUT DID NOT. He is usually here by 10 am.

Please pray.

praying

I posted this on my blog yesterday, but in case you didn't see it, I thought it might be worth posting here too. I was praying for a few of our situations this morning, and couldn't get this song out of my head. It seems to me, that while one of the things we love most about this kitchen is the understanding and compassion that we find here, there is something even greater than that for which we are truly seeking (and will find as we pray together for each other): the Presence and the intervention of the Lord in our lives. I am so grateful for the privilege of walking with you into His throne room and bringing our requests to Him.

I hope you are as encouraged by this song as I have been, for it truly is a prayer set to music.

Blessings,
Happy

I Feel Like a Complete Fraud

For those of you who have not read my blog recently, I am going to put one of my posts here as well because right now I need some big time prayer from you, my friends here in the kitchen.

"Have you ever felt that you had absolutely no business blogging, writing, teaching or for that matter even talking about anything that has to do with God. That’s where I’m at today."

I feel like such a hypocrite...

News

(cross post from my blog)

I just received word today that a friend of mine has breast cancer. I don't believe any of you would know her, she's a real-life friend, but I'm still going to protect her privacy and not reveal any more details right now.

I write because I'm seeking any thoughts and prayers you might be willing to send out for her. I don't have any details at this point, she is still awaiting more information about her condition. She is supposed to be making a decision this weekend on treatment options, so prayers for peace and strength and the ability to make the right decision would be appreciated. Her faith is strong and she feels hopeful, but I know she would appreciate the prayers.

Thank you guys. Love you.

This is so hard to write

I can't do it on my own blog because too many people I know read it and I'm not really ready to talk there yet.

My Mum just called. She's been diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. It seems it's in the early stages but she won't know for sure until she sees a specialist just after Christmas.

I've never been all that close to her, although I lived with her my entire childhood (my parents divorced when I was 9 and I stayed with her), but I don't know. This makes things seem different.

I'm crying but I don't really know why. I'm so sad for her, but I'm not so sure how to talk to her or what to say.

Sorry this is completely disjointed and probably doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm typing through tears. I just needed to say something to somebody.

immediate intercession requested

so we just found out that the county, for some unknown reason, has closed out our son, zaavan's, medical assistance. this is a HUGE deal as it was this assistance that paid for all of his anti-seizure medication as well as his food. he is tube fed and doesn't eat by mouth, but he is also on a specialized diet (the ketogenic diet) that requires specialized food for him. as of right now, he is no longer able to get ANY of these things. we only have about a week's supply of both food and meds left. please, please, please pray for us that this would get straightened out and SOON! thanks gang...

Strange days Indeed

I should have written this about a week ago but that is the flu for you, it just leaves me braindead.

So I told you about the threat against Mark's job. Well, last sunday night I was just walking around minding my own business and I suddenly heard something from God (finally!).

It was a lie, they weren't going to fire him, they CAN'T.

So I told Mark about this and we started really praying and he felt a lot of peace. He went back to work confident and it totally drove his boss nuts! So anyway, thursday rolls around and Mark's corporate boss fesses up, out of nowhere, that they actually did not have the ability to fire him, they just wanted to -- well, manipulate him (he didn't say it like that of course, but that was the jist).

So the really awesome thing is that Mark has found two other out of church believers there who are praying blessings over the facility with him in the mornings and they are really seeing results. They are all department heads so this is really amazing.

And his boss is acting very strangely! Can't stand to be around my husband at all.

So anyway, thanks so much for holding us up in prayer, I really needed it. I am so grateful for all of you.

Health (or the lack of it)

Hello, fellow Kitchen-dwellers.

Could you please pray for my wife, Samantha, who was admitted to hospital today? She's due to have surgery (gynaecological laparoscopy) tomorrow morning. Please pray that the surgery will go well and that they'll find (and fix) what's been causing her so much pain over the past 5 months.

Also, for myself, the chest pain (costochondritis) came back yesterday :o( I do wonder if it's partly stress-related. It's not been too bad today, though the chest area is quite tender to the touch.

Any and all prayers - long, short, ongoing or one-off - are appreciated.

A Room for the Negatively Emotioned

Hello Kitcheners

I have just added on a new room in the ever-expanding space that is Rahab's. It is a room painted in nice mental institutionalish soothing green tones, and set aside especially for those of us who are wallowing in the societally and christianityally displeasing sins like anger, bitterness, and crustiness in all of their forms. I call it the Pissed Off Room, which isn't very nice and pleasant a name at all, is it? But then, neither are those emotions :) Anger seems to be an emotion that freaks people out more than any other - and with good reason. How scary it is to see it in yourself, let alone in other people. But still, I think there is a space for it, for learning how to roll with it and harness it. I have this idea that the things that are making us angry can't really be overcome until we turn and walk into them and embrace them, to a certain extent. I would like the Pissed Off Room to be accessed by a slide from both the women's premenstrual verandah and also the men's wedgie deck, which goes down into a whole lot of balls, like they have in Ikea. I propose the walls be made of a nice splodgy substance which has plenty of give and take when you ram your head into them :)

I am doing a liver detox of sorts at the moment along with a heavy metal detox. My liver is quite overloaded and needs lots of supplemental support. It's all going okay and I'm not having a nervous breakdown or anything but I really do understand why in Chinese medicine the liver is considered the organ that deals with anger. Sometimes I wonder where all this anger in me comes from and sometimes I doubt it shall ever be dealt with. Which is where your prayers come in, if you feel so inclined. Some of you know that I have just come up out of the murk of 6+ years of chronic illness followed by a marriage breakdown. It's been two years now since my marriage broke up and I do definitely feel like I am healing. Sometimes, however, I get the feeling that I should be moving on more quickly than I am. But still, these things just can't be rushed and neither do I want to.

I am reading an interesting book at the moment called The Gift of Grief by a rabbi called Matthew Gewirtz which is a good read. One of the reminders I am taking away as I read it is that to be fully present to my own pain is really the only road through, even though at times that does feel unbearable, does it not, bloggers? But still, in my heretical meditation practices I do find that once turning and facing the anger or wahtever and really embracing it, in almost a physical way, brings such peace. What doesn't bring peace is the fact that I also feel crusty, old, grouchy and ultra critical at the moment, which is why if anyone wants me I'll be rolling around in the Ikea balls. Anyone else wanna join me? :)

In pain and struggling

Those of you who read my Honest Faith blog may remember that about this time last year I had a major health scare that turned out not to be life-threatening after all, but rather a very painful chest condition called costochondritis.

Well, at the end of October it came back. It's come and gone, but I have had to take time off work a few times because of it. Over the past week it's been particularly painful. I've been taking the same medication as last time, and it does help, but it doesn't always stop the pain.

On Friday it was particularly painful when I was in work, and I struggled to stay there. Perhaps I should have come home, because a teacher who can't focus on anything but the pain he's in isn't really an effective teacher at that point.

Anyway, my reason for posting this is that it's getting me down. I'm not in "uncharted waters" because I've had this condition before, but it's very painful and very unpleasant, and it's stopping me doing many of the things that I want/need to do (my wife is also very ill, and I need to take her to hospital appointments while doing all the household chores because she's currently unable to do much). Normal life, and many of my normal activities such as mountain biking, have had to go. I'm still able to go dancing on my good days, but I can't get out on my bike because whereas I can stop dancing if and when the pain returns, I can't just stop riding if I'm on a mountain track ten miles from home with no vehicle access. Plus, of course, this is affecting my work.

Prayer would be appreciated. Coping with my own illness as well as my wife's is a real struggle at the moment.

Prayer for a Friend

Will you guys/gals please pray for two women I know that are both caring for elderly parents? Diana is caring for her 94 year old father who is a cantankerous old dude who is mostly blind and deaf and can barely walk.

Sherry is caring for her 80 year old mother who is a dear, sweet woman but recently broke a leg and has various other medical issues including diabetes and some dementia.

These two women, Diana and Sherry, receive no help from ANYONE and they both struggle with health/pain issues of their own. Anyone who has had to be a caretaker knows how demanding and draining it can be, and how lonely.

Please lift them up in prayer. They are both faithful, loving women who know God and need his strength and encouragement to get them through.

Thank you so much!