Prayer Request!!!

I put a counter on here 3 weeks ago (to the hour) thinking that maybe 20 folks would read the blog in a week. Significantly more are checking in and so I thought I'd post a prayer request.

Please pray for our home. I do all I can to keep us healthy around here. You can imagine how illness can sweep through a family our size...often reinfecting the first ones by the time the last ones are feeling better.....

This upcoming week is our birthday week. Nolan, Josiah and Alex all have birthdays. It is also the last full week before the ORI begins on base (translates to long hours and stress at work for Mike). We've done so well not getting ill....but

YESTERDAY Nolan came down with a fever and headache. He threw up once. Now he's got a sore throat too and is nauseated and feverish. He'd asked for a party with friends and has so been looking forward to it...and now he feels bad....and I don't want this to spread to the rest of us at this time.....

Please pray he recovers quickly and that the rest of us don't catch this right now. Please pray that we are able to stay "on track" as Mike prepares for the ORI.

Thanks all. . . whoever ya'all are. {g}

PS a prayer for my sanity is always good too....I feel a bit queasy myself...and that ringing cow bell (I give them when they are sick) coupled with lack of sleep and fussy babies....appreciate your prayers.

PLAIN OLE TWADDLE!!!! {g}

I read “Just Plain Pickled to Death” for no reason other than fun! I thought I deserved a fun read after the rather “serious” non-fiction books I’ve been reading. Thanks to all who recommended the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series by Tamar Myers.

This is the 4th book in the series and 44 (or is it 46) year old Magdalena Yoder finally marries her “pooky bear”, Aaron Miller. Before the wedding can occur, Magdalena has to solve a 20 year old murder. The Penn Dutch Inn is full of a strange cast of characters one of which predictably turns out to be the murderer.

I find these books to be HILARIOUS! I love the novelty of the Amish/Mennonite setting. There is nothing at all necessarily “meaningful” in these books but they are a great way to spend a relaxing evening. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, if you like a good laugh and you are intrigued by the Amish/Mennonite lifestyle you may enjoy these books too.

It would be impossible to share all the spots in the book that struck me as funny...but the final chapter - the wedding itself had me laughing out loud. Enjoy.

Thanks to the young ones for buying me the WHOLE SERIES at Christmas….

Experiencing God Through Prayer

Another book finished!

I had heard many things about Madame Jeane Guyon. I had heard that she was “new age”. I’d also heard that her writings had positively influenced as varied an audience as the Moravian brethren, Francis Fenelon, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, Watchman Nee and A.W. Tozer, all of whom God used powerfully and profoundly.

Madame Jeane Guyon was widowed at the age of 29, arrested in 1688 and again in 1695 for teaching heresy. She spent 6 years in prison at Vincennes and was later transferred to the Bastille. She was released in 1703 and lived the rest of her life in Blois under house arrest.

She was a teacher of Quietism, a form of mysticism. Quietism often refers to the state of human inactivity while in fellowship with God when praying, reading and meditating on the Scriptures. It is a spiritual exercise so as to “quieten” the soul in order for God to have His full way with the believer.

I found some things in this book that could be taken to an extreme and did give me cause for concern…but I also found some gems in this book. It is important to remember that Madame Guyon assumes her reader has already experienced “new birth”. I found this book to be easy to read and yet filled with truths that cause one to ponder and “be still” in God’s presence. This book was first published in 1685. In my research I found that there is a book edited by Gene Edwards that several state wanders far from Madame Guyon’s original words and intents. *Experiencing God Through Prayer* takes the reader on a journey to discover the difference between praying to God and experiencing God through prayer. Madame Guyon continually urges her reader to press on towards intimacy with Christ.

I found this to be a valuable read, though I would caution one to read “warily”. This is now one of my “well-marked” books. {g}