Peace With the Psalms: Week Twelve

 

Happy Friday, Friends!  It has been a week full of surprises around here!

First of all....our kitchen is finished, and we are almost completely moved in!  We just have a couple of (very minor) details to complete.  I have already deep-cleaned the family room (which is completely open to our kitchen), our dining room which is adjacent, and today, I will deep clean my art studio which is open to my dining room.  Although the workers put up plastic walls, the dust still got everywhere.  It even got into the closed bins....all fifteen of them!  How is that even possible?  So we basically had to clean everything before we put it away.

It is such a blessing to be able to cook again in my very own kitchen!

On Sunday afternoon, we were wearing shorts and t-shirts, enjoying the beautiful spring weather.  Then we had severe storms Sunday night followed by snow showers Monday morning.  They were heavy showers, but the snow did not stick to the roads.  It was beautiful to watch!  It has been beautiful, yet cool this week, but temps will be back up to 78 degrees Sunday afternoon!

Last night, Trip and I celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary!  We went to our country club for tacos and triva night.  We came in fourth place (not so good), and the waitress messed-up our taco orders (soft, not crunchy).  I sort of want a do-over, so we are going on a breakfast date tomorrow morning and go to the farmers' market at Pepper Place downtown.

Below are two photos from this week here in our neighborhood:

And now on to our lesson....

Did y'all read this lesson before going to sleep this week?  I did a couple of times, and this is a lesson I have flagged because sometimes at night anxiety rears her ugly head, and it's hard for me to settle down.  My thoughts can race all over the place!  But when I think about what King David went through, to have been betrayed by his own beloved son Absalom, I am comforted knowing David's cries to God and more importantly God's response to David.

Friends, our Father God loves us so much, and wants us to cry out to him in all situations.  I hope you will hold these verses close to your heart, and maybe even pray them and meditate on them for our troops.

How was your week?  Please share with us what's going on in your life and your thoughts about this week's lesson.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for Rita's daughter Megan as she finishes her masters program this semester.  Pray that she will stay healthy, and that she will manage her time well for work/school/life balance.  
• Pray for my best friend Barbara who is battling cancer.  UPDATE:  Her scans were better than expected.  She will have about a month's break before her surgery.
• Carla would like for us to pray for the military build up at the door of Iran. Pray for our leaders to seek wisdom. that we pray for our military, our young men and women who are at that door waiting what orders might be coming. May God protect them.
• Please pray for Kris's MIL because she has been having some heavy health issues, and Kris is currently her full time nurse.  Pray that God will help and bless Kris as she cares for her MIL.  Pray that other family members will step-up and will be discerning about what's best for her care.
• Rita's friend Pam needs our prayers because her cancer is stage four.  
• Please pray for my baby great-niece.  
• Pray for Rita's neighbor Chris.  A .5-1cm lesion was found on her bladder at her 6mo scan after kidney surgery.  She had two small papillary tumors successfully removed via outpatient surgery recently.  UPDATE:  Chris is particularly frozen in her fears of cancer.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will allay her fears.   Her brother was just diagnosed with esophageal cancer and she is about to start her own chemo treatment.
• Pray for Kris's son-in-law Tim because he is still not back at work.
• Pray for Carla's friend Alice who had plastic surgery on her nose due to skin cancer.  UPDATE:  Alice did not have a good outcome with the reconstructive surgery. They will be looking at doing another.
• Carla recently had to deal with a very bitter person.  She has been very bothered by this, and she does not want this person to steal her JOY.
• Praise God I'm still cancer-free!
• Carla has an extended family member stationed in Kuwait named Haley. She is her cousin Steve's daughter.  Please pray for her safety!
• Carla's Sam has several Wisconsin Guard friends stationed in Kuwait and Iraq. Sam will be having Drill this weekend. As this war continues, we pray for our troops and for the troops preparing to deploy.
• Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Praise: He has been successful for over six weeks!
• From Carla:  We are bracing for a major blizzard.  Praying for all those who must be out and about to be safe. Praying for our linemen who are at the ready as we already have some areas without power because of intense wind.
• Rita is keeping our troops and her circle of friends who are especially weathering storms at heart.  Let's pray for them!
• Please pray travel mercies for Shanley Belle and Christopher.  They are in Arizona, and will return home to Michigan on Sunday.

One thing I want to do this weekend is look through some recipe books and on Pinterest for fun recipes and treats for Holy Week and Easter.  Palm Sunday is March 29th!

What are your weekend plans?

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill