- "provocative snit mode"
- sleeping in a bit this morning (even if the night wasn't that restful, it was nice to not have to rise early, and snag any extra little bit of rest)
- booking flights for an escape that is less than two weeks away
- I French braided my hair today, just for a change. I liked how it looked.
- glancing down and catching sight of the pretty bright, deep pink color that I painted my toenails last night
- wearing earrings I hadn't worn since the day I spent wandering the LA garment district with a dear friend in September. I love those earrings, and the memory of that September day was lovely too.
- corn bread with honey butter (have you ever had honey butter? SO good)
- coming home from school to find a tasty supper prepared and waiting
- thankful that when I fell on some ice today, it wasn't at all serious
- a good natural health treatment tonight.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 176
Today's Daily 5:
Lesson Learned
Today I learned that attempting to read a memoir about India and learning Hindi, while fighting off a drifting off to sleep, and attempting to filter out the voice of the woman sitting behind me on the bus, talking loudly in an unidentified language (not Spanish, probably Portuguese or Tagalog), is enough to make one's head spin.
I was also reminded that if I am drifting off to sleep every time I get on the bus and sit still for a while, then I perhaps need to take aim at an earlier bedtime to compensate.
I was also reminded that if I am drifting off to sleep every time I get on the bus and sit still for a while, then I perhaps need to take aim at an earlier bedtime to compensate.
Praying Out Loud
I hate praying aloud.
Hate it.
Even blessing the food at a meal.
Please don't ask me.
I will do anything I can to avoid it.
Years ago, when I was in the twelfth grade, my young life leader caught wind of just how much I hated praying aloud. (Actually, at the time, I would have used the word "hate" for prayer in general.) She, being wiser than I'd care to admit at times, forced the issue. I no longer had a choice. She could control me with her eyes. If we were in a small group setting, and praying aloud was optional for everyone else, she'd tell me with her eyes (and sometimes with her words) that it was not an option for me. If we were sharing a meal together, guess whose job it was to bless the food?
It's been a decade since that year I spent being forced into prayer by a loving friend. These days prayer, the silent kind anyway, is as natural as breathing, and one of the things God has consistently asked of me and gifted me for.
But I still hate praying aloud.
I've been thinking of it more often lately, that perhaps it's a discipline I need to cultivate again.
But I hadn't really felt any great drive or conviction until last week.
Last week I met with a long-time friend of mine who is the pentecostal chaplain at the university that I'm attending. We spent an hour or so catching up, and, as I looked at my watch and realized that I needed to head off to class, he closed our time together by praying for me.
I walked away from that time refreshed. It's not often these days that I am prayed for in person, and I had forgotten how encouraging it can be simply to hear someone lift me before the Father. And as I walked away, I began to tell God how thankful I was for that time, for that needed encouragement.
And as I told him that, I felt God reminding me that perhaps I should be more willing to offer that encouragement and blessing to others.
I haven't figured out what that looks like, yet. I'm not often in settings where prayer aloud would be appropriate. Perhaps, in my case, it looks like asking one or two of my far away friends if we can close our phone conversations and skype dates by praying together, for each other.
In any case, I feel that strong internal nudging, that reminder to be willing, and so I'm seeking to be obedient to that, and aware of opportunities to life others before the Father, in their hearing.
Hate it.
Even blessing the food at a meal.
Please don't ask me.
I will do anything I can to avoid it.
Years ago, when I was in the twelfth grade, my young life leader caught wind of just how much I hated praying aloud. (Actually, at the time, I would have used the word "hate" for prayer in general.) She, being wiser than I'd care to admit at times, forced the issue. I no longer had a choice. She could control me with her eyes. If we were in a small group setting, and praying aloud was optional for everyone else, she'd tell me with her eyes (and sometimes with her words) that it was not an option for me. If we were sharing a meal together, guess whose job it was to bless the food?
It's been a decade since that year I spent being forced into prayer by a loving friend. These days prayer, the silent kind anyway, is as natural as breathing, and one of the things God has consistently asked of me and gifted me for.
But I still hate praying aloud.
I've been thinking of it more often lately, that perhaps it's a discipline I need to cultivate again.
But I hadn't really felt any great drive or conviction until last week.
Last week I met with a long-time friend of mine who is the pentecostal chaplain at the university that I'm attending. We spent an hour or so catching up, and, as I looked at my watch and realized that I needed to head off to class, he closed our time together by praying for me.
I walked away from that time refreshed. It's not often these days that I am prayed for in person, and I had forgotten how encouraging it can be simply to hear someone lift me before the Father. And as I walked away, I began to tell God how thankful I was for that time, for that needed encouragement.
And as I told him that, I felt God reminding me that perhaps I should be more willing to offer that encouragement and blessing to others.
I haven't figured out what that looks like, yet. I'm not often in settings where prayer aloud would be appropriate. Perhaps, in my case, it looks like asking one or two of my far away friends if we can close our phone conversations and skype dates by praying together, for each other.
In any case, I feel that strong internal nudging, that reminder to be willing, and so I'm seeking to be obedient to that, and aware of opportunities to life others before the Father, in their hearing.
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