Hurricanes and Prayer

Do you remember Bob praying that a hurricane would be downgraded before Katrina?  I can't remember which one but I remember Bob praying just that.  Based on that example, I found myself praying that same thing about Hurricane Katrina.  And then Bob prayed for a downgrade in our worship yesterday.  I am left thinking either, "Are we crazy to be praying such a thing?" or "What an amazing God we must have if we have faith that he is powerful enough to change such things!" 

Keep praying for God to work in this terrible storm.  Maybe we will have a chance to serve in some way after the storm has cleared.  Pray that we might be ready to serve if the opportunity arises.

 

 

Strengthened by Grace

Lucas and I had a conversation about grace yesterday.  I was thinking about it today with Eric.  A phrase in the book of Hebrews is "strengthened by grace."  I find it very hard to define grace.  I think I might know it when I see it, but I'm not sure I can explain it in words.  To me, this may be one of the greatest but hidden truths of Christianity.  Also...maybe we have to experience it before we can try and explain it.  I know one thing...I want to be strengthened by grace.  I know grace and gift are very similar words.  Maybe it has something to do with being strengthened by God's gifts instead of our efforts, our sweat, our knowledge, our wisdom.  My whole body seems to long for this reliance on grace instead of myself...and yet I struggle to let grace be enough.

Love that never rests

Casey has given me permission to share a thought or two here on his blog, and being that I am his wife and have all of the secret passwords (and have altered his template code more than once), I felt like it might be okay as well. I really didn't think I'd have anything to share so soon, but here goes. I'm sharing something I posted on my own blog today, but I'll add a bit more to it at the end.

For the past, 0h I don't know, four years I have been on-and-off looking for a couple of my old roommates. They are twin sisters, so I figured if I found one I would find the other, right? Friendly advice (please note the sarcasm): Twins -- at least the ones I lived with -- get a huge kick out of the "well, if you've seen one, you've seen them both!" kind of remarks. Really, they took all the cajoling in stride. They are both quite hilarious, and that's really why I want to find them again -- just for a laugh or two. So anyway, after years of searching...and searching...I went to (DUH) my university site where I had recently updated my alumni info in order to (DUH) find old college friends. When I did a basic search using only their last name, I found them both, although just one had entered an email address. After getting over how ridiculously easy that had been and kicking myself for time wasted, I sent a brief catch-up letter to Becky and I am hope, hope, hoping that she writes back soon.

In the midst of writing all of this down and actually considering how much "searching" I have done (plunked out a few names on a website?), I realize this is NOTHING compared to the way God's love searches us out. Consider Psalm 23:6 which says, "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Casey has talked about replacing 'follow' with 'pursue'...

Surely goodness and love will PURSUE me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Isn't that a wonderful way to imagine God's love -- not resting until it reaches you, until your last dying breath? If only we would pursue one another in love, pursue the lost in love...pursue our God in love.

tracey