Peace With the Psalms, Week Thirty-Eight

 

I'm not quite ready to let go of summer.

However a sweet friend will be hosting a Halloween Tablescape Blog Hop Party, and I will be working on my tablescape this weekend.  This is summer's last hurrah!

Happy Friday, Friends!

Didn't you just love this week's lesson?  I know that I did!  :D  I also enjoyed the prayer.  God's love is steadfast.  It never changes.  

I'm in a book club at church, and we are currently reading Seasons of Your Heart by Macrina Wiederkehr.  The first season we covered today was the season of wonder.  Our teacher shared with us a poem by Hannah Rosenberg from her book entitled Same.

Me as a Woman, me as a girl

We met the other day.

Me as a woman, me as a girl.

We looked each other up and down.

Shy at first. It’s you? We both said, laughing.

It’s you?

Me as a girl spoke first. I like how you go

Walking whenever you want. How you drink

Coffee by the window and write, like I always

Thought I would. I love your home, she said,

looking around. It feels just right.

I’d like to live here, too.

I hoped you would, me as a woman said.

I love your confidence. How proud you are.

How special you feel.

Not always, me as a girl said. Sometimes I feel sad.

Sometimes I am cruel.

We all do. We all are, me as a woman said.

Me as a woman and me as a girl looked at each other.

We can’t exist at the same time, not exactly, but maybe

a part of me can stay with you somehow? asked the girl.

Me as a woman smiled. I’d like that, she said.

I’ve been waiting my whole life to take care of someone like you.

We also had a writing prompt where we were asked what we would say to our child self.  This was difficult for me because I did not have the happiest of childhoods.  For one thing, I was an only child, and my parents divorced when I was three.

But what this lesson from Peace With the Psalms reminds me of is that God is not constrained by time because he lives outside of it.  He is still comforting my childhood self, wiping away my tears and showing me his steadfast love.

Both of these lessons dovetail quite nicely, and I would like for you to think about what you would say to the child version of you.

Here is this week's scripture from Psalm 136:

One seasonal thing I'm enjoying right now is the abundance (and variety) of chrysanthemums, especially at our local farmers' markets.  I love them!  They remind me of fall football games in the South (our dates would give them to us at football games, especially homecoming).  

Prayer Requests

• URGENT:  Please pray for a dearly loved blogging friend for a miracle for her health and recovery!  
• Pray for Kris's husband Terry to find something here in Illinois full or part time so they can stay there for a few more years.  UPDATE:  Terry is up hopefully for a good job here in Illinois. Prayers he gets an interview. 
• Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds.  Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions.  Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.  
• Molly’s contract fell through on the barndominium (Kitty's daughter).  Pray that God will lead the right buyer to purchase her home.
• Let's pray for all of our health, and for the health of our families.  
• Pray for Carla's son Sam and his new wife, Cate, who were married on August 29th.  Pray for the happy couple as they begin their new adventure! 
• Kris's Grandson Edmund will be a Big Brother in March!  God is so good!  Let's lift both mother and baby up in prayer.  UPDATE:  Kimmie was in a car accident, and she had to go to the hospital because the seatbelt cut into her.  She will have a follow-up ultrasound with her OB/GYN.  Pray for her and her baby!
• Please lift up Rita in your prayers!  We have a praise that she is finally over cyclospora, and her arm feels like it's healing very well.
• Pray for Rita's brother's companion Betty who was diagnosed with squamous cell from her lung biopsy.  Betty started radiation on Monday.  Also pray for Rita's brother Joe;  he will have a prostate biopsy on 10/1. Please lift them both up in prayer. 
• Kitty's brother is home from the skilled nursing care.  Please pray that he can manage.
• Pray for Kris's SIL Tim who still needs a job.  He has to test into another hospital system and they do not have an opening until the middle of this month.  
• Pray for our male Westie Finlay.  His vet found a large mass on his bladder.  He will need further testing to determine the type of tumor and how to proceed.
• Kris had a fall (just skinned-up), because sometimes her knee goes out on her.  She's also struggling with a shooting nerve issue in her foot and leg.  Pray that she will get the appropriate healthcare so she can feel and move better.
• Prayers for Rita's precious granddaughter Princess J.  She had a tonsillectomy on 9/11, and Rita asks that we pray for a swift recovery.
• Please pray for Trip.  He is having a problem with foot drop in his left foot caused by a disc in his back.  Please pray that his foot will improve, and that he will tolerate the steroids prescribed for him.
• Please pray that I can get better sleep and rest.
• Mr. Panoply has a nasty cold.  Pray that he gets over it quickly.
• Carla is also feeling under the weather with cold-like symptoms.  Pray that she knocks it out quickly.

Now that I have this post live, I'm headed to get a PSL and go to the carwash. 

That's the only errand I have today.  I got most of them done yesterday!

Have a great weekend!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill