what do teachers pray?

804 is ready
and this is my
prayer
for teachers and learners
from preschool to college
at
home, private or public -
Lord give us all
peace
eyes-wide-open
joy
laughter
wonder
compassion
wisdom
and
love
that you will be glorified
amen

what would you add to this list?

linking with kelli, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

what the spiderwebs said

i wish this was my photo!
it's  her's....

the fullness thereof 
was all mine this morning
while i ran
slap slap slapping
under the pale sun
and
her fog-shroud
the spider webs knit neatly between barbed wires
reminded me
of my place in god's world
and isn't it amazing
we're allowed to pray?
to thank
for provision
for word
for husband and church
to ask
for children's wisdom
for miraculous healing
for safety and love
and
the fullness thereof
was all mine this morning

what has god shown you lately?

linking with -

michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, heather for just write,  joan for sharing his beauty, laura for playdates with god, jennifer for tell his story, jen for soli deo gloria, emily for imperfect prose

i found the hardest prayer

david said it -

you are god
after the lord
told
him
no
and
the spirit of his prayer
is free from
shoulder shrug
eye roll
bitter voice
pride and fear
you are god
and
this is the hardest prayer

is there a prayer you've found that's hard to earnestly pray?

linking with -

michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, ann for 1000 gifts, joan for sharing his beauty, laura for playdates with god, jennifer for tell his story, jen for soli deo gloria, my freshly brewed life and kat for titus 2 tuesdays

prayers from the mush pot

twenty-one of us
circled the room,
ready
for evening meal
but the snaggle-toothed, karate-chopping
five-year-old
had ended up in the middle....
his mom asked him
to lead us in the blessing
and this mush pot prayer
reminded me that
god,
the almighty, living lord
hears us from
sanctuaries
beaches
mountain tops
low, dark valleys
and
even mush pots
and i needed that reminder
today

what small, everyday event lately has led you to remember god's presence?

continuing to count his gifts to 1000 -

701. quality, rollicking, awesome time with my extended family
702. my husband's work with wycliffe bible translators
703. text messages from husband
704. text messages from my girl, the one i mentor
705. empty dinner dishes

linking with -
michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, ann for 1000 gifts, l.l. for on, in, and around mondays

joan for sharing his beauty, laura for playdates with god jen for soli deo gloria shanda for on your heart tuesdays and kat for titus 2 tuesdays

and those three words

watching sons and daughters

my brother's photo of the big picture

walk
away
showing only their backs
and
kicking up dust
as
they
leave
will break a parent's heart
and when our hearts are
broken it's so hard
to know what love should look like
i think that's one reason
jesus spoke stories
he gave us life-scripts
for when we don't
know what love should look like
and
the dads who cried at
small group this morning
are playing out the father's role
in the prodigal son
watching their sons
walk
away
showing only their backs
and
kicking up dust
as
they
leave
the prodigal son?
he came to himself
and
those three words
are
hope for the dad
who
stands
watch

what words offer you hope during trying times?

continuing to count his gifts to 1000 -

512. middle school athletes
513. happy birthday notes from my husband. 15 of them!
514. the red letters
515. my girl, the one i mentor.
516. my boys and their coupon for taking me out to eat
517. nutella. i know i say it a lot. but....
518. and while i'm repeating...french roast coffee
519. wal-mart at 2:00 on super bowl sunday. a chance to practice patience.
linking with

michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, ann for 1000 gifts, l.l. for on, in, and around mondays

joan for sharing his beauty, richella for grace imparted, laura for playdates with god

jen for soli deo gloria and shanda for on your heart tuesdays

upon needing abreva

i am in a season of
extreme busyness
for instance
my clock reads 5:59
and i should be
ready for work by 6:20
i have two ballgames
tonight
(did you know
i coach cheerleaders?)
and a pep rally to plan
more ballgames this weekend
extreme busyness
but i think the fever blister
developing on my lip
is more from
the stress of an ever-growing
prayer
list
so. much. need.
cancer
eating disorders
car wrecks
drug addiction
wandering hearts
but
this is the
confidence
we have in approaching
god:
that if we ask
anything
according to his will
he. hears. us.

do you ask or stress?

linking with -
jen for god bumps
joy for life:unmasked
emily for imperfect prose

and as i write

writing for five minutes on vivid

her best friend moved away,
incommunicado for
six
months

she found her mother,
unconscious
on the floor,
brain tumor

he suffered a horrific
car accident
and faces painful rehabilitation

her cancer is back

and
as i write
vivid
these,
the suffering,
override the images
of bright red tomato
on
dark green vine
that i could have pictured
and
as i write
vivid
god reminds me
that he hears the cries
of the
brokenhearted
and
i will pray,
vividly

linking with:
lisa-jo for five minute friday

beki at the rusted chain for fingerprint friday

michelle for caffeinated randomness

studio jru for sneak peek friday

feeling glad my home faces east

up in the early morning

shades pulled
so i can watch
the sky brighten
and it's layered
fog below the charcoal mountain
pink just above
then yellow before
the dome of dawn blue
the trees are standing
still
and
bare
and
black
jesus said that anyone
who has faith in him
will do greater
things than these
but
i
can't make a
sunrise

will you join me in prayer for these -

our beloved school custodian, james, recovering from a massive heart attack
the ladies i know battling eating disorders. so many.  please pray for them peace and strength
my girl, the one i mentor. her best pal is moving far away today
a premature baby named jeremiah
my small group at church as we seek the lord's wisdom

thank you, friends

kp

seven letters

my girl, the one i mentor
my girl, the one i love inexplicably
is a fighter
with little strength today
battle-weary and worn
she came to me
and
i hugged her hard
and
said i understand
and she
said a sentence i want to keep forever
it's okay -
i'm going to go to church
and
get some prayer....
not ask for prayer
but
get some prayer
i laughed a joyous laugh for
the strength
of those seven letters
i laughed a joyous laugh
for the hope
in those seven letters
and my girl?
she
will
win

linking with:

emily for imperfect prose
jennifer for god-bumps and god-incidences

after a faculty meeting

another one of my brother's photos

i ran on the school track late in the afternoon
the low-slung clouds
  black, gray, yellow
came to meet the fall trees
  green, yellow, orange, red
and my prayers
  were low-slung too
  were thirsty pleas
for young people
  their safety
  their wisdom
  their understanding
  their healing
and these jesus words
came to mind
take heart!
i have overcome
the
world
hallelujah!
 
for some great reads today, check out these ladies:

emily at imperfect prose

beki at the rusted chain for fingerprint friday

michelle for caffeinated randomness

studio jru for sneak peek friday

running, nutella and paul's poetry

i don't listen to an ipod when i run, but enjoy spending time with my thoughts and prayers. this evening, after i set aside the continuous thoughts of nutella, i sensed a high need for calling on god. paul's prayer for the ephesians came to mind and will be my poem tonight....

and i pray that you
being rooted and established
in love
will have power
together with all the saints to
grasp
how long and wide
how high and deep
is the love of christ

because when we can comprehend that love, we can walk in the freedom that he intends for us. freedom from those worldly ties that drag. us. down. so i prayed it for my husband and children and my girl and lisa and my parents and my siblings and my students and and and and....

linking with:

emily for imperfect prose

beki at the rusted chain for fingerprint friday

michelle for caffeinated randomness

studio jru for sneak peek friday

toaster ovens, geronimo and faith?

got to run today as we were off school due to lingering snow and ice on some roads. all that was on my road was dust, and the mail carrier kicked it up as he zoomed past me to deliver yet one more llbean holiday gift catalog to my big silver box. i thought about these as i ran:

1. jack bought a toaster oven at a benefit auction for a lady who needs help paying for her kidney transplant. he used his own $50. he is 11. and i am humbled.
2. one of geronimo's great-great-grandsons is coming over for dinner tomorrow night. will an apache chief from new mexico like molasses ginger cookies?
3. there are these young ladies with eating disorders. and i pray and worry and answer questions and texts. i want god to move in them. to push them closer to health than they could possibly get on their own.

this running is about more than fitness. it's real time with god. it's no interruptions time with god. i finished the last uphill today, my faith stronger, believing that my boys are growing their relationships with jesus, that tomorrow night with an apache chief who loves god will be amazing, and that my ladies who are struggling against an illness that their loved ones are hard pressed to understand will not. stop. fighting.

linking up with jen.

thanksgiving honesty

today should be a big
thanksgiving post
a list
some photos
some joy
but i'm struggling with that
when i try
i feel bitter over the losses
when i try
i feel guilty for what i have
so i 'm spending the time
praying
for those who have lost -
cam and tammy
buddy and crystal
quinn and gabe
for those who are battling -
friend
friend
friend

and having done so
i can turn around
and
praise
thank
serve

Linking up with emily at chatting at the sky (her last tuesdays unwrapped) and jen at finding heaven.

a list of seven smiles

1. my mission team lifted hundreds of burdens to God while carrying a cross sixty-six miles last weekend. it was an awesome time.
2. i watched more than seventy people wish my dad a happy 80th birthday on saturday. he LOVED it.
3. my twin, who lives away, shared descriptions of the people she saw at the grocery store who thought she was me. i had to apologize to my community via facebook for "ignoring" them!
4. i shared souls with a dear friend yesterday over lunch. i wonder if anyone noticed....
5. i laughed so hard at college bible study last night that i'm a little sore today.
6. my sociopath cat, dale, finally lets me really pet him. and he purrs.
7. our contact in the DR has been advertising a fundraiser, "get your car washed by the americans!" that would be us.

Linking up with Emily at chatting at the sky today for more tuesdays unwrapped.

where two or three come together

A couple of weeks ago I went camping with my Dominican Republic mission team. Chris blindfolded us and took us hiking. Tomorrow and Saturday we're going to walk again, only this time we'll be able to SEE! We’re going to take shifts and walk for twenty-four hours beginning Friday night at 8:00. For each mile we walk, we’ll each pray for a specific prayer concern. Please let me know your requests so the team can lift them up in prayer. You may comment on the blog, at Facebook, message me at Facebook or send me an email (kendalprivette@yahoo.com). If you’re in Wilkes, come and walk with us for a little while! We’ll be at the track behind the YMCA.