With hurricane Irene looming to our South Father, folks around here are very much consumed with preparing themselves for a difficult and potentially dangerous weekend. We’ve made basic preparations ourselves; ensuring adequate supplies of food, water, propane and medications, as well as taking in any loose items from the deck and yard. Tensions are running high for many people on the East Coast right now Lord, but Your Presence brings comfort to the chaos. I pray that Your peace is felt by all those living in the shadow of fear, and that they can rest easier knowing that even in the midst of seemingly uncontrollable forces, Your sovereignty never falters.
To help combat the “dark clouds” on the horizon Father, I thought I’d end the week on a lighter note. I came across a video today that just gave me a chuckle, so I decided to share it…
I was never a fan of the original song (I truly disliked it actually), but this version works for me! 🙂
Thank You Father, for all the Blessings You’ve bestowed on us this week. Please calm the swirling winds, and shelter those in harm’s way in Your protective embrace that they may know Your might.
This morning Father, the Malmstrom home was a flurry of activity. Jonathan and Aidan eagerly prepared for their first day of the new school year, and Shannon got herself ready for the first day in her new full-time position as a Para-Educator at the school as well. As we’ve discussed many times Lord, I’m very proud of my wife, and love seeing her so excited to take this step.
And with the vision of her smile drifting through my mind, my prayers this morning have been focused on Shannon and all the other educators that strive daily to prepare our children for the future. Teachers are truly special people Father, and I thank You for instilling that love and sense of commitment in their hearts.
With that thought on my heart Lord, I’d like to close today with a prayer I found this morning. It appears to originate from the United Church of Christ’s website, although I wasn’t able to track down a specific author. It’s entitled “A Prayer for Teachers”:
God of Love, Thank you for every teacher who notices a child’s special gift. Thank you for teachers who are listeners and gentle guides. Thank you for teachers who expect much and love enough to demand more. Thank you for the special teacher each one of us remembers.
God of Mercy, Sustain teachers who give everything they have and feel abandoned when society expects too much. Strengthen teachers who assume the blame for so many problems beyond their control. Help exhausted teachers rest.
God of Strength, Encourage teachers to care and inspire them to nourish. Motivate teachers to keep on learning for the fun of it and to make learning fun for children.
We wonder at teachers who know how to quiet a class of five-year-olds or help fourth grade girls be empathetic. We admire teachers who enjoy middle school writers, or teach physics or math or civics. We cannot even imagine how to help every single student achieve Adequate Yearly Progress. Bless the people who are expected to accomplish these miracles and who know how to comfort children when miracles don’t happen.
God of Justice, help our nation find a way to steward our vast wealth to support teachers in their special calling, wherever they teach and whatever the race or religion or gender or wealth of the children.
We pray these things in the name of our Great Teacher, Jesus Christ.
To begin our week’s conversations Lord, I first want to give You thanks for the Blessings You granted me this past weekend. Although a busy couple days to be sure, I was Blessed to spend them in the company of family and friends. I regularly find myself overwhelmed by the gifts You bring to my life, and thank You for Your continued Presence. I am indeed Blessed.
Well Father, this Wednesday marks the return to classes for Jonathan and Aidan. And while they’re a little disappointed that the freedoms of summer are waning, they’re both very excited to dive into a new school year’s “education adventure”. With that thought in mind, I decided to focus this week’s Meditations Monday Scripture selections on what Your Word has to say about the advancement of knowledge:
…That the path of learning is important to both our head, and our heart:
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
for the ears of the wise seek it out. – Proverbs 18:15 (NIV)
…That putting our children on the proper path will help guide their future:
Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it. – Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)
…That wisdom, understanding and knowledge work together to make our lives fuller:
By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures. – Proverbs 24:3-4 (NIV)
Heavenly Father, as our children begin another year’s schooling, please keep Your watchful gaze upon them. Please help them not only to absorb what they’re taught, but to apply that knowledge towards fulfilling Your desires for their lives. Open their minds and their hearts, and fill them with that thirst for wisdom that only You can instill. Lead them Teacher, that they may grow both in this earthly realm, and in Your Kingdom as well.
Wow Lord… What a hectic day it’s been! As I’m sure You’re aware, we had some violent thunderstorms roll through here last night which always causes a “surge” (pun intended) in business the next day. In this instance, one of my clients took a spike which routed through their network wiring, killing off five machines and several pieces of infrastructure hardware… Not a pretty picture. As I was surveying and extracting the damaged equipment for repair this morning, it got me thinking that sin works very much like that surge…
Once we allow sin to enter our lives, it runs rampant, corrupting and damaging everything else it can.
Now, in this client’s case there was very little they could have done to prevent this particular hit from doing damage; we’re very much the same way with regards to sin. While as Christians, we try to avoid sin wherever we can, we’re certainly not always successful. It’s a constant battle in our souls Father; the pull of our corrupted, sinful natures versus the righteousness of Your Spirit within us. Thankfully, with Jesus Christ as our “Spiritual Surge Suppressor”, we have the protection we need to arrest sin’s progress in us so we can best operate as You intend.
Heavenly Father, as we go into the weekend we thank You for all the Blessings You’ve surrounded us with this week. I pray that for all of life’s “surges” that present themselves, we remember to place our trust in the One that can see us through the storms safely.
You know Father, as I’ve mentioned before I really LOVE Thankful Thursday posts. While I try to give thanks each day for the abundance of Blessings You grace me with, having a weekly post that leads me to recollect all the little things that bring a smile to my heart puts me in exactly the right perspective:
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
“With God, ‘thank you’ should always come before ‘please.’ The first thing that needs to come out of my mouth in prayer and worship needs to be praise for who God is and what He has done. Not just instructions for what I want or even need Him to do.”
So true.
Therefore Father, with that perspective firmly embedded in my heart, this week I’ve been thankful for:
196. A silly, giggly, tasty dinner with Shannon and the kids at a new Mexican Restaurant.
197. Getting some “one-on-one” time with Aidan while Jonathan was away at Kay’s Kamp.
203. Getting well over 50,000 miles on my truck tires before having to replace them.
204. Free lifetime map and software updates available for my GPS.
205. Finding new school uniform clothing for the boys at Goodwill dirt cheap.
206. Jonathan having another wonderful week away at Kay’s Kamp.
207. Having inexpensive generic versions available for the medications we take.
208. Tootsie Fruit Rolls.
209. My portable digital voice recorder that allows me to note things I’m thankful for at the time they come to me.
210. Waking up next to the lady I love each and every day.
Heavenly Father, once again I thank You for all the Blessings You grace our lives with each day; both those that shine brilliantly with Your Light, and those that Bless us quietly, without fanfare. I pray that You will continue to open my eyes wider to Your gifts, that I may appreciate them to the full.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
