Operation: Asa Joy

I met with a friend this week who encouraged me in the fact that she said that she was praying for my son, William. I had not given her a lot of details but had just asked for prayer. She had been praying through a book, Praying the Scripture for Your Teens by Jodi Berndt and had been praying two of the prayers specifically for William. She knew none of the details of what was going on with him but God led her to prayer and read the chapter on self-injury and the one on depression. What an amazing God we serve. When we are following close to him and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us, he will lead us exactly where he needs us. To pray for those he knows need us to be praying for them. I was reading the chapter my friend had led me to on self-injury. As I was reading it I got an overwhelming urge to write a poem. It was so powerful that I stopped what I was doing and wrote. This poem is based on the chapter that I read. Engraved - For William My pain Sorrow ...

After a very emotional church service on Sunday I felt led to finally write a letter that has been on my heart for a while. It has been a tough month with for me as I have been dealing with late night conversations with my adult children, my teenagers, and my littles. Hard conversations. But I so thankful that they are talking to me and being brave about sharing their struggles.  I feel it is time we stop hiding behind the word "fine" and start praying for each other and encouraging one another.  Ladies, I want to start out by telling each one of you that I love you like dear sisters. God has placed us in each other’s lives for a reason. We are relational beings no matter how much we want to deny that. No matter how much we want to retreat into ourselves and not let anyone into what is really going on in our lives. I think most, if not all of us, suffer in silence because we are afraid to let people into our lives. It is easier to cry silent tears and to say t...