BLOGGING LESS - PRAYER REQUEST

Due to increased family responsibilities, I've been posting much less lately. I ask your continued prayers for my extended family, children and grandchildren, who are in situations where much prayer is needed for strength and courage under difficult circumstances. These are not situations open to drastic change, only to change for the better in relationships within the constraints of present circumstances. I know you understand why I cannot go into detail, nor can I mention names, but God knows the names and the needs, and I trust that God will hear and respond to our prayers.

Also, I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time on maintenance of my old body, with doctor visits, medical tests, upcoming dental appointments, all crowding in on me in a brief period of time, thus leaving me with less free time to spend online.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who sets us in families: We commend to your continual care the homes in which your people dwell. Put far from them, we ask you, every root of bitterness and the pride of life. Fill them with faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness. Knit together in constant affection the members of the families. Turn the hearts of the parents to the children, and the hearts of the children to the parents; and so enkindle fervent charity among us all, that we may evermore be kind and loving one to another; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the joy and care of children: Give us calm strength and patient wisdom as we bring them up, that we may teach them to love whatever is just and true and good, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

(The first prayer is a paraphrase from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church, and the second is a direct quote.)

Image 'borrowed' from my dear friend, Paul the BB.

PLEASE PRAY...

From David@Montreal:

beloved Giants
grounds for gratitude: my dear Mam who will be 90 this November woke from a nap to incapacitating pain in her back, yesterday after getting back from Church.unable to get out of her chair, there was a phone within reach and she called one of my sisters who lives out in the burbs near her and who has a car.
taken to the hospital, turns out she has a fractured spine, has been given medication for the pain and is staying with one of my four sisters overnight.
at her age it could have been a lot worse, so i am profoundly grateful.

i will be going out tomorrow to spend the day with Mam and get a better idea of what we need to do to support her during her convalesence.
in the meantime, I would also beg your prayers for the people of Syria and most particularly for the people of Homs who are being bombarded mercilessly by the tyrant, 24/7
a Muslim friend asks that you ask not only that the people of Syria be delivered, but that the extreme violence which has been inflicted on the people of Syria become a teaching moment for the Islamic leadership.

thank-you my beloved Giants
love always-always Love

From me:

For members of my family who are going through a difficult time.

For positive results from medical tests for me. (Don't worry - nothing life-threatening.)

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfil now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

Image at the head of post courtesy of Paul the BB.

BORING DIARY ENTRY

January and February are months of high maintenance for me. Routine doctors' appointments, medical tests, and dental visits seem to pile up during the period, and, along with Grandparents' Day at the schools of two of my grandchildren, will keep me/us on the run for the next few weeks.

The weather here has been quite cold (for us!), with temperatures two nights running down into the 20s F. I know you heartier types, who have REALLY COLD WEATHER and snow storms to deal with, scoff at my moans about cold weather, but we are not at all accustomed to below freezing temperatures.

Yesterday, when I went to the doctor's office at 9:30 AM, the temperature was just at freezing. When I returned home about an hour later, the temp was still freezing and felt much colder due to a strong north wind.

A good many plants outside, along with the lawn, are now dead. The trees are bare, except for the evergreens. Altogether the landscape is dreary, but for the evergreens, which give us a bit of relief from the dead and brown. The photo above shows rather more green than I would have expected, with the pines and the oaks providing color. The green you see on the front lawn are weeds, not grass.