National Day of Prayer

Just as I was getting in the car to head to work this morning, the morning crew on the JOY FM was talking about the national day of prayer and praying for our elected officials, are educational population of teachers and those working on the sidelines and the media.

My mind just started rattling off names of people that I want God to be close to today.

God knows their needs and all I have to do is say their name and ask Papa God to surround them.

My list includes Merel, Kimberly, me – my arm is very sore this morning, and I even contemplated calling in an FMLA day. But I can ache at work as easily as I can ache at home. Continuing with my list, our children and grandchildren, Jeremy, and his wife, as they prepare to return stateside, PJ and Amanda, who are dealing with some tough issues right now.

And then my mind started thinking about relationships: my family. I’m excited to see my niece in a couple of weeks missing my aunt Joan and even wondering what my sister Joanie is up to. Heck, I don’t even know if she’s still alive. It’s been almost 17 years since I have spoken to her– not my choice but hers, but yet my heart still thinks about her. I’m reminded of the question I said to somebody last night “what do you have control over “not much. I don’t have control if she will speak to me so I can only do what I can do and that is pray for her.

Then my thinking moved on to my work and the many different people I work with: one is in treatment for breast cancer, a couple of single moms who are doing the best they can and yet sometimes that doesn’t feel enough, some are dealing with family issues. The bottom line is we are all dealing with different things at different times, and we just need to turn to the Lord

Yesterday Y shared with me, her devotion for the day:

I think it’s good for today too.

My mind and jumped to thinking about today at work and what all is waiting for me. I often talk about my TEALs. That’s funny, I’m claiming them as mine. And they are just the TEALs.

Each of the courier envelopes that you see pictured have at least one Teal in them, many of them have four or five. These are just the ones I’ve received in April. I can only imagine how many will greet me when I return to work on May 28th. I think I will take a picture that morning and compare them. The TEALs are just one aspect of my job. I called them my job security. I just hope my boss and his supervisors don’t think I’m slacking because quite often I plan to work on them and the phone rings, someone needs a specific file on a child, someone request records to be sent to another school and again the phone rings.

Don’t get me wrong – I love my job but when I’m tired and I think about the TEALs I will admit I can get discouraged. I can say the TEALs have brought me closer to Papa God because when I become discouraged, I ask Papa God to give me a measure of grace for myself just as I would for others.

So as I close today, what prayer request do you have? Do you specifically focus on something for the national day of prayer?