Prayer Warrior

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance... Eph 6:18

Today I met a prayer warrior. The outside shell of her body has seen many years, the wrinkles in her face
are a wittness to the life of laughter she has experienced, her hands are worn, but soft to the touch. She is dressed in a modest dress, and greets me with a smile. She doesn't look like a warrior, but she is. She has prayed for generations, and seen many things come from the power of prayer.
The first encounter I had with this woman was over the phone, as she shared about losing her husband in the last week. They had been married 53 years this March.Today, I got to meet her face to face. Inviting me in, I can't help but notice the cards and flowers/plants sitting around her home. Her husband was buried on Monday.  She explains that he went home to meet Jesus in his sleep. How he was waiting for her on the other side.
I take a seat next to her on the couch as she shares with me her wedding photos and her treasured memories of past dates and special times with the love of her life. Although the photos are yellowed with age, with vivid colors she paints a picture in my minds eye of the bright, happy memories she treasures. She asks me about my family and as I share with her, she reaches for a book laying on top of her well worn Bible.
Keeping the book in her lap she shares her faith, and then opens her book. It was a prayer journal. Inside are pages full of names. She shows me some names that have lines underneath them. She explains that each line represents a time she had a bad thought against that person. With each line she would pray for forgiveness and pray for blessings upon them. We chatted about prayers of all sorts and the waiting that comes along with prayer,  and the faith that is wrapped up within each prayer. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke of prayers that led to eternal decisions..folks that she would see in heaven.
My greatest suprise came when  she humbled me by asking if it was okay if she put my name, and Sweeties, and the boys into her prayer journal. With tear filled eyes I gave her permission to do so. As a fellow prayer person, I understand the value in having someone pray for you, and the honor placed on ones shoulders to be able to approach the the throne of the Creator, and pray for someone else.
Sometimes the power of prayer is underestimated, often is is misundersood, and becomes more of a habit to bow quickly, mumble a few words and go about our business. Often prayer is something we say we will do, but forget to follow through, or a quick prayer sent up and then it is forgotten about. We have been given a direct link to our Heavenly Father., an opportunity to change someones life, a gift - the gift of prayer.
Before I left her,we prayed together. Two believers, united in our faith,  lifting up those who are laid on our hearts with the knowledge that God was listening. 

Sushi!

Sushi date!

For my birthday one of my friends from Highschool took me to eat sushi with her at one of our favorite restaurants - Kohana!

She ordered the soup and salad that you can see in the back and the two wood trays in front of us. (I only ate two of the veggie pieces) The rest of the pieces on the wood slabs there were raw sushi. I'm not there yet.. working on it!

The round bowl has what is called "The Mother of All Sushi" this is the biggest roll they have there. I ate  half of just one of these and it was okay. It had crawfish in it, and I am not a fan. But the rest of it was good. The sauce in the middle tasted nutty.

The tight oval in front is my favorite: Mango roll. I ate all of it but three pieces! Needless to say my friend took home a to-go box!

Summer in Tuscany

Hey! Look what I got to grill!  PEACHES!  I've never eaten or grilled peaches before. Super easy and big time yummy!  My BFF and I went to a cooking class titled: Summer in Tuscany at a grocery store called Whole Foods in Nashville. It was a ton of fun, and I learned a lot!  (Im already looking forward to my next one!) We made a steak salad and Italian pizza, (BTW, did you know they don't use sauce on their pizza?) and even whipped our own cream to top our fresh berry dessert!

Psalm 51:10

Ever been around anyone negative in your life? I feel so sorry for them! I know life is hard, I've experienced all sorts of bumps and bruises and some things that I thought I would never be able to get up from, but I did. I just choose not to focus them. Yes, our past does have an effect on the here and now of our lives, but how much it does is up to you.
I love working outside in the flower beds and in the yard. There is a certain amount of upkeep needed in order to have a beautiful thriving landscape. If you let the maintenance of it go, it will become quite a mess. For instance, now that my irises have bloomed and died off, I needed to go out there and cut them back some. This will make them better plants for next season, and passerby's will be able to see the other foliage I have that is blooming now. In cleaning that bed out early this morning, I discovered some grass and various weeds had started growing behind the iris and monkey grass. I now have more work to do than I thought I did. I could choose to be angry at the weeds and blame them for starting to ruin the bed, or I can ignore the situation and have a lot worse of a mess to deal with in the future. My choice?
I will cut back the iris, and clear out the weeds and grass. This may take several hours but I will do it as that will yield the best results.
Taking care of the weeds in our life is a lot like our gardens and landscaping. If we address each situation, give relationships the maintenance they deserve, they will thrive. The problems, or weeds don't crop up overnight, although sometimes it may seem that way. Address it right away. This will make the problem easier to deal with now than if you let it fester, and the person (like the plant) will grow and be better for it.