How was your March? Mine started off in Florida watching the Cardinals at spring training with Jeff, Carolyn, Jim, Lynn, and Rick. Have you ever watched spring training? The games are so much fun! The intimacy of the smaller stadiums ignites team spirit in a way that just tickles your soul!
We also strolled beautiful ocean shores, heard taps at sunset, and wrote our name sin the sand.
We also ate out. A lot! If you have never tried Berry Fresh Cafe in Port St. Lucie for breakfast, you are missing out. We almost ditched the game to stay for second breakfast or elevensies. It was truly some of the best breakfast food we have ever had.
It truly was a great week. The day we were to get up early and head home, we woke to texts from our son saying a tornado hit Nashville, devastating much of North and East Nashville, just blocks from where our sons live, and a whole neighbor near Cookeville, a few miles from where our nephew lives. Thank God the kids were fine except for broken hearts over the loss of so much. Neighborhoods, business, and lives were wiped out. The whole scenario brought me to my knees in prayer.
Two days later, on my first day back in the office, I was let go. Restructuring. Again, I was on my knees. Leaving a job that had been my daily life for twelve years was hard. Really hard.
COVID-19 came to town before my last day of work. Seriously? You know how that has gone. It is impacting every person on the planet. More prayer. I started looking forward to a new month.
Then April came. My birthday month. Spring flowers. Gorgeous weather. Beauty.
Things were looking up until my stepfather died on April 6. Unexpectedly. He had been in my life since I was four. We were all devastated. Another big reason to go to God in prayer. Tornado, job loss, COVID, and now Everett. What else was this year going to take?
How do you pray when the world has gone mad? How do you pray when your list is longer than hours in the day? How do you stop repeating the same things over and over.
I try to have regular conversations with God. I journal. I write lists. Sometimes all I can do is grunt or cry or plead. I don't think it matters as much what you say as much as simply saying something.
After the madness of March and April, I am praying more than ever. Before I ask God for anything, however, I thank Him for all the blessings. My kids are safe, I had twelve great years with Ellie Claire, I got to go to the graveside service for my stepdad even with the COVID-19 restrictions.
And I am still thanking Him for that French toast at Berry Fresh.
In my journal, Inspired by Prayer, there is a chapter on One-Word Prayers for those who can't find the words. I am happy to send a pdf of that chapter if you think it will be a benefit to you. Just send me an email on the contact page of this website and I will send it right out. You can print it out and journal your prayers or read the chapter and let it help you pick a word to focus on in prayer.
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