To begin with Father, I want to thank You again for yesterday. As You told me it would be when I woke, it was a good day. 🙂
Today Lord, I’d like to focus my prayers on my wonderful wife Shannon if I may. As You know, she’s been on my mind even more than usual the last few days. The past year has been an amazing transition and growth year for her both personally and professionally, but in that same respect her workload has increased and changed from what she’d been used to for so long. From being a stay-at-home mom and part-time assistant at a Christian Preschool she now :
– Has a job as a full-time Preschool Teacher with a full class of four-year-olds at a school she loves, surrounded by people that encourage and appreciate her.
– Has started taking college courses to further her education in Early Childhood Development.
– Plays viola for the Dover Symphony Orchestra and a private quartet that does weddings and parties.
– Teaches violin, viola and other instrumental lessons to a number of children in the area.
And on top of that Father, she always finds time and energy for her loving husband and two little boys. I am indeed Blessed to have her as my wife, my best friend and the mother of our children.
When I first heard the song “Dancing in the Minefields” by Andrew Peterson played on K-Love earlier in the year, I shared it with her and we both immediately felt a connection to the message it contained. It’s been running through my heart a lot the last few days, so I thought I’d close the week by sharing :
Heavenly Father, You’ve bestowed upon me the most amazing gift any man could ask for; a true soul-mate in life. I thank You for such an undeserved Blessing, and pray that You continue to shine Your Light through her eyes and her heart. Amen.
Thank You Lord, for starting my day off so pleasantly this morning. I always like waking to the sound of Your Voice in my head, especially when the message is “Today is a Good Day”. Well, it’s just after lunchtime here now and so far it truly has been as you prepared me; A good day. 🙂
In the beginning of the year Father, You gave me a word to focus my energies and prayers on. It wasn’t a word I would have chosen sans Your intervention, but You were quite insistent at the time as I remember so I adopted it as my own. The word was Accept.
Today Lord, I thought I’d discuss a couple of the ways “our” word choice has impacted me thus far, and presented itself in my life.
The beginning of “The Serenity Prayer” comes immediately to mind Father :
“God, grant me the serenity to Accept the things I cannot change…” – Reinhold Niebuhr
As You know, this has always been a rough one for me Lord. Many of my most significant upsets have come from situations which I have little or no control over. With Your help, I’ve been working on this flaw in my character and I can honestly say that we’ve made some progress. I still have more than a few stresses in my life right now, but I’ve learned to better Accept those things which I can’t fix and focus my efforts on the ones I can make positive change in.
Along those same lines Father, I’m learning to Accept assistance more readily from others as well. I’ve always prided myself (I know… another nasty word, but we’re making progress on that flaw too.) on being reasonably independent, but through my journey to You I’ve realized that You put us all here together for a reason. When I can help someone, I should but I also need to be open to Accepting help from others as well. It’s still a struggle sometimes for me to show that vulnerability, but I’m happy to say that barrier is lower than it used to be.
Needless to say, I now understand why You chose this word for me. I obviously have some significant room for growth and Acceptance appears to be the key to much of that.
Heavenly Father, thank You for continuing to Guide me in Your Grace. I am but clay in Your Skillful Hands, eager to be molded into a form which can best serve Your Will. Amen.
I’ve decided that 11 is a complicated age Lord… Let me tell You a little about my morning.
Today started out like most weekday mornings do; with everyone scrambling to compose themselves and prepare for the work and school day ahead. Still shaking off the effects of a restless night, I stepped out of the shower and immediately picked up on yelling coming from the opposite side of the house. Quickly wrapping a towel around myself I headed for the source of the turmoil.
Jonathan and Aidan were firmly entrenched in a verbal battle with each other. Apparently, Aidan had taken a seat at the table that Jonathan had set up for himself, pushing his things aside in the process. This in turn lit Jonathan’s fuse, and the battle royale had begun.
Both were intractable, and it had progressed from a basic disagreement to an angered exchange complete with name calling (luckily, nothing too terrible) and yelling. (Looking back to it now, Dr. Seuss’ story “The Zax” comes to mind.)
Still sporting my towel, I quickly intervened on the situation trying to get a handle on who did what and to calm things down. Unfortunately, Jonathan was riled up way past the point of reason and redirected his attitude towards my authority. Needless to say, it went downhill from there. Shannon and I take disrespect very seriously, and Jonathan had gone WAY too far to allow it to go unchecked.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” – Exodus 20:12
We then entered the correction phase of the conversation; No computer games for the next couple of days… At which time, Jonathan went off the deep end.
I’ve never seen anger like this from him Father, and it really caught Shannon and I off guard. He threw what can only be described as a massive “hissy fit”, told us he was leaving home forever, and without a coat, hat or gloves stormed out the front door onto the snow covered lawn.
I watched quietly out the window for a couple minutes, then went outside and got in the truck to go fetch him. He’d made it down to the end of the street, and when I pulled up on him he stood shivering in the snow and firmly refused to get in the car. More concerned for his health than the attitude at this point, I promptly picked him up, put him in the truck and closed the door. Unfortunately, that still wasn’t the end of it and the ride to school was filled with further venomous outbursts and disrespect. As it hadn’t completely abated when we turned into the school parking lot, I decided to err on the side of caution and keep him with me for the day.
As we pulled out of the school after dropping Aidan off, I quietly focused on Your Guidance Father. I was at a loss… He’d never shown me this kind of behavior before.
“Hold him close to you.” I heard drift through my head.
With that directive in my heart and an image of You holding him in Your Arms in my mind, I spent the rest of the trip to my office working to release some of the tension that the morning had brought. We arrived at my workplace, where I set him down on the couch in my office to contemplate the events of the morning.
“Jonathan” I said, “You tell me you talk to God quite a bit… Now would be a good time to listen to Him.”
He gave me a half-quizzical look, but sat quietly on the couch for quite a long time all the same. When he finally turned and spoke to me, his voice was much softer and more reserved. We discussed what had happened, and he remorsefully explained how he’d allowed his anger to run away with him and about the difficulty he’d had “getting the genie back in the bottle” once he’d lost control. There are days Father, that I think he’s far too deep for a child of 11… Today was one of those days.
When I spoke with him later on, I asked him if he’d heard from You while he laid on my couch.
“Yes… And he didn’t sound happy.” Jonathan replied. “We talked about how I was going to make it better, and not let it happen again.”
Thank You for the assist with him Father, and for focusing me as well. Sometimes we all need some parenting help from the “Head of the Household”. 🙂
Today Lord, I was having difficulty deciding how to “frame” our conversation. This morning brought along with the dawn a seemingly continuous stream of headaches, problems and complications which made it very difficult for me to focus on Your Voice through the “noise”. I started writing several times, but always ended up clearing it from my screen because it just felt wrong. Instead of forcing the issue, I decided to leave myself open to You as best I could, and work through the day’s labors until we could connect up properly.
Well Father… I’m here now.
It’s terribly disconcerting to me when I get to the point where I can’t focus enough to have our morning discussion. I’m dependent on You Lord, and when earthly influences overwhelm me to the point of not being able to concentrate on You, it’s upsetting to say the least. I felt lost, and embattled. For my human frailties Lord, I apologize and thank You for being ever faithful to me during my moments of weakness.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
Thank You for Your Comfort and Strength Father, and Your Unwavering Dedication to Your Children. We are truly Blessed.
Now Lord, if I may, I’d like to shift the subject.
As I mentioned yesterday, over the weekend I got a chance to head out with Jonathan and Aidan to Blackbird State Forest for a photowalk in the woods. It wasn’t overly cold per-se, but the wind was in upwards of 40mph, providing a stark reminder that while the temperature was up a bit we were still in the grips of winter. I hadn’t been there during this time of year before, and it was a truly different place with the foliage stripped from the trees and bushes. The veil of green we were accustomed to seeing was cast aside, and had been replaced by a vast sea of towering gray trunks reaching into the sky.
Life seemed to have packed up and left for warmer climates.
And yet, as we walked through the silent, barren trails we were greeted with some signs of rebirth. Through the carpet of fallen leaves and pine needles poked streaks of color; tufts of early grasses and fungi protected by and feeding on the remains of the previous year’s abundance. Like our spirits journeying to Your Light Lord, the forest was quietly feeding and nourishing the life it held hidden beneath the surface.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV)
Heavenly Father, that walk opened my heart to the transitions You’re making in my life. I pray that You continue to feed my hunger for Your Presence, and nourish my imperfect and yearning spirit so that my human failings are no further impediment to Your Plan for me. Amen.
This morning Father, I had what I think is an important realization; my life is noisy.
Each morning, I’m awakened by an alarm clock which at the same time starts an hour-long process of dogs barking to go out, my smartphone reporting to me all the things that I missed while I slept (or tried to anyways), and the daily rush to get our family moving forward with the day. Then I don the mobile headset for the ride to school and the office, on goes the radio and all the while I’m serenaded by the beeps and blips from the boys’ Nintendo DS’s from the back of the SUV. Once at work, the constant sounds of phones, computers, streaming radio, and a plethora of other office chatter persist throughout the day. The ride home is spent back on the headset along with the radio helping me to drown out the commute noise. Evenings at home are filled with more barking dogs (yes, we have little yappy dogs… lol), television, phones and other such sounds of modern life.
As I said… Noisy.
I’m beginning to think that the struggle I’ve had with insomnia over the years may be partially related to the amount of constant noise in my day. In the wee hours of the night, I can truly find the Stillness and quiet to properly direct my thoughts and listen to Your Voice.
Hmmm… Stillness… It’s been a while since I’ve truly had some.
“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”” – Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
Well Lord, this weekend I’m going to try and focus on that. It’s supposed to be nicer weather the next couple of days here, so I’m planning to try and take advantage of it and visit one of the few places I can almost always get the Stillness I need to hear You; Blackbird State Forest. It’s been months since I’ve been able to go and just walk in Your Splendor, so I’m going to do exactly that.
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” – Isaiah 55:12 (NIV)
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. 
