Forget Me Nots

Girlfriends make life so sweet!  One recent phone call to my friend Jo went like this:              "I (me talking) am the worst friend on the planet!!  I forgot that I invited you over for lunch and made other plans and have to leave."  I can hear her take a sharp inhale on the phone, "OOOOh, I totally forgot that we were supposed to come over..."  And so it goes.  I have another friend who has the memory of an elephant and she will tell stories about things we have done together.  As she is telling the details of the event I wonder who in the world she is talking about, I simply can't remember!!!!  This is a thorn of frustration for me.  One of my greatest fears is I will end up an old lady mimicking the Shirley McClain character from Steel Magnolias and blurt out whatever happens to be on my mind, stunning the people there, and leaving the room in my outlandish hat and bag of tomatoes and forget that I just said whatever I said! 

SO what is a girl to do? Well this girl makes lists. I love lists. I love calendars. I love boxes that need to be checked off in hopes that I can. All these fabulous reminders make for lots of piles. My desk captures my reality.  Piles, piles, wonderful piles.  This morning I thought, 'yes but it is only my desk', but then much to my surprise, I looked around...piles of cookbooks on the kitchen island, piles of magazines and books stacked about on the coffee table, piles of school papers on the bookshelf.  Might I just add they are all important piles!  One form of recording that has benefitted me immensely is journaling.  Thank goodness for notebooks!  I have recorded milestones and happenings of each of my children, I have thankful journals, prayer journals, and journals I use in my quiet time to record things I am learning.  Recording information allows me to look back and remember, to recall and see how God answered a particular circumstance or prayer request.  Journaling blesses my heart.  In Deuteronomy 4:9 NIV it says:


Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.


Remember the good things that the Lord has done.  Today I wanted to encourage you to pray for your children, and if you don't have any, pray for those little ones dearest to you.  I will get you started and you can go from there.


Pray for the Lord to show you their gifts and talents that He will hone them.
Pray for their purity, that they will value guarding their hearts.  Pray for their future spouses. Pray for the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in their lives.  Pick one fruit they need more of; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Pray for their relationships with their siblings.  Pray for godly people and friends to be placed in their path to help steer them.  Pray for contentment and for integrity.  Ask the Lord to bless them with wisdom and discernment that far surpasses their age or experience.  Pray they will love God's word and live for an audience of one.  Pray they will be a force to be reckoned with in this fallen generation, that they will be leaders and grounded in their faith.  Pray, just pray...

Make your own list of strengths and weaknesses you observe in them and present them to the Lord.  It will delight your heart to see how the Lord answers you, especially when you look back in your journal and recall what was so heavy on your heart at that particular stage of development has been taken care of by the One who loves them best.  Just call them your 'forget me nots'.  If you write it down it is harder to forget.

We do the best we can right? Wherever you are on your journey, take the next step, and do your best. Get together with your girlfriends and pray for your children together! 


Concerning my piles that stare at me endlessly, I can take care of that too: