I Come to the Garden...

Will do, and will also pray for you as you prepare for the evening.  May God open Carol's heart to receive him and may He give you wisdom and guide your words.

Very Good.

Keep praying, please.  Carol went with me to church on Sunday & she was quite amazed that the walls didn't fall in on her!!  She was also amazed how friendly & loving everyone was.  She went with me last night to my Life Group too(small group that meets weekly to further delve into the message from Sunday, share prayer requests, etc.) 

I will continue to pray for Carol and youry ministry to her.  Bless you.

Has anyone heard from 3jaysmom? She wasn't doing so well when she last came here. I'm concerned. Praying

Hi guys, since I lurk from time -time, I knew you were wondering about me..

  I've not been doing very well, lots of complications with my heart, which as of yesterday, they tell me is now enlarged, Please pray for me, as many treatments are up in the air with this news.. they think chemo has reached it long arms to me, as the heart was the "consistency of old leather" as the surgeons notes said.. they said a direct result of a year of chemo, but i;m still nhere, if not too happy, at the moment..

  I would appreciate the continued prayers for me, most especially for my faith to grow.. but like i told someone else here, it only has to be the size of a mustard seed, and that, I can manage.. I know He'll provide, i'm the problem, I know i'm impatient for His answers..

  Think of you all, and pray daily for you. even in my sick bed, i can do that!..3jays

3jays, my thoughts and prayers are with you. 

My prayers are with you and Matt.

praying now.

Survived the 1st anniversary of my mom's death last week.  I miss her so much! God has been good through my grief, but I sure wish it hadn't happened in the 1st place.

Garden Girls, I am SICK with a summer cold.  Almost feels flu-like but not nausea or vomiting (thank goodness).

I am supposed to speak this weekend at our church service up at a local lake about how God has been my rock through the years.  I need to be able to at least speak with out sounding too stuffy.  Prayers please.

This is what I am going to say: "My Dad’s Mom died in June of 1991. She was 89 years old. She prayed for me every day.

In late July, early August of that year, I woke from a sound sleep with a frantic feeling; my heart was pounding, I was close to sobbing. NO ONE WAS PRAYING FOR ME!
And just like that, God reached into the heart of this majorly back-slid Christian. I was stunned that he even knew I still existed, but I had NO DOUBT that he was calling.

Within just a few weeks, I found RVCC. I embraced the worship immediately (back then we were still using hymnals, as well as an overhead projector!), but not the extracurricular activities, like Fix for 6, a precursor for Life Groups.

Eventually, I joined an all-women’s Bible study, worked sporadically in the nursery. I sang in the choir and got married in the building in 1994. Brought my daughter home from China in 1996 and this church helped raise her. I led a women’s study in my home a couple years. I led worship. God took my sin-filled life with all of its ugly scars and pain, the one I felt was totally unredeemable, and brought me healing, strength to fight battles, and His unfailing love.

Our church called a new pastor in 2009. A young man and his wife and baby girl, all who I instantly loved! The day after Russell arrived in Medford, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The 7 months of active treatment that occurred are a blur, but I had occasion to re-read e-mail updates that I sent out to a group I’d labeled “My Prayer Warriors’” last year. (Prayer seems to be a running theme, doesn’t it?) I was struck with how calm, how confident, how sure I was that God was in control of the whole nightmare. He met me in the midst of the biggest battle to my life and provided me courage, strength and faith. I was amazed!

Fast forward to 2012. My mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. During the 90 day from Mom’s diagnosis to death, I really thought I wouldn’t be able to carry on without her. The thought of her no longer a phone call or a drop-in away was too much; I would fall into major crying jags, unable to see my way out of them. With the brief exception of 1982-1985, we had always been less than 2 or 3 miles away from each other. We did lots of activities together, we vacationed together (sometimes), we partied together; we were best friends.

In the fall of 2012, after Mom’s death. I started going to a life group. Other than the couple I led myself, there were only a couple groups that I had felt comfortable in- I ordinarily don’t get involved or I lose interest and make excuses to not go. This group, however, was different. The people have a direct pipeline to God because once I opened up about my grief, I was prayed over and for. No one can convince me that my hurting heart was healed because of time passing. There will never be enough time to lessen my loss. But prayer has worked miracles.

I have just passed the one year mark of Mom’s death and can say that I literally feel more at peace, more lightness of being. I miss Mom terribly; little things will happen & will cause me to lose my breath or cry tons. God, again, met me in my grief, held me close, provided gifts I was too blind to see, and has surrounded me with love-from family and friends. He has healed my broken heart."

speaking went well!  Only cried a little bit!

Here's to safe travels Meece! Happy grandkid squeezing!