Thankful Thursday: Simple Answers

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

As I’ve mentioned before Lord, I’ve become quite fond of the Thankful Thursday post each week.  It serves as a wonderful look back and inspection of the prior week’s events, and helps me to truly focus on and appreciate Your Wondrous Gifts more thoroughly.  Spotlighting those simple joys in life that often go by unnoticed has proved to be inspiring, and humbling at the same time.  And each week, after carefully compiling my list I come to the same undeniable conclusion…

I am truly Blessed.  🙂

And therefore Father, without further ado, here’s this week’s Thankful Thursday list:

76. The local Contemporary Christian Radio Station (88.7 The Bridge – http://www.887thebridge.com).

77. Sweet Vidalia Onions.

78. Spiritual Nudges.

79. My Bloggy Friends.

80. Coupons.

81. The smell of coffee brewing in the morning.

82. A quiet Saturday with good friends.

83. Movie night snuggled up with the kids.

84. Hunny responding well to the Lasix.

85. Getting several decent nights sleep in a row.

86. Grilled hot dogs with cheese sauce.

87. Simple answers.

88. Quiet afternoon drives.

89. Online banking.

90. The cool, fresh breeze following a summer thunderstorm.

Heavenly Father, You Bless us all with so many things each day that this list could go on and on.  For all those Divine Gifts that we recognize, and for those that grace us quietly in silence, I give You thanks and praise.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Seek and You Will Find

Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!

You know Father, I always find it fascinating to look over the statistics information for the readership of PhatherPhil.org.  I’ve been Blessed beyond words with a steadily increasing fellowship of readers, met a wide variety of Your Children I most likely would have never crossed paths with otherwise, and gained immeasurable perspective and insight from the comments made to our conversations each day.  I’ll admit, it’s not what I initially envisioned or expected when I started writing these “Emails to God” each day, but You obviously had other plans for this ministry, and I’m excited to see where they lead next.

As more and more people find this site in the vast sea of cyberspace, I find it interesting to read through the statistics pages to see exactly how they came to be here.  One parameter that’s tracked is the list of phrases entered into Google, Bing and the other search engines that led them to click on this site.  It’s a fascinating variety of terms to be sure, and it gives me a much better perspective about some of the things that people have on their hearts.

Today, I thought I’d share with You some of those searches that directed people to our daily chats.  This obviously isn’t a complete list by any stretch, but these were some search phrases I found interesting…

“my son’s birthday”  *This was the most searched for phrase in the list

“being used”

“thanks to my wife”

“a beautiful prayer”

“god’s gps”

“birthday prayers and blessings”

“there is a time for everything”

“thoughts on selflessness”

“dear lord of mercy and father of comfort”

“running on fumes”

“mercies in disguise”

“lord you know where I’ve been”

“prayers of motivation”

“prayer for a troubled friend”

“inspirations for sons”

“skillful hands”

“prayers of thanks for healing”

“thoughts on prayer”

“thank you to my wife, mother of my children”

“biblical reference to “i can’t fix everything””

“husbands love your wives”

“my sheep listen to my voice”

“thoughts on regret”

“lead me lord cause i can’t do this alone”

“blessed inspirations”

“kindness is contagious”

“more on us than we can handle”

“miracles and wonders”

“love the lord with all your strength”

“spiritually malnourished”

“websites of beautiful prayers”

And I just think this one is funny…

“christian song supernaturally where is superman when you need a helping hand wonderwoman hummin”

Heavenly Father, I thank You for the wonderful fellowship and community this site has enjoyed.  I’m Blessed each day by these conversations we have, and by the beautiful souls that You’ve guided to join us here.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Turn Weakness Into Strength

Dear Lord; Happy Tuesday Father!

First off Father, I want to thank You for a wonderful three-day weekend.  As we discussed in my post on Friday, this Memorial Day weekend was especially emotional and special for us as we celebrated the fact that it’s been 10 years this month since Jonathan’s last chemotherapy treatment.  To mark this milestone, we held a fairly large BBQ at the house (50+ people) on Sunday afternoon, attended by many of those whom have been involved with, or touched by Jonathan’s journey.  It was a joyous event, and Your Presence was felt in abundance.

Yet while we celebrated the life You’ve continued to Grace us with Father, my thoughts and prayers were very much splintered.  Last week I was made aware of several other families fighting that dark battle that we had come through those 10 years back.  While my heart was full with the amazing Blessing of Jonathan’s remission, at the same time it ached, confronted by the news that others were now living with that fear and uncertainty.  Therefore Lord, it seemed appropriate to start this week’s conversations with a prayer of healing for those going through this turmoil.  I wasn’t able to locate a definitive source for this prayer, but it says beautifully what I’ve been praying for:

Dear Lord of Mercy and Father of Comfort,

You are the One I turn to for help in moments of weakness and times of need. I ask You to be with Your servant in this illness. Psalm 107:20 says that You send out Your Word and heal. So then, please send Your healing Word to Your servant. In the name of Jesus, drive out all infirmity and sickness from his body.

Dear Lord, I ask You to turn this weakness into strength, suffering into compassion, sorrow into joy, and pain into comfort for others. May Your servant trust in Your goodness and hope in Your faithfulness, even in the middle of this suffering. Let him be filled with patience and joy in Your presence as he waits for Your healing touch.

Please restore Your servant to full health, dear Father. Remove all fear and doubt from his heart by the power of Your Holy Spirit, and may You, Lord, be glorified through his life.

As You heal and renew Your servant, Lord, may he bless and praise You.

All of this I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Mercies in Disguise

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!

Ten years Lord… Ten years.

Thank You… Thank You… Thank You… Thank You!

This weekend Father, as You’re aware, we’re celebrating 10 years that our oldest son Jonathan has been off of chemotherapy, and other than for a few atypical skin irregularities that were removed as a safety measure, in remission.

While we live each day knowing that there’s still no cure for his disease (Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis), and that it could rear it’s ugly head at any time, we also know that we rest in Your Healing Hands and that even in our darkest moments of despair, You were always with us.  I realize that our earthly lives are temporary and precious gifts Father, and I thank You from the bottom my heart for continuing to Bless us with Jonathan’s presence here among us.

Driving in to work this morning, I was listening to a song called “Blessings” sung by Laura Story.  Although I’d heard it before, for some reason the lyrics struck a chord in my heart today and very much fit in with the thoughts I’ve been having about that first 14 months of Jonathan’s life.  The chorus states:

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

It’s that last line that gets me Lord… What if…

I know one thing for sure Father, the trials we endured during that terrifying time have irrevocably changed us.  In my case, You took that tragedy and used it as a starting point for my path back to You.  In the pit of my anguish, You saved me, and exposed me to lessons I desperately needed to learn.  Much of my life since that time has been shaped by those painful, joyous teachings, and for that I thank You.

Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the Blessing of health You’ve granted our son Jonathan these past ten years.  I pray that You continue to keep him in Your Loving Arms, and that Your Healing and Comfort is felt by others who are going through such trials.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

P.S.  For those reading this who may not be familiar with Jonathan’s story, I’ve written articles about it on several occasions, including : “Then and Now, Lessons Learned” and “I’m Sorry, and Thank You”.

Thankful Thursday: A Roller Coaster Week

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

And once again Lord, we come to one of my favorite conversations of the week; the Thankful Thursday list!  As you know Father, this has been an exceptionally eventful week for us; filled with both cause for joyful celebration, as well as news of a disheartening loss.  However through it all Father, I’ve felt Your Divine Presence in abundance and have much to be thankful for.

Therefore Lord, my list for the week is:

31. Jonathan being off chemotherapy for 10 years as of this month.

32. Warmer, sunny days.

33. Air conditioning for those warmer, sunny days.

34. New friends.

35. Cheesesteak pizza.

36. A glass of Pinot Noir to go with that pizza. 🙂

37. Hidden Treasure in the basement.

38. Being perfectly loved by my Creator, even as imperfect as I am.

39. Inspiring Contemporary Christian music that uplifts me throughout the day.

40. My blood pressure medication.

41. Gas prices coming back down a little bit.

42. A job commitment for Shannon at the boys’ school next year.

43. Good friends coming to visit over the Memorial Day Weekend.

44. New episodes of Doctor Who on BBC America.

45. Daily guidance from my Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, as always, I thank You for continuing to be ever-faithful, and filling our lives with such a multitude of Blessings each day.  I pray for Your continued guidance in making choices that best glorify Your Will, and for Your aid in sharing Your Light with those around me.  Amen.

~Phather Phil