Prayer

This was on Ragamuffin Soul's blog yesterday, but it so captures where my heart is today that I stole it.  I hope you will have the courage to pray this over whatever situation you find yourself and I really hope you will pray it for me.


My Lord God
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.
- Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

I believe He asked

Blogging is an interesting thing and obviously there are a variety of reasons why one chooses to blog, for me it began as an easy way to communicate with family and friends. Then came Facebook and Twitter and that seemed easier so I have not written on the blog for over a year. Now I want to begin again, and for a specific reason--I want to share my current journey and I need to know there are a group of you supporting me--in prayer, in well wishes, and with advice. So if you would like to accompany me, read on.

I have had an amazing life and am so grateful for the millions of experiences I have had, wonderful friends and family in my life, interesting jobs, and glorious Bodies of believers in many states with whom I have had the honor of serving. Not all of the paths were paths of my choosing and some were difficult, but my loving Heavenly Father has used each part of the journey to perfect His plan for my life. I am still here, so obviously He is not finished--thank you God.

About 2 years ago our pastor, Andy Stanley, preached a sermon based on the story in Matt 14 when Jesus walked on water and Peter joined him. The part I had not really noticed before was when Peter said, "tell me to come to you on the water". See, Peter asked the Lord to ask him to come and when He did, Peter was able to walk on the water.

I have had a dream for several decades that I wanted to open another Montessori school--one that was fully Christian and would honor God, but 'I have been there, done that', and I know the work and risk involved, so I have not opened another school. After hearing that sermon, God began to work in my heart and I felt a strong conviction to say, "tell me to come (do)" and I even wrote and asked some of you to pray for me as I waited on the Lord to ask; thank you for those of you who have prayed--He heard you.

I felt that God was asking me to do some things as I was waiting, so I did what I knew to do. I have been listening to many podcasts on leadership, reading blogs and even some books on leadership, I lost 65 pounds (still hoping to lose another 40) so I could work on the floor in the classroom if I needed to teach, and prayed earnestly for God to give me a specific vision for what He wanted me to do.

I believe He is asking and I think it is time for me to blog about this journey for several reasons. First of all for accountability--I need courage to follow through and do the work. Also, there may be some of you who are feeling called to do something bigger than yourself and hopefully following my journey will be of help to you. So, if you are interested, check in--I will write as much as I can and would appreciate your insight, suggestions, prayers and feedback.

Thanks and hang on, this promises to be quite a ride!