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Prayer Requests 5-15-17

Anyone have something to share?

Psalm 71:1-14

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
    turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
    to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,
    my confidence since my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
    I will ever praise you.
7 I have become a sign to many;
    you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
    declaring your splendor all day long.

9 Do not cast me away when I am old;
    do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
    those who wait to kill me conspire together.
11 They say, “God has forsaken him;
    pursue him and seize him,
    for no one will rescue him.”
12 Do not be far from me, my God;
    come quickly, God, to help me.
13 May my accusers perish in shame;
    may those who want to harm me
    be covered with scorn and disgrace.

14 As for me, I will always have hope;
    I will praise you more and more.

23 thoughts on “Prayer Requests 5-15-17”

  1. It seems I am overloaded with prayer requests. There are my friends Burt and Mary who still need prayer and my friend L. She wasn’t able to enjoy herself at all yesterday. She tried to be a good sport but the pain was too much and she left crying. She is experiencing a lot of cramping and the doctors can’t/aren’t explaining it.

    Liked by 5 people

  2. Good Morning…I can see it happening…one sister lamenting about her “sacrifices” for Mom and how she doesn’t know how she would do it all without the sacrifices of her daughter helping as well…. This could get ugly and I am going to have to bite my tough ’til it bleeds…

    Liked by 4 people

  3. That was one of the benefits of being an only child. I always knew it would be up to me when the time came. There was no expecting anyone else to help. Luckily I had a great stepmother.

    Liked by 6 people

  4. I hit enter before I finished my line of thought. I am sorry you are having to go through this NancyJill. There are no winners in a situation like this…only losers. Your sister will feel put upon and try to make everyone else feel guilty. Everyone just does the best they can from where they are.
    This morning I had a “Facebook Memory” pop up. I can’t remember everything it said and now I can’t find it, but it was a line from a book I was reading this time last year….

    We don’t get to choose our lot in life
    We only get to choose how we react to it

    (Or something along those lines)

    Liked by 4 people

  5. That’s the message I’m reading, Kim, in a most excellent biography of King David by Chuck Swindoll and this Respectable Sins Bible study by Jerry Bridges we’re doing in Sunday School.

    How thankful I am for books–so I can jettison the young bloggers of today with their youthful answers and read, be challenged and see how I need to change from pastors wise with years and experience.

    Of course, I have to ask myself why God is giving me all this excellent teaching right now . . . except I see major changes afoot among my children and can probably guess . . .

    Liked by 4 people

  6. I have a sinking feeling I am going to be heading back east…a flurry of messages from one sister furious with other sister who “drove down to be the hero” and left without so much as any concern about arrangements to be made…even though she is the executor and power of attorney leaving other sister to navigate this path for Mom. Local sister and her daughters work full time and must take time off and feel the pressure…other sister is retired living 3 hours away but will not spend the night in our hometown…and here I am…stuck in the middle…
    Thanks Kim for those words….that is how I have always tried to live my life…not “reacting” but “responding”…I do believe there is a difference 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

  7. Sometimes siblings refuse to see that the kind of relationship that each has with a parent are different. Like it or not, some siblings are closer to a parent. Like it or not, sometimes a parent will listen more to one sibling or another. Sometimes the other siblings are made to be to blame when it is actually the parent who insists on something or refuses to deal with a sibling. We also, often, refuse to understand that everyone is different in whether or how they can deal with medical issues etc. Sometimes what is expected is unreasonable and someone wants to look like a martyr doing things that do not really need to be done.

    This is not to let anyone off the hook for helping out. The problem is that any problems already between siblings (or parent) is exacerbated. Too often sibling rivalry rears its ugly head. It is a difficult time even among those who have good relationships. Everyone has to be on the same page and that is a challenge.

    Prayer is such a need during this time. Memorizing 2 Cor. 13 and other sections of scripture can help keep the mind where it needs to be. Our pride is so easily offended and we can lash out. Going back to God and scripture helps to remind us about what is true and helps with false guilt that comes from others.

    As you can see, I know more than I would have liked about this. 😉

    Liked by 5 people

  8. “Burdened” sibling not a believer…older ‘in charge sibling” a professing believer with huge control issues…I’m the middle child…trying to make peace as only I know how with the Lord’s help…thank you so much Kathaleena for your wise encouragement…I do appreciate it so! ❤

    Liked by 5 people

  10. NancyJill – Right before I came to this prayer thread, I re-read your request from last night, & I prayed for cooperation & peace among you & your sisters. So sorry to read that tensions have already begun. May God give you wisdom & insight & peace as you travel this new road.

    Liked by 3 people

  11. Thank you so much for covering us in prayer…I believe I have somewhat settled them both down to the reality of our situation…what our goals must be and above all not to be at one another’s throats…sadly our Mother has a history of pitting one sibling against another and we cannot allow that to continue as we are finding out some of her arrangements as to who gets a say in her personal business (I have no idea of her finances..she has never allowed any of us to know..(or so I thought until this weekend when we were made aware older sister has her name on certain financial and banking documents, which sent other sister over the edge) Mom will be in the hospital a few more days now that the MRI confirms a stroke…then she will be off to rehab for an undetermined period and from there…only the Lord knows if she will be able to go home or to a assisted living situation….I am so very thankful for our Lord’s care and for caring followers of Christ in my life…

    Liked by 7 people

  12. SIL has an interview today for a job. He had been asked to apply for this opening. Still, one never knows. Prayers it all works out well for their family.

    Liked by 6 people

  14. Dealing with my brothers when my father spent 7 years dying was made simpler because we simply agreed with each other and split the tasks. As the oldest, I had all the authority–power of attorney and health care directives–but I always kept everyone appraised, Brother #1 managed the money and Brother #2 handled the medical end. I had the final authority and dealt with “psychological” issues which meant I visited every 5-6 weeks for several days to spend with my dad.

    There was money, so we hired a healthcare advisor who managed all his appointments and other elder care needs.

    It was hard, but we knew everything ultimately would be divided three ways and our goal was to provide him with the most stable life we could. He resisted . . . . but working as a team strengthened our relationships as we worked “against” his craziness. Even at the time, we knew we couldn’t have done it alone–it’s not fair for one person to have to handle everything–and we’re all thankful that we didn’t dump him in some care home and slam the door shut on his attitude.

    My brothers aren’t Christians. Like you, Nancyjill, I had to play the mediator role. It was among my toughest but most important ministry to all those nonbelievers. xoxoxo

    Liked by 5 people

  15. Feeling very grateful for my brothers right now. Quite often brothers think they should take care of their wife’s family and mom is sister’s problem. They are good guys and did not do that. We shared the burden.

    Liked by 8 people

  16. Since Hubby is an only child, we were the only ones to take care of his mom Mary, & of course most of that fell to me. (Nightingale says I pretty much did the job of a CNA. Except I think the sterile wound care I had to do in the beginning could have been an LPN duty.) As I’ve said several times before, we took care of her in our home for over four years, & only reluctantly put her in a nursing home when she was not eating or drinking enough for us, & was resisting help in a way that was bound to end up with her or me – or both of us – being seriously injured. (It’s amazing how strong a weak elderly woman, unstable on her feet, can be when she is pushing someone away from her.)

    When it came time to care for my dying mother, SIL & I split the work, each of us staying with her in her home for 24-hour periods (although I did one 48-hour period so they could have their annual Memorial Day party). Before that time, I would accompany Mom to her various appointments, staying with her for hours when she had chemo, while Brother & SIL did other things to help Mom. I felt very blessed that SIL & I had a feeling of camaraderie in our desire to help Mom die in her own home.

    Liked by 4 people

  18. My sister-in-laws were integral as well, so very important and supportive, and I simply couldn’t have done any of it without my husband’s good counsel. He and I had many discussions about what it means to honor your mother and father . . .

    Liked by 3 people

  19. We definitely have some division of labor and my brothers (the two around) have been very helpful, as has my sister in laws. No one person has done ‘everything.’ That doesn’t mean they realize that. It only takes one to make things far more difficult than it needs to be.

    I have seen several men step up and be the caregiver in the family. They may give that care differently than a woman, but they have been there for the person in need.

    Liked by 3 people

  20. My dad was one of 12 children. There were 11 surviving when my grandmother died. The oldest girl was widowed so she sold her home in South Florida and moved in with my grandparents to care for them for 8 years!!!! The other 10 children each wrote her a check each month for an agreed upon amount. They were supposed to help care for my grandmother when my aunt had to get away or needed to run errands. Most did not, but I am proud to say that my dad stepped forward (probably because my stepmother scolded him) and he would sit several days a month in addition to visiting so that my aunt could go do things.
    It wasn’t perfect but it worked. Of course the other aunt who had control of my grandparent’s money did sneaky-snarky things like cancelling the newspaper subscription without telling anyone. She was trying to save money. Then my dad was the second sibling to die 6 months after my grandmother and she didn’t give me his share of the inheritance, but she will have to face God about that one day and it isn’t up to me. I am nice but I don’t trust her.

    Liked by 4 people

  21. Mom is doing better today…she actually walked down the hallway assisted by nurses and a walker…she said she was dog tired by the time she got back to her room. One foot does not want to cooperate..she says it has a mind of it’s own wanting to just go out of step.
    Sisters continue to want to be the boss…Mom said she may relent and stay with older sister for a while after rehab…other sister will not like that. I am on “hold” as to when to travel back…with two wanting to control everything…I’m staying home…Mom will make her decisions and I’ll just go with it…

    Liked by 4 people

  22. I was not thrilled with my mom’s decision. However, I do understand why she made it. She has told me her reasons several times and I always reassure her that it seems to be working out. It was not my choice, but it was hers. She is content with her decision. That is what matters right now. “Mom always liked you best…” seems way too immature for people our age.

    Liked by 2 people

  23. In good news, my cousin posted a photo today of my Uncle Frank standing beside his golf cart holding his golf club two weeks after hip replacement surgery! He’s doing well. I’ll be visiting next week and see what he’s really up to! Thanks for prayers. We’re all amazed!

    Liked by 3 people

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