Note in a Tin Can

I got this off the web, the author is unknown, but I really liked it and wanted to share:

"Years ago, near a seldom-used trail in the Amargosa Desert in California, there stood a rundown hut. Nearby was a well, the only source of water for miles around. Attached to the pump was a tin baking powder can with a message inside, written in pencil on a sheet of brown wrapping paper. This was the message:

"This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years. But the washer dries out and the pump has got to be primed. Under the white rock I buried a bottle of water, out of the sun and cork end up. There's enough water in it to prime this pump, but not if you drink some first. Pour in about 1/4 and let her soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like hell. You'll git water. The well never has ran dry. Have Faith"
"when you git watered up, fill the bottle and put it back like you found it for the next feller.
signed: Desert Pete.

"P.S. Don't go drinkin the water first! Prime the pump with it and you'll git all you can hold. And next time you pray, remember that God is like the pump. He has to be primed. I've given my last dime away a dozen times to prime the pump of my prayers, and I've fed my last beans to a stranger while saying Amen. It never failed yet to git me an answer. You got to git your heart fixed to give before you can be give to."

I think this fits nicely with what I have been learning about prayer this past year. I hope you have been blessed, like I have.

Listening to God

I was just catching up on some reading, when I found this short piece, in "The Week" magazine, June 6, 2008:

"Good week for devine intervention, after two New Zealand pilots ran out of fuel in midflight and prayed for God's help. The microlight plane came to a safe landing next to a 20-foot sign that said, 'Jesus is Lord.'"

This made me think of all the times that I have prayed to God for an answer to a specific problem or for guidance in making choices. I have asked so many times for a clear answer, like the example above, but usually all I get is that "still small voice" barely noticeable, barely audible. I often think that life would be so much easier if God would use billboards and thunder to get our attention.

But, then, would we really get it? When God speaks to us softly, hinting at his presence, it makes us have to search for him. We have to exercise our spiritual muscles to grow closer to God. If God were more "out there," we might get lazy. Would we really try to get to know and understand Him? Would we spend the time we need, learning to listen, if He didn't continually respond in a whisper? I am glad that He stays just below the surface, where I know that He is there, but I have to quiet the racing thoughts in my mind in order to hear His voice and feel His presence.

What a week!

Well, my oldest daughter got married this week! It was a beautiful ceremony outdoors, at a local waterfall. The beach below the falls was flooded, due to all of the rain we have been getting, as well as an enormous amount of snow melt, so we had to use squeeze together at the overlook above the falls. The sun actually came out, and the rain stayed away until very late in the day, so everything was just perfect! God's blessings were abundant, even though I had spent much of the week before worrying over every detail. (I am more Martha than Mary --Luke 10:38 -42)

I got to meet my new son-in law just the day before, when we picked them both up at the airport. I was determined to like him no matter what, but I was pleased that he was easy to like. He is very kind, respectful, and funny. He treats my daughter very well, and they are very happy together. I had no problem offering them my blessing. They are now visiting his family in California, before they return to the Navy base to continue their studies.

After having my son and then my daughter and son-in-law home from the Navy, having a birthday party last week for my youngest daughter, and finally the wedding this week, I was almost too tired to go to church this morning, but I am glad that I went. We had a guest speaker, whose message today was on intercessory prayer. If you have been reading this blog, you know that this is where I have been struggling for a while now. It was exactly what I needed. It seems that the pastor had struggled with the same questions that have kept me in the dark, and he was prepared with just the answers I needed. How great that God would use just such a time to reach out to meet my needs!