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Prayer Requests 1-16-21

Anyone have something to share?

Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars
    we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
    if I do not remember you,
   if I do not consider Jerusalem
    my highest joy.

7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.
   “Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them against the rocks.

24 thoughts on “Prayer Requests 1-16-21”

  1. I am feeling a bit down today and antsy, not knowing how to go forward, and I think prayer could help. On the one hand, I am excited by my new projects, but I have so many other things that feel left undone, and we are going into tax season when life is always on the crazy side. Yesterday Art called right as I was getting on my weekly prayer call as the leader of that and he needed my help. It’s that kind of pull on me. As it turned out, no one joined on the prayer call (a first), so I was able to help Art. I know this is long, but just wanted to give an example of how it is. Thank you for praying.

    Liked by 7 people

  2. Lifting you up, Janice, that He would give you wisdom to prioritize with His priorities and peace to know that you are in His Will and in His Hands.

    Liked by 3 people

  4. Please pray for wisdom and insight for both Nightingale and me in regards to Boy. He’s a good kid in many ways, but still can be quite difficult, despite his mom being pretty tough and strict. In fact, according to their chores-&-allowance system, he owes her money. 😦

    I have a couple ideas that may help in a couple areas, but Nightingale tends to be resistant to my suggestions. So I am going to present them in a “I was wondering if this might help. . .” kind of way. Please pray that she will be open to my not-quite-suggestions, and also that they will work.

    And of course, as always, please pray for their (and Chickadee’s) salvation.

    Thank you and God bless.

    Liked by 6 people

  5. Btw, I know that there is controversy over whether or not allowance should be tied to chores. One ideal method is to say that we all do chores because we are part of the family, and we also get an allowance also because we are part of the family. But that has not worked with Boy.

    Their current system is kind of a hybrid of that, with a minimum allowance, and the other part of the allowance being based on certain chores. And somehow – I’m not entirely sure how it works – if he doesn’t do certain things, he owes Nightingale money.

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Pray for the inauguration. How sad and even shocking to see the scores of armed National Guard units moving into place along with fencing and barricades for what normally has been a peaceful and mostly celebratory transfer of power.

    Liked by 3 people

  7. ‘celebratory’ referring to the tradition of our democracy, showing the world how it’s done.

    There’s typically about half the country left unhappy after these turnovers, we all realize, but the anger and concern for violence is making this time feel very different.

    Liked by 4 people

  10. Kizzie, could you try your suggestions on a smaller scale with things you would like for Boy to do so yo can show if they work or not? I think that would be preferable to trying to bend the will of your daughter. Model for them what might work better. Prayers for what is God’s best plan to work!

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Janice – My suggestions are for two different situations, but I am only approaching one at a time. The first suggestion is only for a segment of the day, so we’ll see how that goes. Actually – and I had forgotten this when I first commented earlier – that suggestion is based on something Nightingale herself had mentioned recently.

    The reason Nightingale may be reluctant to take my advice is because she is one of those who don’t like being “told what to do”. So I have to word things very carefully to not come across as telling her what she should do. (I’m not like that anyway. But with me being her mother, rather than merely a friend, she may “hear” that even if it’s not there. And I very rarely try to give her any actual advice or suggestions, unless she asks.)

    There is a meme on Facebook that is something like, “I was going to do that. But you told me to, so now I can’t.” That is Nightingale, and she admits it. We laugh about it, but it is frustrating for me sometimes.

    Liked by 5 people

  12. Kizzie, our own opinions on whether or not children should be paid to do work around their own houses isn’t all that relevant here, since you aren’t the one making the decision.

    My parents chose “neither” as their answer. We had a lot of chores to do, but didn’t get an allowance. Mom would just give us a dollar or two every few weeks or months.

    I’ve never been a fan of payment for chores unless they’re extra chores simply because every member of the household needs to do some of the work of that household. And besides, I have a very practical objection: Let’s say that raking leaves is part of a child’s normal duties in the fall, that in growing season he mows and in fall he rakes, but rather than just letting it be his responsibility to do it, you pay him $5. And then he starts doing yardwork for other people, who pay him $20 or more for the same task. Or he gets a part-time job and simply no longer needs an allowance. You don’t have much bargaining power!

    So my thought is that a child should be paid for doing work around the house only if it’s a task you’d be willing to pay someone else to do OR if he wants to raise extra money for something (like paying half of his fees toward camp) and you can come up with a list of tasks in the “we want to get around to this eventually” list to have him do. You might pay him to paint a room, for instance, or to trim the hedges no one has been getting around to trimming. But if you pay him to mow the lawn as though it’s a “bonus” task, it’s going to be hard to present it as his duty to the family if he decides he doesn’t need the money now and doesn’t want to do it anymore. If someone else usually mows the lawn and you’re adding it to his list this week, then you might pay him to do it. That’s my own ideas for how that might work.

    Liked by 2 people

  13. Praying for you Kizzie. When we were little my Mom gave us an allowance if we completed our chores for the week. She explained to us that keeping house was her job as a wife and mother…she didn’t work outside of the home. She gave us chores as age appropriate of washing/drying dishes…cleaning kitchen after dinner..sweeping the kitchen floor…keeping our rooms clean. On the weekend we had “big” chores…vacuuming, dusting, bathroom detail…all before we could go outside to play 😊 we received one dollar a week..and we were thrilled! It was just part of how our family worked…

    Liked by 4 people

  14. We also had to do our work first thing in the morning and before we were allowed to go out and play. Of course, that was way back in the day of wearing ‘play clothes.’ Chores are such a good thing for children to develop obedience, self confidence and a sense of being part of a family. Allowances can also teach so much.

    Strong-willed children become strong-willed adults and it sounds like you have a good handle on it, Kizzie. Having to be a grandmother (but even more when you live with your grandson) who has a delicate balancing act is such a challenge. You have my prayers.

    Liked by 4 people

  15. Thank you, Kathaleena.

    Oh, I certainly know that about strong-willed children – my own Nightingale was very strong-willed. When she was a teenager, I told her that she could remain stubborn, or she could turn her stubbornness into the flipside – perseverance. And that is what she has done, although she can still be stubborn. (I actually think it is her stubbornness/perseverance that makes her a great mom for Boy.)

    Speaking of his allowance, Nightingale is teaching him some Dave Ramsey principles. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  17. I screwed up again, and Nightingale is annoyed-verging-on-angry with me. It’s about something I should have done, but didn’t realize I should have done it until it was too late.

    She was going to make a pot roast in the slow cooker, but forgot to put it in this morning. I noticed that she hadn’t, and that the slow cooker was still being soaked (because something had gotten crusted in it pretty bad), so I thought that she had either forgotten or changed her mind.

    Now, a rational, logical person would have thought to text her to ask. But my mind does not always work in a rational, logical way, so I didn’t think to do that.

    To compound things, she texted me around 2:30 asking me to put it in, but I didn’t see the text. When I apologized and said I hadn’t seen the text, she said that I should have done it anyway this morning. 😦 She is probably right, and I am kicking myself for not thinking of it.

    Please pray that she will forgive me and let it go, and also that my brain will stop being stupid at times. Or whatever else you may think of praying. Thank you.

    (I can’t even “crawl into a hole” and avoid her because she has to come through my living room to the bathroom to shower.)

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  18. Update: We had enough leftovers in the fridge, as well as some meatballs and breadsticks in the freezer, that Nightingale was able to put together a quick, but still good, dinner. When we sat down to eat, she seemed fine, and chatted amiably with me. Thanks for any prayers that were said for us.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. So, let me get this straight, Kizzie. It was a terrible thing you didn’t think to text, Nightingale, but it was fine she forgot? Sounds like two human beings to me.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Kizzie, in situations like that, there is nothing for her to forgive, because you did nothing wrong. My husband and I had a somewhat similar one this morning. I heard a signal from his cell phone that a text had come through, but didn’t mention it to him since it’s usually just the phone company. Minutes later he commented that our “shopper” was going to come by with some stuff and that the man had texted earlier but he (my husband) hadn’t seen the text when it first came. I said, “Oh yeah, I heard it, and if I had remembered that he was going to the store to us this morning, I would have said something.” But it was a trivial thing that neither of us took very seriously.

    When you talk about Nightingale, often she sounds like an overbearing mother hen. If you were her daughter, we’d be telling you to remind her that you’re an adult now and don’t still need to be treated like a child. So . . . you’re an adult, and it isn’t good that your daughter (who is kind and reasonable in many ways) sees herself as the dominant party in the relationship. Both of you are adults, and both of you are going to make trivial miscalculations in living together, like her forgetting about the roast and your not saying anything. Your not getting her text is not anyone’s fault and is irrelevant; if it was super important that you get the message, she could have called. If she “beats you up” over minor miscommunications like that, you need to recognize that those things really do happen in every household, and it’s best if both parties shrug them off rather than assigning blame.

    Liked by 2 people

  24. I think I was too sensitive, and took her annoyance as more than it was. She was fine at dinner. I don’t know that I would consider her overbearing, but she does have a terse side at times, and she’s not good at hiding her annoyance.

    We can say that we both forgot about the roast, but she was up early to get off to work, and I was home all day. And I noticed that she had not started the roast, so I should have asked her about it. Sometimes I just don’t “think right”, and it really bothers me later when I realize a lapse in judgment. I was beating myself up for that.

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