Tuesday, August 23, 2016

BoTB Results and A Big Ask

Ah, friends, I'm already not keeping up well. It's well past the day I should've posted Battle of the Bands results... and here we are. Sigh. So, let's get that bit of business out of the say, shall we?

The battle was Dr. John versus Billy Joel, and the song was In A Sentimental Mood. It was actually a tight battle in the end with your votes looking like this:

Dr. John: 11
Billy Joel: 8

That's pretty close. I'm undecided even now. Point of fact, I have YouTube playing them even as I speak to help me decide the matter once and for all. I'll let let you know how it turns out by the time this post ends.

So, what is going on that has me so wrapped up that I haven't been blogging? (I know this is what you're thinking.)

I'm not certain where to begin. For those of you who are praying sorts, H-Girl still needs a boatload of prayer. In my pre-camp post she'd moved out of her father's house and in with a girlfriend. She's 17 and legally an adult in SC, though she can't actually drop out of school until her 18th birthday (January). There's good reason to believe she's doing drugs (no idea what sort, but stronger than pot) and doesn't seem inclined to stop. It's all very worrisome, and migraine-inducing, as she's still not responding to emails and her father disconnected her cell phone (not that she'd take my call anyway). So, there really isn't anything I can do except pray for her, which I do frequently, but I know that once someone begins this journey she has to want to quit. I also know that it can be a lifetime addiction. I really hate that. It also can mean an early death (and that is extremely scary). So, this is a situation that is all hands on the prayer deck. If you go to a church and would be willing to have your entire church pray for her, please add her to your prayer chain(s). You can email if you want information.

One of the things that has stuck with me from camp is something one of the counselors said fourth week in our Saturday morning devotions, which is the time we share what we've learned from the week, and that was this: "This week reminded me that I don't pray big enough. I forget how big God is, and I put my own limitations of what I think God can do in any given situation when I pray. And that is wrong. God is huge. God is the Creator.. way beyond my capacity to problem solve." He didn't say it exactly like that, but close enough. And it really struck me. How often have I done that? All the freakin' time. I've even done it in the situation above (maybe especially in the situation above, not wanting to bother people etc etc and blah blah blah). In doing so, by not telling people, by not bothering people, I've not given them the opportunity to pray to the eternal God, the creator of all things on behalf of someone who doesn't even know she's walking the line between life and death. Or maybe just between freedom and incarceration. Or a life of addiction and one free from that. All because of the limitations I put on God or others or myself.



This past Sunday my mom (who usually leads the praise singing at church) didn't go as she fell the day before (she's okay. sore. but okay.). Anyway, she usually says something before the singing to kick off the service. I've done it once before (with notice and was prepared), but this past Sunday not so much. So, I was in the car pondering the dilemma of what to say, thinking I had quite a few camp things I could share, but which thing??? And JUST THEN the song King of The World by Natalie Grant came on the radio. I'd never heard the song before, but it reminded me of what that counselor in the Saturday devotions said, and I knew what God wanted me to say. Pray bigger. He's the King of the world.

Pray bigger, my friends.

Well, I still don't know how I'd vote in my battle. I kinda got distracted with my post. Probably Billy Joel. I like the lyrics, you know. (shocking)




14 comments:

  1. I'm sorry, Robyn. God has no limits and we should pray big. God can fix the big as easily as the small.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Close battle. Sending prayers your way

    ReplyDelete
  3. You can always "bother" me with your problems because you're not bothering me. I shall continue to pray for the young woman, and I'll ask friends to do so. I wish her cell phone hadn't been disconnected. It might have been a way to keep track of her.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are truly showing how empathic you are and whether you pray big or small, it is heard. If this girl finds the road to improvement, only she can find it. Others can show her the road but she has to want to. She may not find this road for a while but if she has knowledge that a door is always open somewhere, one day she will use that door. You might be given this test to not only think of this girl but to not take it so much inward that it hurts you too much. The sadness can be all surrounding but glad you find the strength in songs like you have here. By the way I mailed your card!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh man! I'm hurting for you. What a difficult time and circumstance. It's so hard to see them grow up and make their own decisions. I'm sending prayers for your daughter, and for you. Take as much peace as you can, eh? Her struggles are her struggles, and though your mother heart aches, sometimes they have to learn these lessons on their own. That doesn't mean we ever stop hoping and praying, but I hope you can find a measure of peace.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's so hard to watch young people destroy their lives like that. I'm so very sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am having quite the run today of people blogging something brilliant to which I can only say, "I keep telling myself that"... I will keep her in my prayers. She definately qualifies as a "Project IS" request.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Robin, So sorry that you are having to worry so much about your daughter. I will pray for her. I LOVE your Pray Bigger story: it makes so much sense!
    Please take good care of yourself and know that she is in God's hands. Her lessons are hers to learn. All you can do is love from afar. I know that's heartbreaking and not easy, but turn it over to God. And please find the peace within...

    Sending you a big hug,

    Michele at Angels Bark

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm sorry to hear about H-Girl. Having walked the path myself, I can tell you that while most people's words went in one ear and out the other, there are some that I can still remember to this day, even though I was high as a kite, I can recall them. It was because that person was important to me. Did I listen to them? No. Not at that time. But it gave me something to reflect on on those times I wasn't high. And then when I struggled to become sober. You're doing right by not giving up on H-Girl. Keep praying, keep talking. Keep hope. I'll also pray for her. Much love.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh RObin, i praying praying praying!! So scary and sad for H-girl.
    Pray Big!! I love that always a wonderful reminder. God is so good. I cant imagine being here today without Faith in HIM.
    Big hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's a tough situation with your daughter. Sending best wishes and positive vibes that she will come to her senses and seek help.

    That was a close battle. Congrats to Dr. John!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Not surprised that Dr John came out ahead, but it was a close one.

    This topic of prayer has been on my mind a lot lately. We are told to pray unceasingly--or as I might interpret it to be in an attitude of prayerfullness on an ongoing basis. If the entire world could pray like this we'd see amazing changes. But then we'd all need to pray to the one true God. Prayer is a tough challenge in this busy world in which we live. Too bad that we're often too busy--or distracted--to talk to God.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm sorry to hear about your young friend. Def. all praying hands on deck. Two more here.

    I pray big, and I believe God will answer big too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. We had a crisis with one of the grandkids recently and I flip-flopped between praying and trying to do something myself. Of course, nothing I did helped and then something from outside intervened and made all the difference. I apologized to God for forgetting He's got it covered. The only hard part is accepting that God handles things on his schedule, not ours. Just keep praying.

    ReplyDelete

You can now add YouTube videos in your comments by copy/pasting the link. AND/OR you can insert an image by surrounding the code with this: [im]code[/im]. In the case of images, make sure that your code is short and simple ending with something like .jpg. If you want to use a pic from someplace like Google Images, click on the image, then click on View Image. That is the code you want!

Dazzle Me!