Seeds

Today i started the fun of planting some seeds, i have decided to attempt to grow a cherry blossom tree and an orange tree from seed.   This should be so much fun.

But it did start me thinking about planting seeds and what a seed can do in someone elses life.

A seed was planted in me during 9th grade.  Collette Perry sat behind me in a lot of my classes, we were in softball together and she was just always happy.  She had a lovely smile, she would pray before lunch, and she always had this air of contentment around her.

I was having a rough day, and had my head down on my desk, just done for the day, and it was only 3rd period (we had 7 classes a day back then).   I felt a hand on my back, and i could hear Collette praying for me.   She was very quiet, it was just a whisper, but a weight lifted off my chest...i wasn't alone.  

The seed had been planted.

It took almost 15 years for that seed to take root.  But when it did, it sprouted into an amazing tree of love, happiness and contentment.

That was 23 years ago.

On the day i was baptized, Mother's Day 1993, Pastor Holbrook asked me about my intention of being a Christian.  He asked me if i would go out, be a disciple and spread the word of Jesus Christ, and i said i would.  I memorized Mark 15:16, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'”

In the years since saying YES, i have had the opportunity to lead bible studies, direct a performance team, work with the youth, hang out with amazing women, collect food and toilet paper for a homeless shelter....the list goes on.   

And along the way, i have dropped a few seeds here and there.  

I pray I have lived by example, showing what Christ has done in my life.  I pray that i have reached out when God wanted me to reach out, that i have spoken when God wanted me to talk and i have kept quiet when God needed me to be silent, and show that HE is Lord.  

Most of all, i pray that i have put my hand on someones back when they were just done, and prayed for them to feel the peace i felt the day the seed was planted in me.

I love you.

Oh yeah, i pray.

I am often amazed how often God tells me to pray for someone.  How often He puts someone on my mind and i just find myself on my knees, praying for a person, a family, a situation.

There are times, when i have prayed, He will tell me to call that person and let them know, let them know HE heard their prayers and is having people pray for them.    Sometimes, He doesn't.   I just pray, put their name on my board and pray.

When i am crocheting, i am praying.   Often, I am making something for someone, and i am praying for that person, but God will sneak in another person and tell me to crochet a line or two for them. 

I had a friend struggling and i told her i would pray for her, she gave me the oddest look and said "sure, if that is what makes you happy."  and totally blew my prayers off.  A few weeks later she called me, asking more about my prayers, because miraculous things were happening in her life.

I have a friend who blamed me for praying hard enough to give her twins.  :)

When i created my blog Made With Prayer, it wasn't because i make things with prayers - it was because i am made with prayer. 

The only reason i am alive is because of prayer.  I didn't succeed in killing myself, i didn't die in a few car accidents, and i survived the birth of my youngest child.  Each time, i learned people were praying for me.   With the birth of Ben, i knew an entire congregation was either at home or at the church, praying for my life.  I learned in my 30's that people were praying for me and my brother as we dealt with alcoholism and drug addiction with our parents.  Every time i thought i was at the end, God lifted me back up, shook me off and got me going again.

So now, when people ask me to pray for them, i take my job very seriously.  

You ask, i pray.  

I write your request in a book, on a board, on a mirror.  I pray when i have a break at work, when i have a few minutes to myself, when i cook.

I have found that prayer that relieves stress and makes me a happier person.    I stopped biting my nails, i stopped hating myself and blaming myself for everything that goes wrong.

So, if you need someone to pray for you....God might have already told me to start praying, but you are welcome to let me know you need a little lift from above.

I will gladly pray for you.

I love you.