A Prayer for Me

From Luke Chapter 22:

"And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed. Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

It's common to pray more earnestly in moments of great pain. A natural, and welcome, result of pain is being driven to your knees, where you can find a measure of relief. When I am in pain, physical or emotional, I often pray more frequently and more earnestly. I pray for myself: for relief, for strength, for understanding, for deliverance.

But I'm human. My natural man is inclined to be selfish. I pray for myself a lot, even when I'm not in pain! But Jesus Christ is the opposite of selfish.

Could he have been praying for me?

Is it possible that, being in agony, he prayed more earnestly for me, not for himself? I know I was part of the agony. I know part of His agony was because He saw, felt and understood all my future sins, sorrows and heartaches. In the midst of his own great and terrible pain, did He pray over mine?

Amazing.

Summer Fun

Summer's coming
Better gear up.
Do jumping jacks,
Get a tummy tuck.

Enroll those kids
In swim team, now!
If you hesitate
You'll be left out.

Must, must, must
Go to EFY.
Everyone's going, Mom,
That's why.

Dance lessons, really?
It's such a joke.
My 3-yr-old plies,
While I go broke.

Horse riding, piano,
Gymnastics, bale hay.
Private cooking classes,
Make things out of clay.

We'll be bored, we must go,
My kids cry and sob!
What else can I do?
I get them all jobs!