Keep Praying

Keep Praying. It seems like a simple admonition. In my younger days I would sometimes tell people I would keep them in my prayers. My intentions were always sincere. But sometimes I would find I forgot that simple promise. At some point I found a better way to express my intention to pray for people. Now I say, "I will pray for you as God's Spirit reminds me of you and your concern." My experience is that as God reminds me I do pray. It has been a great blessing for me to be part of a great chorus of prayers resonating at the Throne of Grace. We have seen real miricles. God works through prayer and often uses modern medical technology as well as his own "touch".

Right now our family is praying for our grandson, Zak. Doctors have discovered a problem with the function of his kidney's that can be controled with medication. Once that hurtle was overcome a new problem emerged. Little Zak is having difficulty keeping formual in his tiny tummy. The Doctor's have scratched their heads and offered different explanations which sometimes conflict with each other. Right now he is home from the hospital with a change in his medication and formula. It is the hope that this change will solve this digestive dilema. We are hoping and praying that he can keep his formula in his tummy so that it can pass through his digestive tack. And most importantly begin to gain weight again.

The most important thing we can do his keep praying! I am following the counsel I have given to others. Prayers for my little buddy Zak!

Retirement

By the looks of my blog this is my annual post. Perhaps after I am retired I can do a better job. We made the decision (in January) to retire at the end of June after our annual conference. Our actual last Sunday will either be the the 2ND or 3rd Sunday of the month. I am waiting to hear the exact date.

Well, retired, I am kind of growing into the idea. After much prayer, thought, and thinking we decided the time was right for us. We have 36 years serving churches in the West Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church. I also get credit for 2 years in seminary. In some ways it seems like a long haul and in other a short run. But the time is right and we have sensed God's leading. We have plans but perhaps more about that in another blog.

We are grateful to all the churches we have served over the years. I was greatly honored to be the pastor of each one. We have special appreciation for the UMC of Reed City where we have been the past 3 years. What a blessing for us to finish so near to where my Dad grew up and where there are relatives in the church and community. We are indeed grateful.

In this post I want to affirm the power of prayer in helping us make important decisions in our lives. Long ago I read something that Charles Allen wrote in one of his books. He said (in my words) when we are committed to doing God's will God will in his own way and own time reveal that will to us. As we prayed we sensed God's leading. At the time I thought, how foolish it would be to seek God's direction and then after receiving it to ignore it.

Well, we are at the beginning of a new adventure. Mary and I want to fulfill our remaining commitments but we are also anxious to see where the Lord will lead us.