Prayer Thread

[Lalaith]

Praying for you, hal.

[halplm]

Been a while since I came here... but I'm in a serious low point of motivation... and I could use some spiritual help. I feel like I've bitten off more than I can handle, and I am struggling with even maintaining my workload.

I've also been having some pretty significant anxiety attacks that seem to revolve around my faith. I still find when I pray for help with faith, that it comes easily, but I seem to need it more frequently recently. I want to believe that God's plan for me is progressing as it should, but more and more I feel like I'm losing focus... if that makes any sense...

Of course it's all a struggle, and I'm getting by, but I wish it wasn't so hard.

[anthriel]

Praying for you, hal.

[Primula Baggins]

Isn't it possible you're struggling because what you're doing is hard, by its nature? Most people wouldn't be able to do it at all. You can, but even for you it isn't easy.

And as for faith . . . well, lots of people wiser than me, and farther along the road, have told me what I've also found: The feeling of having faith comes and goes. Sometimes it's simple and wonderful, and sometimes you feel all alone on that path through the dark. Yet how you feel matters less, even to God, than what you do.

And lo and behold, while you're "going through the motions" is usually when the confidence starts to creep back.

Praying for you, hal.

[anthriel]

That feeling of faith does come and go, actually. Sometimes it quite scares me, because I wonder if I really am quite as plugged into this as I think I am. Why would I ever doubt?

Well, because I am human, I guess. God made angels who sing nothing but hosanna at his feet throughout eternity, and then he made us. I suspect he had his reasons for the disparity in our reactions.

He is always there for you, hal. Anytime you reach for him, he's good with that.

[WampusCat]

When you need to cross the room at night when the power has gone out -- or when faith is feeble and seemingly inadequate to your struggles -- here's your guide:

Don't forget in the dark what you learned in the light.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Wampus, I really love that. Thank you.

[Primula Baggins]

Yes, thank you.

[Frelga]

When you need to cross the room at night when the power has gone out -- or when faith is feeble and seemingly inadequate to your struggles -- here's your guide:

Don't forget in the dark what you learned in the light.

Had I remembered that, I wouldn't have a dent in my shinbone right now, from trying to walk through the bed.

I am not sure if that part has any metaphorical applications.

[WampusCat]

If you try to walk through rather than around a solid obstacle, you won't have a leg to stand on.



Thanks V&P.

[anthriel]

I'd like to ask for prayers for my friend Tina, who started radiation for her brain tumor today. She will have radiation 5 days a week for the next six weeks.

I talked to her earlier today, and she seemed upbeat, but she usually is. I texted her after her appointment to see how it went, and my phone is very, very quiet.

<sigh>

She specifically asked me to try and find some prayer warriors out there for her. I immediately thought of you guys.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[halplm]

I will pray for her, Anthy

My parents are both pretty sick right now. My dad actually ended up in the emergency room last wednesday because he was so congested he had trouble breathing. (I found out about this today ). Also, I was eating dinner with them that night... and I really can't afford to be sick...

[anthriel]

Ah, hal, I am so sorry your dad is so ill! Hopefully he is home recovering now.


Not long after posting here, my friend started text-bombing me.... she really can get pretty manic, and WOW. I think there's a lot of emotion going on right now. Of course!

She said it went pretty well, and then tried hard to ask how MY day was, and switch focus, which of course I went along with. It's hard to focus on hard stuff all the time.

Anyway, thank you so much, hal and SirV, for your prayers.

[halplm]

Yeah, he's at home, and it's just a bad cold as far as I know, but they both sounded pretty miserable when I talked to them .

[Primula Baggins]

Anthy, are they loading her with steroids for the radiation? That might be a factor. I hope it went OK and that her fear lessens as the unfamiliar becomes routine (never easy, but at least familiar). You're probably a talisman to her, having walked the cancer road yourself and come out the other side.

Hal, I'm sorry your parents are feeling so bad. I hope you don't catch their cold!

[anthriel]

Thank you, Prim! I don't know about if she is on steroids, but that would explain a lot.

I didn't have radiation, myself, and I don't know anyone who has had radiation to the head. I have heard that the cumulative effects of radiation can be quite brutal, but I am so not sharing that thought with her. Cross that bridge when we come to it, and hope that we don't.


She did say that her head didn't feel hot, so I guess she was expecting it to. That surprised me; you shouldn't feel anything inside your brain, right?




I still can't believe this is happening.

[Impenitent]

My mother had radiation to her throat, three months worth, 40 years ago. Throat is not head, but back then, radiation was CRUDE, and she came out okay.

Praying for the best for your friend (well, holding her in the cosmic light and sending the wishes of my heart to her for fortitude and recovery; it's not exactly prayer, but it's sincere)

[halplm]

Well, my parents were all fine, although my Mom had lots of fun stories of drugs the doctor tried to sell her...

I have this last week for my intensive japanese class. It's not the end of my language learning journey by far, but it will be at a much slower (and more reasonable pace) from now on.

I ask for prayers to get me through this last week. I'd like there to be no doubt about my ability to pass the class. I have a couple of more homeworks, a couple more quizzes, a project... and the final... which is in three parts... kanji, verbal, and written... All of which amounts to about a third of my total grade.

Granted... I only need about 40 percent of all thats left to get my pass... but were I only to get that much I would feel pretty bad about my status at this point.


In any case... just one more week.

[Rebecca]

My assistant director recently had surgery to remove a cyst and was just told she has ovarian cancer. Any prayers for her are appreciated. She just turned 24 last week. I feel so sad for her.