Season of Pressing In

Fasting. Not my favorite thing, of course. But this fast is starting to produce fruit. I had no idea how satiated I was with food and entertainment. I had no idea how bad my cravings had become .. for things like pizza and a movie ... until now.

But after taking a long, long walk with the Lord last night, I realized all over again how silly it is to settle for pizza and movies when I can encounter the Creator.

Here's what I wrote last night: This is raw ... written for my journal ... proceed at your own risk.

I did not realize how much I had allowed my affections to be alienated by the trappings of this life. A slow and slippery slope, upon which I descended unaware, the pleasures of this world drew me deeper into a place where hunger and thirst were merely concepts rather than longings. Along the downward path, I noticed landmarks of self indulgence, rationalizations, and excuses. Yet today, as I turn my eyes from worthless things and embrace the hunger once again, my Father is lifting me up and beyond that place that would have eventually landed me in a pit of despondency, had I allowed the descent to continue. How faithful He is to meet us in our current state and lift us into His saving arms!

Today He and I walked again along a path where the atmosphere seemed to thin, as if I could simply step right through into eternity. Returning to this place, I felt His fingers momentarily linked in mine, his wind upon my cheek, and the aroma of budding romance sweeping down through the tree branches. My stamina to keep heart, mind, and soul in focus is not quite what it was years ago, and I found my mind drifting, to a calendar, a call, a need to connect with the concrete. Resisting, I managed to sustain the state of abandoned love longer, basking in the peace beyond all reason, where the breeze might simply lift me into His heavenly embrace forever.

Oh, lovely One, whose presence so enraptures me, call me further on into this romance. Remind me every time I hunger for the lesser pleasures of this life how you have so much more for me. Let me delight myself in You, taking joy in simply being with You, as I have in other seasons. Woo me to embrace the hunger rather than running to other things to fill me. Remind me daily of the reason for forsaking those lesser loves, those seemingly innocent substitutes for the reality of finding my true satisfaction in You.

End of summer transition

Summer has flown by, full of realized hopes, dreams, and expectations. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness to us as a family. Thank you for friends and family, near and far, and the love we share. Thank you for pouring out your Spirit on my children this summer and for the many gifted and loving adults who came alongside them to usher them into your presence!

Summer family worship, though so different than our school year times of worship and prayer, brought our family close, as Daddy was able to take the lead, playing guitar and leading us in our family favorites. Kayla taught him a few new songs from Misty Edwards, and they played together - piano and guitar - with Grace on the djembe.

While I look forward to settling into the school routine, and the more regular times of prayer, I will miss the togetherness we had this summer.

I look forward this year to connecting with more people who are interested in establishing houses of prayer within their own family units. Lord, let our homes be places where your name is exalted and worship and prayer ascend like sweet incense to your throne.

Summer Transitions - to every thing there is a season

We are rejoicing in a new season here in our family house of prayer. School is out and we have returned from our June v-k to Colorado (with a wonderful stop a IHOP_KC).

Our summer house of prayer was given a great boost by Chosen Stones family conference last weekend. We are now 4 for 4 in having regular full family worship times each morning this week.

This morning as our oldest daughter played the piano and the rest of us closed our eyes for "picture time" - waiting on the Lord for words and pictures -- three of us all had the same kind of picture: dancing together. In my husband's picture, our girls were grown, but still very close to each other. In my picture Jesus called out one girl from our family at a time and danced with her, spinning her into a pose. In M's picture Jesus came down in a cloud into the middle (on top) and little figures of us dancing all around - it was a cake that He had brought for the celebration. When she described the cake, we realized it was a wedding cake! Then the angels came and gave gifts to everyone. Wow!

Monday's prayer and worship included three guests - friends of my older daughter. As one girl shared her heart to lay down her own plans and pick up Jesus' plans for her life, her eyes filled with tears. The presence of the Lord was so strong! Others shared their prayer burdens for North Korean Christians, for one, and orphans around the world, for another.

Tuesday's prayer and worship concluded with the opportunity to bless my brother and sister-in-law in a shower of prayer. It was very encouraging for them, and my brother is feeling much better physically , now, PTL !

We are looking forward to more of what God is going to do in our family house of prayer!!!

Keeping it real: Not everyone is engaged every morning at our house! That's okay; we accept them where they are and try to gently pull them closer. Physical presence is required, and we pray the heart will be touched and filled.

Things that work: for me, having a prayer time earlier in the morning, before family prayer, prepares my heart for what God has for us and I usually have a scripture to share with the family (very briefly). Today is was "Today is the day of salvation." For the family the following help: (1) worship songs: having someone play the djembe, someone play piano, and Tom play guitar (and we use songs everyone knows); (2) Keeping it to a set time for now - 8:30 - 9 am to keep restlessness at bay; (3) letting each person have a time to share.

Things that haven't worked yet - spontaneous songs using simple words shared by family members. But we love the idea!

Things we want to grow in: more intercession & more sharing scripture together.

Amazing Experience … a Princess Retreat !

Nine young ladies, ages 7 through 10, came together for something so special and wonderful this past week. Through worship, prayer, and Bible study combined with creative expression through crafts and other interactive, hands-on experiences, they were transformed into Princesses of the Most High King. Of these nine princesses, five are adopted children, four from China, and one other princess has a little sister adopted from China. Unique in their individual beauty and personalities, bringing in a wide variety of experiences and idiosyncrasies, they found unity in friendship and compassion for each other, learning that being a princess is about caring for others, showing honor, and sharing. Primarily, though, they learned that the King of Kings is totally in love with each one of them and that they have a beautiful and wondrous destiny in His Kingdom.

Watching the radiance of God’s presence on these princesses as they danced, created, and explored filled our hearts with joy. On a sunny morning we trekked down a cool, sparkling creek, wading and discovering brilliant gems hidden amongst the rocks. At the end of our trek, nestled in rocks, sat a crown filled with more colorful gems and jewels - pink, green, red, blue, yellow, gold, and clear – sparkling in the sunlight. The girls let the jewels flow through their fingers and learned more about being beautiful, like a jewel in the crown of their king. Much later, after dark, we celebrated, telling stories around a campfire and roasting marshmallows.

After two days of preparation and learning, the girls celebrated with a crowning ceremony. With white dresses flowing, carrying their own bouquets of fresh flowers, and wearing crowns they created, the princesses descended the stairs and lined up for an amazing worship dance. The princesses then took communion with their families and danced with their daddies. A special ceremony of dedicating their lives to Jesus sealed the evening in awe-inspiring beauty and joy. Topping it all off with special cake and ice cream, the radiant princesses began asking, “When can we have another Princess Retreat?”

PHOTOS TO COME! Come back soon.

Many Thanks to: Jesus, our King of Kings!

Barb Grimshaw, of Incense Aroma Ministries, for leading the children and orchestrating all the amazing activities throughout.

Monica Blackburn, for initiating and organizing the retreat, and for preparing such a wonderful celebration.

Kayla Amlung, assistant children’s leader, for her love and hard work throughout the retreat.

And last but not least, Quiet Waters for hosting us in the perfect setting with such comfortable accommodations and Sonya Strom for providing delicious meals.

Unexpected Grace

Friday evening I entered the C-HOP House of Prayer with less enthusiasm than normal. I wasn't feeling well, and one of my daughters was feeling worse than I was. We would be leaving early. On top of that, only few people showed up -- those fifth Fridays throw everyone off. Nevertheless, I sat down to worship and focused my heart on intercession. Nearly immediately, these words of prayer came; "Lord turn the intentions of my heart into the flow of your mercy, love, and grace. Let me flow with your currents, my heart breaking with your passions, my soul longing for communion, my spirit embracing your intercession. " It was his gift to me -- a prayer to open the heavenlies.

Like a true embrace, I could feel myself held by the Lord and at the same time reaching out to hold those for whom I was praying. My heart burned and tears began to flow. Through tears I prayed nearly silently (for in the natural my throat still hurt, and I was a little worried that crying out would cause more throat pain.) So, I penned my prayers through the tears. "I grab hold of your intentions for ... " and then I let the names flow onto the page. A whole page of names flowed, and yet for each one I felt the fire of embracing that person in intercession. Power poured forth.

I cried out in intercession, and yet there was more, so much more. The Lord wanted me to cry out for Him -- for communion with Him in the Spirit. He pulled me into a place of longing and desire in which I felt my heart would explode with the hunger for being near Him. I knew that I was indeed sprinkled with His blood and accepted into His embrace of passion. I could feel my spirit within me leaping and longing for freedom. Jesus hands drew me up into a dance of love that I had not experienced in a long while.

Throughout this experience I was only vaguely aware of my surroundings. I knew that one of my children was digging mints out of my purse, and I only felt an internal giggle. I sensed that not everyone in the room was entering in, and I interceded, longing for them that they would feel what I felt. But mostly I was just lost in His Presence, the glory, the mercy, the grace, the passion! The intensity rose to a 10.

The Lord brought me to the point of travail for a few people as I prayed and worshipped, and yet the whole experience was more a passionate encounter with God than anything else.

I penned one last prayer with tears streaming down: "Lord, I embrace what you desire, because there is nothing like it in the universe. Help me, Lord! I feel as if I might explode if I hold on to you, and yet I can't let go .

All my children were with me that evening, yet clearly the Lord designed that encounter strictly for me, keeping them (for the most part) from distracting me. I wish they could have been caught up with me. Perhaps another day....

I am so thankful for this encounter Friday evening! The following two and half days have been filled with physical pain and little energy to direct into prayer - battling an illness. But I look forward to the victory that is mine on the other side of this sickness. I long for a sweet reunion.

Advice: Keep showing up -- keep opening your heart to Him -- you never know when he will sweep you off your feet.

Finding Time

A Time to Pray, a Time to Write ...

The lack of updates do not reflect a lack of material. To the contrary, there is so much to convey and so much the Lord is doing. Yet it is difficult to find the time to put it into words on this page.

Snippets: The Lord is revealing more about a place of holiness and the cleansing power of his blood. Today Lia was excited to share her picture in which she and Jesus walked down an aisle with a red carpet, hemmed in gold, which led to a beautiful gold couch, beyond which was a waterfall in which she and Jesus and the Father enjoyed a beautiful fine, soft, silky, warm shower.

Yes, these kids, ages 7 - 10, really do receive beautiful pictures from the Lord on a regular basis (about 4 times each week). Yes, they do sometimes involve birthday cakes and teddy bears ... sometimes ... and yet even these hold significance. (Yes, the birthday cake was delicious, but it was sprinkled with red sprinkles, and Jesus was there.)

I am in awe. The Lord keeps reminding me to simply bring them into his presence and give them time to experience the reality of his kingdom. They - children - seem to grasp it more easily than we adults.

The Lord is using a couple books to enhance my time with him and my relationships with my kids ......

Recommended reading (for adults): Bob Sorge's book on the Power of the Blood.

Recommended reading for parents: Wendy A. Pidkaminy, Parenting Challenging Children With Power, Love and Sound Mind.

Be blessed my friends!

From Where I Sit

Yesterday during morning prayer time Mayana shared the following picture: "I was with Jesus in heaven and we were praying for people down on earth, people who were sick, and when we prayed the people got better. And there were lots of other people around us."

I asked, "Were you and Jesus standing or sitting?"

She replied, "We were sitting. The other people were standing." Then she added, "When the people got well, after we prayed, everyone was shouting, "Wow! Awesome!"

After my other children shared their pictures, too, I took Mayana to Ephesians and showed her the verses about being seated with Christ in heavenly places. (She can't really read it, as she is still learning to read. But it was great to help her see it was actually there.) I got to explain more about how Jesus is always praying for us here on earth and that we get to join him in his prayers. And Jesus thought it was important enough to show her, personally, what this looks like.

Where do we sit? From where do we pray?

^{Eph 2:6}And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

By whom are we surrounded there? What is our response?

Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

I had to remind myself of this mightily last night at 3:33 am. How hard it is to leave a warm bed when one is dog-tired. I wanted to be alert and fully engaged as the Lord might "Show me great and awesome things." - Jer 33:3. I was able to stay up for about 45 minutes of prayer before returning to bed. I didn't see angels or visions. But today I'm realizing how grateful I am that lately He has been showing me so many great and awesome things that I did not know ... for over a month now.

Praise to be God!

For the joy set before Him...

As we celebrate the end of Holy Week, and especially Good Friday, it is a great time to recall why Jesus went to the cross. Why did he endure the pain, humiliation, and the excruciating separation from his Father? For the joy set before Him. Heb 12:2. And what is that joy? It is us in relationship with Him. Wow! We were the joy set before Him, the motivation when the pain was too much to bear.

Jesus, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for dying for us, so that we might know you and love you forever!

His joy gives me strength...

How do you find the strength and motivation to pray?

Having grown up in the church, I learned to sing the verse, "The joy-y of the Lor-or-or-d is my strength," early on. I accepted the joy-strength connection as one of the many mysteries of the faith - something amazing that I cannot comprehend. But last night the Lord gave me fresh insight, taking the verse from mystery to understanding.

3:20 am. My bed warm, my body tired. I could roll over and take the night off. Or, I could rise as usual for my prayer time in the night. Why would I rise? I sensed that it was not a matter of obedience this time. So, why not roll over and get more sleep? A strong temptation, indeed. Then, it occurred to me that I would honestly feel sad, like I had missed out on something special, if I did not rise. So I determined that I would get up for one reason only -- the potential for joy in spending one hour with my Lord. As I pulled back the covers and stuck my feet in slippers, I sensed strength coming already. By looking toward the joy of this hour, I gained the strength of will to rise. In rising, even in its first steps, I gained a tangible strength that I did not have before.

This led me to ponder, how do we do the hard things? Where do we get the strength to move into new territory and to persevere when things get hard?

Perhaps the question of HOW we do hard things has more to do with "Why do we do hard things?" than it does with anything else. The WHY is what produces the strength to follow through. Recall stories of super-human strength. How does the woman lift the car off her toddler? The LOVE produces the power. How do missionaries stay in hard places for years? The JOY set before them is too great to ignore. How did Jesus find the will to face the cross? It was for the joy set before him -- the joy of redeeming us.

How do we find strength to persevere -- in prayer, in parenting well, in teaching our children, in loving others? Perhaps it is the focus on the joy and the love. LOVE casts out the fear, and JOY lights a fire in our hearts giving us the strength to persevere.

Ponder ... What is the joy set before YOU that will give you the strength to move into your calling? What joys will strengthen YOU to persevere?

We are ALL created to enjoy God - to delight in Him. Being with Him, being in the center of His will, is the place of delight. He delights in us and He wants us to delight in Him.

There are great joys available for us now, but sometimes that seem hard to feel in the midst of other pain. However, we don't live for today alone. We live for eternal rewards and eternal communion with Christ. We have a joy set before us that transcends all emotions and circumstances of today.

Lord, may YOUR JOY fill our hearts and set us aflame to bring glory to your name!

After I typed this, I saved it as a draft and went to C-HOP. There a guest speaker, Nathan Panke, gave a message on guess what: The Joy of the Lord is My Strength!

God is awesome!

Bigger Than We Know

Sunday evening at C-HOP we were blessed to have two leaders from IHOP-KC with us, and the Lord blessed me with a special word. Graeme Walsh pointed me out from the crowd. "You, there in the pink. Are you a teacher?" Now, I hardly ever stand out from the crowd, but I did have a bright pink shirt on. Rarely does someone select me from a crowd for a word. Very rarely.

When I replied that I homeschool my children, he continued, satisfied that I was a teacher. He asked me if recently, within the past 10 days, I had responded to the Lord on something new and specific ... if I had even written down something, like a letter to Jesus. "Well, as a matter of fact, yes!" It was day 8 after I had specifically responded to the Lord's call at the Call 2 All about starting new houses of prayer. Ever since then, the Lord has been waking me nightly for a special time of prayer alone and we have pressed in more mightily in prayer as a family during homeschool. (I didn't say any of this. I was essentially struck dumb. He moved on quickly.)

However, I know that this specific encouragement is significant. I am continually getting a greater sense that this is so much bigger than me. I feel excitement without anxiety. It is ALL HIM. I am just one small willing servant. YES, I do think that greater things are yet to come ... bigger than me ... and I don't doubt that at times they may be challenge. But I am resting in knowing that they are totally HIS plan, not mine. He will take the initiatives. I just say yes.

Last night I had a breakthrough of sorts: I actually wept when crying for President Obama. And with the tears came a sense of compassion and a longing for his soul to be saved, just because he is dearly loved by God and is lost. (Believe me I have had a longing for his soul to be saved, but it was for the sake of the nation, not him personally.) I hope that this will allow me to pray more directly and meaningfully.

Be blessed. Ask the Lord for his heart. Ask for the night watch in your own home. "Here it's you and me alone, God." -- Misty Edwards song.

Pam

Saying yes and believing....

This morning's IHOP message inspired me. Mike Bickle spoke on freely receiving from the Lord. In Romans 4:3 we read that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Later, in Romans 9: 32 we learn why "Israel" (as opposed to the Gentiles) had not obtained righteousness: "Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works." And in Rom 10:3 we find a similar statement that "they" (Israel) sought to establish righteousness on their own rather than submitting to God's righteousness.

Faith makes us righteous. Not works. We already know that we cannot work toward relationship with God. Similarly, we cannot work to make God more pleased with us.

So how do we please the Lord? The Psalmist writes: "What can I give unto the Lord for all He has done for me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon His name!' What pleases the Lord? When we call on him. When we freely receive. When we take. He longs for humble people who know their need and who are eager to receive from his bounty.

What was it about Abraham's life that pleased the Lord?
"He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." Romans 4:20

Grabbing hold of this truth, let's apply it to prayer. What pleases God in our prayer life? Is it long hours of devotion and well-crafted prayers? It is a strong discipline? No. These things are valuable, yes. But the Lord is no more or less pleased with me in a "good week" with many hours logged than he is in a "bad week" when I wimped out. What pleases God is that I am (1) believing his promises, being fully persuaded that He is able to make my house a house of prayer, and (2) that I am asking (aware of my need and willing to admit it) and eagerly receiving strength from Him.

If you feel that you and your family are being called to make your own home a house of prayer, say "YES!" Allow your heart to embrace the call being fully persuaded that He who calls you is FAITHFUL. He has begun the work, and He will complete it. Then ASK. Ask God to set aside times for you and simply obey. God set aside a time for me that would not have been the obvious choice, nor my first choice -- The middle of the night. But it is God's idea and He has been faithful to wake me every night, and He has been faithful to keep me awake for an hour. He has also been faithful to allow me to fall back asleep afterward and wake at normal time the next morning. In his faithfulness I have found great joy, because I know (regardless of how I feel emotionally) that He meets me there - in the perfect quiet of night.

This next part isn't biblical, but here is one thing that helps me: There is always someone who has a harder row to hoe and is doing just fine. When I feel overwhelmed with five children, I call to mind my friends with 8 and 9 children. They are doing so well - parents and kids alike - so if they can do THAT, who I am to question whether I can make it with five? Another one: I regularly hear about the people who pray from 3am to 6am each night (the entire third watch). So who am I to question whether I can sustain 1 hour of prayer in the middle of the night? If "they" can do it, I can make it.

Remember this: Freely receive from God no matter how you feel you are doing. (Don't let satan trick you into thinking you are unworthy to ask or receive. That is a huge lie.) Don't try performing ... for God or for man. Believe unconditionally in God's faithfulness. Acknowledge that God loves you right where you are and is eagerly awaiting to hear your feeble "yes, I am willing." He will be faithful to fulfill his plans in you.

For Mike Bickle's sermon go to ihop.org under resources. Today's date, 8:30 service (or any, I guess.) For more inspiration at ihop.org watch the Awakening Services or go to the Live Prayer Room. (Warning: There may be more outward manifestations of the Holy Spirit's power than you are used to. Also, you may find that you receive a healing just be joining by web stream. It happens frequently.)

Join us in prayer for this nation and for babies....

Please read the message below and follow through with prayer ... This is a clear call to all of us to be sure that we lift this nation, our leaders, and LIFE for the unborn to the Lord in prayer during this crucial time. Undecided leaders are listed below. Please forward this to others, too.

I have also felt led to pray that the Lord would (1) send impossible-to-ignore dreams, visions, and revelation to the leaders of this nation, all the way to the president, and (2) that the Lord would shine a light and expose the things (hidden deeds) that are being done in the darkness, behind closed doors.

So much of our future hangs in the balance.


I am sitting here at the dining room table -- more like the War Room -- planning with our SBA List team what could be the culminating battle of the fight to defeat this abortion-laden health care bill. Every minute, new information comes in about a wavering member of Congress or a tidbit of strategic information from Republican or Democratic leadership.

Having jumped in, I realize now it is important to step back out for just a few minutes.

Without prayer, I am 100 percent sure we will lose. With it, the consciences of wavering members can be lifted up and emboldened. While we are not a religious organization, we cannot succeed without prayer as the wind in our sails. So will you please take just a few minutes, join the 280,760 members of our SBA List family around our virtual dining room table and pray that this bill fails and our nation's children will be protected from the carnage that would result from its passage? This is a defining moment when prayer -- our most powerful lobbying tool-- cannot be left on the table.Also, here is a list of undecided Members of Congress that so you can pray for each by name. These folks are under intense pressure on all sides. Their struggles do not go unnoticed, but pray that through all the clutter they see the clearest reminder of what this is about: the babies that will be lost if this bill passes. >Marjorie Dannenfelser President, Susan B. Anthony List www.sba-list.org

P.S. If you haven’t had a chance to yet, please take a look at our powerful add running in 8 districts this weekend. It puts this whole debate in perspective. www.sba-list.org/baby

A Little Child Shall Lead Them... picture sharing time

These are pictures shared by G, M, and L. The only prompt was, "Pray and ask Jesus for a picture." Then we worshiped.

Monday during worship, G saw a picture of Jesus with children all around him. This is how she described it: "Angels were in a circle surrounding the children, and outside of the angels' circle were bad people and demons who wanted to hurt the children. Jesus told the children to pray and worship to confuse the demons and bad people.

Next she saw Jesus coming down on a cloud. "All the children could see Jesus coming down into the room, but the parents could not see Him. The kids told their parents, but they didn't believe. The parents went back to bed but the children stayed awake and talked with God."

M saw Jesus standing in the room with us while were worshiping. She also saw "lots of angels with Jesus." M asked, "Jesus, will you heal the sick people?" Jesus answered, "Yes." Later M saw Jesus healing everybody.

Yesterday G saw a girl dancing in the rain. Jesus came down on a cloud and held a golden scepter out to the girl. Jesus was very bright and the girl could only glimpse his brightness. The scepter said, "LOVE." He then put a crown on her head that said, "LOVE., but she could not see it. He also gave her a jewel that said "LOVE" because whe was loving God by worshiping Him and obeying Him.

Today L told us that she saw Jesus walking in a grassy place and Jesus asked her, "Do you want to go explore and see flowers with me?" L followed and Jesus asked, "Would you like to see a cabin?" She explained the rest as follows... in her words. "I looked and saw a meadow. There were flowers. Then we were at the cabin, and it was scary. But God cleaned it up and it wasn't scary any more. We sat in the cabin and talked and talked, until he said, "Let's look upstairs." Upstairs there were lots of yucky bedrooms. We went back down and Jesus made everything beautiful, even upstairs. Then we went out to see flowers and we smelled them. They were purple flowers and tulips and roses and more. Then Jesus went up to heaven and I went back home, but I had to leave my big teddy bear in the meadow. I was sad, but Jesus said it would be okay."

Today M saw Jesus on a cross. She asked, "Jesus, may I please try it?" Then she found herself on a cross and she said it hurt. But Jesus told M. "You look beautiful to me." Then M got back down and went to her mom. She then felt Holy Spirit entering inside her heart and she could feel that Jesus was there too.

Aside ... when L was only barely four years old she drew a picture of crosses with people on them. I asked her what it was. She said, "That is us. We are praying."

Lord, pour out your Spirit more and more on the children and on us all as we daily take up the cross of intercession just like Jesus did and does for us.

In the beginning ... day three of our family house of prayer

How can it be that I spend time alone with God in my little 14 X 16 room, mostly in the middle of night, and change lives across the globe? How can it be that children ages 7, 9, and 10, see visions and witness miracles happen at their very words as they pray in that same little room by the light of day?

This morning I awoke with an illness, apparently the same illness that had struck my husband so hard over the weekend. My throat and head ached and my ears filled with painful pressure. Body aches foretold a day of misery. I rose long enough to tell my little troupe that mommy was sick and was going back to bed --- and prayer would start at 9:30 instead of 8:30. Not more than a second passed when M asked, “Can I pray for you?” Wow. M, our newest family member has only been with us 15 months now, but she is the first to offer to pray. All three prayed for my healing. I returned to bed, head on the pillow below which lay a list of healing scriptures. One hour later I arose with hardly a symptom and energy for a full day! Hallelujah!

Our morning routine, after breakfast, is a time of worship followed by a time of seeking God for revelation. After seeking God we share our pictures and words. Next we bring out our jewel bucket and begin intercessory prayer; each person gets a pile of "jewels" - gemstones that represent big prayers and little prayers. Sometimes we use our globe and atlas during this time to further our understanding of where our prayers are headed. Then we spend time encountering God's presence together - or rather, individually while in the same room listening to prophetic worship music.  We all it "Picture Time."  After picture time we share our pictures.  After that we go onto more traditional schooling - math, science, history.

Interestingly enough, children more readily accept the fact that prayer is powerful than we adults do. Fully expecting answers, they will continue to pray the same prayers day after day. While they are certainly excited at hearing about direct answers, they are patient with prayers that take months and months, even years, before the answer comes.

What do we pray for? Everything from missionaries in China and Mali, to earthquake victims and the helpers in Haiti, to dreams and visions for our president and other leaders, to family and friends, to divine revelation and wisdom for us, to finances for friends in need, to supernatural help with math work, all the way down to prayers for teddy bears to have a good day. How our Savior must smile as he watches our gem jar fill with the potpourri of prayers offer from innocent lips!

I hope to regularly post significant pictures and words that the children receive and encouragement to all.

As I have new ideas for drawing kids into worship and prayer, I will try to get them posted.

Blessings on all who seek His name and all who will come to know Him!