A Plea for Prayers

My sister sent me the following words by email on Thursday:

I wanted to ask for prayers for a family that I know well. Abby is the mom and she has four kids, all under age 11. She lost her husband in a car accident this morning. Abby is Sarah's teacher at our MOPS group and one of the sweetest women I've ever met. They have a strong, beautiful, Christian family and will no doubt find Him for consolation during this time. However, I can only imagine the loss and pain they are experiencing. Please pray for God to bring them comfort and for her husband's soul.

My heart aches at the thought of anyone facing such unexpected loss and such deep, deep sorrow. Please join me in lifting up this grieving family in prayer.

I also want to beg your prayers for my husband's uncle and for the repose of his aunt's soul. Jerry is one of the sweetest men I have ever met, and that is no exaggeration. He has a heart of pure gold and is an encouragement to all those who are blessed to cross his path. For the past fifteen months, he provided around-the-clock loving care to his beautiful bride of fifty-seven years. Vesta suffered from diabetes and Alzheimer's, and Jerry's total dedication to her was an inspiring witness to all of us who knew them.

About ten days ago , Vesta died following a massive stroke the week before. Her family understandably wavers between relief for her sake and the heavy grief of such loss. Jerry especially aches with missing her and not knowing how to build a life without her. He's become like a grandfather to my kids---they adore him---and it hurts us all to watch him suffer so deeply. I appreciate any prayers you can offer on behalf of him and all of his family.

Thank you, my friends. For stopping by to read the thoughts of my heart and for praying with me. May God bless you and all you love.

Please Pray!

Will you join me in praying for my sister Karen and her family? Yesterday, her husband Brian received word that he will be losing his job on December 19th, which is ironically his birthday. They have known this was coming for a while, but of course the reality of the loss is not easy to face.

I'm going to be extra greedy and ask you to pray that he finds a job locally. Then they won't have to worry about selling their house or leaving an area they love, and I won't have to worry about letting them go. My sister and I are the best of friends, and our kids are just as close. They played a huge role in our decision to settle here. Given Brian's career field, it seems unlikely that he will be able to find a local job. But I know our God has an amazing plan for their family and that He can and does still work miracles.

I'm begging Him for my plan and trusting Him with His.

A Prayer for Employment

God, our Father, we turn to you seeking your divine help and guidance as Brian looks for suitable employment. He needs your wisdom to guide his footsteps along the right path and to lead him to find the proper things to say and do in this quest. He wishes to use the gifts and talents you have given him, but he needs the opportunity to do so with gainful employment. Do not abandon him, dear Father, in this search, but rather grant him this favor we seek so that he may return to you with praise and thanksgiving for your gracious assistance. Grant this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Simple Gifts

Lately, for some unknown reason, every time Mariana leads her Hail Mary during our morning decade, she accidentally slips into a Southern drawl and then breaks into the giggles. I know I shouldn't encourage this sort of thing during prayers, but it's hard not to smile when you witness your toothless Chinese-American daughter pronouncing her "blessed art thou" as if she were living in the heart of Alabama. As if the lisp were not enough. God bless her for the joy she brings me.

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This morning as I was reading our American history lesson aloud, Charlie (4), donned in his Notre Dame baseball cap as always, interrupted me to ask, "So, Saint Nicholas lived and died long before Saint Hilda?" "Oh yes," I replied, stabbing at the dark and frantically trying to remember who Saint Hilda was and when it was that we read about her. This kid is going to make me work hard to educate him, I just know it.

St Michael the Archangel, Defend Us in Battle

I received a very thoughtful email from a dear friend, and I want to share some of her words here, because she touches upon the most essential element in our battles against the darkness. (The emphasis is mine.)

I have been reading your posts but not commenting because I thought you were expressing the secrets of my heart even better than I could, but your post today made me want to reach out and tell you "Thank you!" It helps so much to know that we are not alone. I can relate to everything you said even down to the "why would they ever want to know me". My demons usually take the very real form of voices in my head questioning everything that I know is true. I have talked with my priest in the confessional about how I felt so tired always fighting and arguing with that voice, always feeling like I had to re-convince myself of these truths. He gave me the best advice after he pointed out that yes, this was a temptation and a spiritual attack. He said, "Let those better able handle it for you!" I stopped trying to argue with the voices in order to get them to be quiet. I started saying the St. Michael prayer whenever I felt weak. He knows, better than I the ways to defeat that wily serpent. He knows how best to defend my fragile self. He is my protector, I believe, responding quickly and thoroughly to my cries for help. The voices stopped antagonizing me in that way some time ago but whenever I hear their whisperings in my heart, I call on my protector and my Lord by saying, "Lord, I believe...help my unbelief."

Ultimately, we must remember that this is a spiritual battle. Yes, we can, and must, do everything we can to fight it---nurturing our relationships, changing our diets, exercising our bodies, ordering our lives, and seeking professional help, if needed. But our most powerful weapon in this battle is prayer. Let us lay our lives into His Holy Hands and entrust our souls to Her Immaculate Heart. And let us never forget the great cloud of heavenly witnesses, just waiting to intercede on our behalf.

"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God."
Hebrews 12:1-2

Sometimes the only prayers that I can offer are wordless ones, when I simply clench my rosary beads tightly to my heart and cry. That's okay. He hears me all the same.

A Prayer Request

Remember this sweet guy, whose story I told here? He has a couple of meetings and interviews in the next couple of days, and we're all hoping it will lead to a great new job for him. If you could send up a prayer on his behalf, I would really appreciate it. Please pray for his safety too as he is navigating himself in an unfamiliar city---and it is really cold there.

All at the same time, I am nervous and excited and worried about him being so far from home. But this really is a fabulous opportunity for him, so I'm trying to let go of me, be happy for him, and trust the rest to our Lord and His Mother. They know best anyway and can take far better care of him than I ever could.

Thanks for your prayers and for the encouraging words you leave in my comment box. They make my day!

Please Pray!

Even though I'm sure that almost all of my readers visit Minnesota Mom long before they come here...

I want to ask you to offer some prayers for my dear friend Margaret and her littlest one. Margaret has become a very special blessing in my life, and this time of uncertainty---waiting, wondering, daring to hope---is undoubtedly difficult.

If you have already prayed for Margaret, may I beg you to pray once more? Let's storm Heaven on her behalf. It was Jesus himself who taught us to go to our Father with all of our requests.

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"

Matthew 7:11

Thank you. May our dear Lord bless your day.

May She Rest in Peace

Last night I received the following update from Betsy's dear mother:

It is finished. At 9:50pm tonight, Elizabeth Anne Clare Bruton had a peaceful death, and is now resting in the arms of our Lord.

Please continue to pray---for the grieving parents of this sweet soul, for their other children who miss their sister, and for all who love this little girl. They face a long road of healing, which only our Lord can enable.

And yet...this brave little warrior has been released from her hard fought battle. Knowing this brings comfort to my heavy sadness.

Eternal rest, grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Please keep praying!

Please keep praying for little Betsy, specifically that her lungs would be healed. She is really struggling right now. She and her family need every prayer that we can spare.

Heavenly Father, Creator of Heaven and earth, we place dear Betsy and her family into Your loving and merciful hands.

Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, we come unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins, Our Mother. To thee we come, before thee we kneel, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer us. Amen.

Please pray!

Please join me in praying for a sweet little girl named Betsy and her family. She is fighting for her life right now, following her second heart transplant a few weeks ago, and her parents are carrying the heaviest of burdens. How my heart aches for all of them. Today is Betsy's fifth birthday.

Heavenly Father, Creator of Heaven and earth, we place dear Betsy and her family into Your loving and merciful hands.

Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, we come unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins, Our Mother. To thee we come, before thee we kneel, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer us. Amen.