25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 18

Del Oro won the state championship high school football game! We are so proud of our local team. While receiving the championship plaque, Coach Casey was asked, "When your team was 2-8, did you ever think you would find yourself winning the state?"

"Absolutely," he said. "I told the boys we could still win state if we just went out and won, one week at a time."

Del Oro overcame 8 elimination games and tonight claimed the state title. An incredible testimony of perseverance.

My prayer this Christmas is for all the people out there who feel like giving up, who feel like they have made too many mistakes, who feel like a 2-8 record means they have already lost, who feel like their marriage is too far gone or they will never get the job or the child they are praying for, who feel like being sick is simply who they are, who think they will always be alone or sad or angry. I pray that this Christmas God will restore their faith, that they will choose to see that they can still win, that their prayers can still be answered, one week at a time, and that they will come out on the other side as champions!

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 14

The other night I had a dream about a friend of mine who died this year, much too young. It has been a few years since I've seen him. He was only 19 then.

In my dream I am hanging ornaments on a tree. He is there and we are admiring the brightest, shiniest ornament. I am hanging it for him, in his honor, his memory. Because it reminds me of his personality. Bright, shiny, alive with wonder.

My prayer this Christmas is that we would find a way to honor, to remember, all the loved ones we have lost this year, in a meaningful way. Maybe it is with an ornament that reminds us of them. A donation to an organization that fights against the disease they died from. Or simply speaking their names, in our Christmas cards, our conversations or our prayers around the Christmas dinner table.

While Christmas seems like it should be the happiest time of year, for some it is the hardest. But perhaps finding a way to honor the ones we are missing will help us channel a bit of the heartache.

These are for you Corey. XOXO

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 11

My Grandma Audrey once gave me a bookmark with the Prayer of Saint Francis on it, written in French:

Seigneur, faites de moi un instrument de votre paix.Là où il y a de la haine, que je mette l'amour.Là où il y a l'offense, que je mette le pardon...

As I never took French, she wrote out the translation for me:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

What a beautiful prayer. And though my grandmother died 15 years ago, I still think about her, the books she gave me, the games we played, and this bookmark prayer.

I've been thinking about that prayer especially of late, considering all the violence in our world. Namely the shootings in San Bernadino here in California last week. I think about the little girl, the 6 month old daughter that the couple who did the killings left behind. I think about what a tragic beginning this is for her, that she too is an innocent victim. And I wonder, what if we channeled all of our hatred toward the parents, into love for their child. What if instead of a life of despair, we made sure that she grew up in a world of hope. Imagine, that we have the power to turn her darkness into light, her sadness into joy.

What if, in all things, we carried this prayer with us. Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace...

Where there is darkness, let me be light...

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 9

When you are a kid you will dream up all kinds of ways to get attention.

Any time one of my classmates would show up to school with an injury -- a broken bone, a black eye, stitches -- I can remember wishing it was me. That I was the one with a broken leg, the one who needed someone to carry my books, help me to recess, that I was the one wearing the cast that everyone wanted to sign.

I wasn't going to go out and purposely break my leg, however, so when time passed without any broken bones I had to come up with other ways of getting attention -- talking a lot, getting good grades, flirting with boys.

Fast forward to the year I turned 30 and I find myself with a broken rib and a sprained ankle after a 4-wheeling accident. I wasn't looking for attention at this point, just trying to have a good time with family and friends. But a couple of months after the accident I was still having issues, so I went to the hospital for a full body scan. They told me my rib had healed perfectly, and the lower body pain was not from the accident but due to arthritis, a result of the leg I broke as a child.

"I never broke my leg," I told the technician.

"The scans don't lie," she said.

Funny. All that time I thought my prayers had gone unanswered. But somewhere along the way I had gotten exactly what I'd wished for. I just hadn't looked deep enough to see it.

I wonder how often our prayers get answered and, for whatever reason, we don't realize it. Maybe they don't get answered the way we want them to, or in our timing. Maybe we're too busy to see what God has done and is doing in our lives.

Whatever we are praying for this Christmas -- reconciliation, joy, love, new life, work opportunities, good health -- may we take the time to slow down, to recognize God at work, and to believe that He always answers our prayers.

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 7

I'm thinking today about all the people who will be spending Christmas alone.

I don't know what prayer to pray for them. Whether I should pray that someone would come into their lives between now and December 25, or that your presence alone would be enough God, or that they would receive an unexpected gift or card to brighten their holiday. Perhaps I should pray "why?" or "that sucks" or "you better make this up to them on their birthday."

Sometimes we don't know what to pray. But thank you God, that you still hear.

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 6

This is the first picture Randy ever took of me. It obviously wasn't intentional. I'm just a speck of green next to the stop sign. We didn't even know each other then. He simply had his camera posed to take a shot and I happened to walk around the corner and right into his view.

Neither of us would have guessed that this moment would change our lives. But here we are, 21 months to the day later. Living happily ever after.

God, we always look for you in the big moments, the grand gestures, the most obvious and astonishing ways. But today I'm reminded that you are working even when we don't see it, in the tiniest moments, on days that seem so completely ordinary.

Sometimes we can look back and pinpoint the beginning of these life altering events, a choice or an encounter that changed the course of our steps. But you were working even before then.

I know some of the work but I can't even imagine all of the work you did in Randy's life to make sure he was there on that street at that exact moment. I know some of the work but can't imagine all of the work you did in my life to make sure I was there too.

My prayer today is particularly for those people who can't see what you are doing, Lord. Who have a hard time imagining their dreams will ever come true. Help them to trust that you are working, in big and small ways, and that your dreams will not only answer, but exceed all of theirs.

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 5

My computer was out of commission for the last 4 hours. With deadlines looming and a to-do list that all involved being online, this was not part of the plan.

Even after yesterday's prayer to not make mountains out of molehills, this initially seemed like the worst possible thing that could happen.

But then I remembered what it was like working in an office in Indiana during the winter. It seemed like we always lost our electricity at the most inconvenient of times. What do you do in an office without a computer? You clean, you organize, you go out with your girlfriends to get mani-pedis. And somehow, hours or days later when the electricity comes back on, you find yourself more relaxed, more focused, more able to conquer the tasks at hand.

So, instead of stressing away the day, I took the dogs for a walk, made myself a nice lunch, organized the kitchen cabinets, and watched a Hallmark movie. And now I'm coming back to my desk with not only a clean computer, but a mind clear of the clutter and stress that occupied it earlier this morning. And the inspiration for today's blog post. :)

Thank you Jesus for the reminder that every interruption is an opportunity.

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 4

It's so easy for us to exaggerate and dramatize every little disaster in our lives. It's like we never grew out of those tantrums we threw as three-year-olds.

• The batteries ran out in my wireless keyboard and we don't have any double As in the house. Now I have to go the store. I'll NEVER get my work done.
• I planned the perfect dinner for my spouse but I forgot to buy tomatoes. Dinner is RUINED. 
• EVERYONE is out enjoying the beautiful weather today but I'm ALWAYS stuck inside with the laundry. 

Today, let us pray that we would keep things in their proper perspective. One mistake, one inconvenience, one setback, is NOT the end of the world!

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 3

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

In these troubling times, when violence, tragedy and disaster seem all too common, Lord I pray that we would not become complacent or desensitized to these events. And yet, even as we recognize the severity of the troubles of this world, I am grateful that our trust is in you, the Prince of Peace.