I send good times and bad times.
I, the Lord,
am the one who does these things
(Isaiah 45:7; NLT).
The Lord gave me what I had,
and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord
(Job 1:21; NLT).
Father,
When you give me light
I praise your holy name.
When you send me
Clouds and darkness,
May I do the same.
Father,
When you grant me peace
I bless your sacred name.
When you send me
Fear and anguish,
May I do the same.
Father,
When you give me joy
I praise your holy name.
When you send me
Grief and sorrow,
May I do the same.
Father,
When you grant me health
I bless your sacred name.
When you send me
Pain and sickness,
May I do the same.
Father,
While you give me life
I’ll praise your holy name.
When you call me home
In death,
May I do just the same.
I will praise the Lord at all times
(Psalm 34:1; NLT).
A beautiful poem of guidance, and it quotes Psalm 34! Thank you for this timely reminder in these hard recent days. I am blessed in many ways by Father God, not forgetting the prayers of the saints such as yourself Ruth. My circumstances and even my body is temporal for a short time before my time to ascend to Glory with my Lord – Hallelujah! God bless you mightily on this Lord’s Day sister Ruth.
What beautiful words, Alan – many thanks. Keep going. I know how hard this is.
In the middle of the night, God started to give me a second prayer for you. I wrote, slept, wrote, slept, and it’s now almost complete (I haven’t quite finished the Bible references). I’m going to mass at 11 o clock, so hope to finish it this afternoon. One question: would you like it to be just for you (in which case I will send it to you direct, as an email)?
Or, are you happy for it to go out as a blog, just with a simple dedication, as before? The choice is entirely yours.
NB If you wish, you could see it first, then decide whether you want others to read it too. It doesn’t mention you by name, but it is written especially for you.
May God bless you both today. You and Susan are at the forefront of my mind, because of her imminent surgery. I will pray for you both at mass. How is she feeling, and how are you both coping? XXXXXXX
I am beyond simple gratefulness for your kindness Ruth. I trust your judgement regarding the next poem, it is an honour and an incredible blessing to me.
Susan’s issue has worsened in the last few days, thus tomorrow’s operation holds both anxiety and hope for improvement. These are anxious times for both of us and the kids, but we trust Him implicitly.
I lit a candle for you both, and prayers for you in church XXXXX
Waiting before major surgery is so hard. You both have all my sympathy and understanding. Do you know roughly what time her surgery will start? (I realise this is unpredictable these days). Will she have to be in intensive care afterwards? May God bless you both, and all your family at this very anxious time XXXXX
We only know that Susan us there first thing at 8am and being discharged later that day, as you know hospital timing is unpredictable at best. We give it all to His hands.
Being nil by mouth, coupled with an early start is a big challenge. I do hope she will indeed be well enough to come home later the same day. Just emailed your prayer to you privately XXXXX
When the prayer is finished, I’ll ask God what is best XXXXX
🙏 for Susan and the whole Kearns family.
I echo your prayers XXXXX