prayer for safety in hurricane season.

i found this on the interwebs. while it seems mostly applicable for louisiana & the gulf, i still think it's appropriate for us and for everyone along the mid-atlantic into the northeast.

stay safe,  y'all.

Prayer for Safety in Hurricane Season
 
O God, Master of this passing world,
Hear the humble voices of your children.
The Sea of Galilee obeyed Your order
And returned to its former tranquility.
You are still the Master of land and sea.
We live in the shadow of a danger over
Which we have no control:
The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant,
Can awake from its seeming calm,
Overstep its conventional boundaries,
Invade our land, and spread chaos and disaster.

During this hurricane season we turn to You, O loving God.
Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid
And whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time

O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our beloved Mother,
We ask you to plead with your Son on our behalf,
So that spared from the calamities common to this area
And animated with a true spirit of gratitude,
We will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son
To reach the heavenly Jerusalem
Where a stormless eternity awaits us. Amen.

for daddy butch.

sweet summer's daddy passed away on the 24th.  please join summer's friends as we have a day of silence to honor her father.




The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Psalm 23:1-6 NIV

dear Lord, this is a mess...

because it really is.

i received a very sweet email from a dear friend, whitney, yesterday. y'all...she's a doll {and i'm a poet and i didn't even know it}.

i shared with her {and a few others} some of my family's recent struggles & worries. she replied back with words of wisdom. words that i needed to read. encouragement that i needed to get. she directed me here.

it's funny. that particular devotional rings so true with me. i wouldn't be surprised if it did with you all, too.

i am a do-er. i am a thinker. i am a "what if-er." i have a tendency to try and micromanage any & all aspects of my life...even the ones that i cannot control. i have a need to feel in control...even when it's blatantly obvious that i cannot be. so, that devotional really hit home for me.

it hit home because, in my mind, i need peace. i need peace & quiet {i'd like some at home, too, but it's hard when you've got an 8 year old & a 6 year old who can & will argue about darn near everything}. but, there IS no peace...not when i'm worrying. if i could just let go and let the Lord tackle this issue for me, then i would have more time & more energy to cherish other things like my children, my husband, my family. because, seriously y'all, worrying about this {for the lack of a better word} crap is exhausting.

whitney shared a powerful bible verse with me that helps her get by in tough times:

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness...”

2 corinthians 12:9

what's funny is that i have the very same bible verse pinned to my bulletin board here at home. well, it's just a smidgen different {but you know how the different bible versions can be}:

"My strength is made perfect in weakness..."
2 corinthians 12:9

after i read whitney's email, i took a second glance at my bulletin board and, wouldn't you know it, this is what else i saw:

"Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you."
Psalm 55:22

go figure. all the reassurance i needed was right there all along. but, of course, having the added encouragement from good friends is all the more wonderful. so, i'm going to move forward from here and not let our current strife weigh heavy on my heart {at least i'm going to try really hard not to}. if i had all of the answers or if i could foresee the future, i wouldn't be in this situation...my family wouldn't be in this situation. and, there is no doubt in my mind that the Lord would not give me {or my family} any more than He thought we could handle.

so perhaps there is a reason for all of this. what that reason is...i do not know just yet. i don't want to know just yet. i'll wait for the Lord to show me...to show us. instead, i'll do my best to keep calm & carry on. God has been good to my family thus far...i can't imagine He would fail me now.

like the devotional says, the first four letters of Messiah spell...yep...m-e-s-s {kinda like the word stressed is desserts spelled backwards...okay...so maybe it's not entirely like that but when i'm cramming chocolates down my throat i find comfort in that tidbit}. i'm turning over this mess to the Lord. clearly, i'm not able to make sense of it all. i'm teetering on the verge of angry bitterness and that's certainly not the way to solve this issue.

i truly believe that we will be okay in the end {even though it doesn't seem like it right now}. "all you need is love" is what my husband keeps saying. ha. don't i wish. but, perhaps he's right. so, i'm going to be hopeful. perhaps one day i'll be ready to forgive. but, for now, the only way i'm going to get through this is by letting the Lord handle it {because goodness knows i don't need an ulcer right now, too}.

People, Police & Prayers

Police cars everywhere. Sirens. Crime scene tape. Road blocks. Neighbors consoling one another. People wondering how & why.

Accidents happen all of the time. But, one has never hit this close to home.

There were two motorcycle accidents over the weekend. One of them took place in. my. {quiet} neighborhood.

The driver of the motorcycle did not survive. The passenger did. The news reported yesterday that alcohol was a factor. The driver was also not wearing a helmet.

My heart aches for the family that is grieving the loss of a loved one. I hope, too, that the passenger who was injured makes a full recovery & learns from the unfortunately hard lesson that took place over the weekend just a few blocks from my home.

And, like many other parents in my neighborhood, I am thankful that there were no children hurt or any other injuries or victims for that matter. The accident happened just after 6:30 p.m. on Saturday...the sun was shining, the weather was {finally} great...kids were outside playing, people were doing yard work...

I squeezed my children a bit tighter over the weekend. They don't know what happened, but driving by and seeing the broken mailbox was a very heartbreaking reminder of how quickly our lives can be taken away from us.