Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem III and Vietnam

Praying for the peace of Jerusalem is such a great privilege as well as our Christian responsibility.

 We are reminded several times in the Bible to pray in this way.  One of them is found in Psalm 122:6.

 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

I am grateful for the privilege of continuing what I hope to be a long tradition here on my blog--the faithful prayers from God's children lifted to Him for the peace of Jerusalem.

I also wanted to include one other country each week to pray for--This week my heart is especially connected to Vietnam.

Father, We come before you today to ask your blessings on Jerusalem and all of Israel. We pray that in the days ahead you will burden our hearts more and more for Israel and teach us how to pray. In your Word we are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and we know that you are peace--the only true peace comes from you-- We pray that you would protect Israel from those who would want to destroy her, who would want this country wiped from the face of the map. When her enemies stretch forth their bows, may their arrows fall short--Psalm 58:7b And not only that, Lord, but we pray that her enemies would have miraculous encounters with you--we pray that You would make Yourself real to them in visions and dreams, in encounters that we cannot even imagine. And Vietnam, Lord, please bless the people of Vietnam today. Let your blessings flow unbounded, may many come to know You, even today. Thank you so much for the readers of this blog from that part of the world. Be gracious and compassionate towards them, Lord, and enrich their lives abundantly with the knowledge of You. Thank you for the power of prayer. All things we ask in the name of Jesus, Amen

I have scheduled this post so by the time it is published I should be through with my surgery and on the road to recovery.  I look so forward to getting back with you.

Some of the posts may seem repetitive but I think the prayers we will be praying will have eternal significance.  What an honor and a responsibility to pray.

Yesterday in Sunday School class we were reading and studying the 5th chapter of Revelation.  All of the chapter is incredible as you can tell by listening to this--

    


But one of my very favorite verses is Revelation 5:8.  I want to fill those bowls up with my prayers.

  © ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2015

I love hearing from you.  My email address can be found under the 'Contact' heading at the top left of this page

Praying for the Generations II

The photo above shows three generations of our family.  I am to the left, then my grandson-in-law, Josh who is Kailey's husband (Kailey is not pictured), my daughter-in-law, Traci, who is a breast cancer survivor (remember, you prayed for her last year), and her daughter and my granddaughter, Katelyn.

Last night we had the great pleasure of hearing our granddaughter give her testimony about her mission adventures in New York City for a month and in Asia for a month this summer.

As I sat and listened to her, tears rolled down my cheeks as I recalled the many prayers I have prayed over the years that my lineage would take the gospel to the nations.*  How faithful God is to answer our prayers when we do not pray amiss.  James 4:3

It is my desire to not waste my prayers by asking amiss. And I admit it is easy to get caught up in prayers of selfishness--

5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  Deut. 6:5-9

Heavenly Father,  It is our desire to be faithful to pray for our children and grandchildren and all those to come after us in our lineage.  It is also our desire to be diligent to talk to them about you--to talk of your unfailing love and promises, to let them see the ways you work in our own lives--to make known the fact that you have never and will never let us down.  That you will always be there for us and never leave us-- Father, in so doing, it is our hope and prayer that their hearts will be prepared for the day when they are confronted with You and making the eternal choice of a personal relationship with the God of the Universe through our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.  Lord, we pray that each generation of our lineage would be faithful to tell of your great love, to make living for you a priority in their families.  We pray that not one of our lineage will be lost to the enemy of our soul--that ALL would come to a saving knowledge of You.  In Jesus' Name,  Amen

*taking the gospel to the nations can be walking across the street to your neighbor's house, a fellow student in your biology class out for coffee or lunch, or wherever God leads you--



I love hearing from you. Email address can be accessed at top left of this page. And I desire your prayers for my knee replacement surgery tomorrow.  Thank you so very much!

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2015

A Desperate Faith

--a repost from past pages and a prayer request at the end--

Her pain was great. Her misery engulfed her and had for twelve years. She had exhausted every avenue of medical knowledge, Spent her life's earnings. She had an issue--an issue of life-taking blood. His presence was great. It engulfed and enveloped everyone around. He had used but not exhausted the vast knowledge of His Father. He was soon to have an issue--an issue of life-giving blood. In the meantime He went about doing good-- healing those who were hurting, comforting those who were mourning-- Feeding those who were hungry. In her meantime, she went about searching For the one she had heard so much about-- She heard that He had set free a demon-possessed man, And the winds and waters of nature obeyed Him, yes, that's what she had heard-- Even heard that He had raised up a paralyzed man, And cleansed a leper's spots. She believed the stories she had heard about Him. She knew her faith came from God. Her faith was a desperate faith--
In Jewish culture she was considered unclean. An outcast--society's outcast. But she knew the moment she could reach out and touch Him, She would be healed. He knew the moment she had reached out and touched Him. He felt power flow from Him to her. With so many of the multitudes touching Him, Why did He suddenly notice when she touched Him? Could it have been because her faith was stronger, more desperate? A certain woman who He now called "Daughter"-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We all have issues.   What's your issue today? 
Is your issue so important that it causes you to have a desperate faith?   Whatever it is, I pray that your faith matches that of this woman. I pray that you search for Him and find Him, that you reach out to Him and are healed.

from Mark 5  21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.  22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.  23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”  24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.  25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.  26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.  27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,  28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”  29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.  30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”  31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask,‘Who touched me?’ ”  32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.  33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.  34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Prayer Request:  I can learn a lot from the woman above--she had been "waiting"

for twelve years for her healing to come--

It's been three weeks since I tore my meniscus and learned that

the normal surgery would not help it--that the knee

was in such bad shape that I needed a total knee replacement--

I've done pretty good I guess--not being able to clean house, paint, photography

or most of the things I love.

I can read and I am on the computer a lot designing etc.  I love to do that.

I was down for a year with a ruptured disc in my early thirties when our three sons

were very small--it was hard to watch my husband do everything for a year--

but I learned to wait--

and God taught me so many incredible lessons during that time.

I wouldn't go back and change it if I could.

The lessons were too valuable.

But my thirties were four decades ago and the lessons can sometimes get a little stale.

So my prayer request is this--

Please pray for the surgery itself and also that the days of

waiting for healing to come will be productive ones--

That I won't waste my sorrows--

The surgery is on Tuesday the 11th.

I don't know for sure how faithful I will be to blogging during that healing time

but please know I will be thinking about you and praying for you and loving you

with the love of the Lord.

And I will be back soon I hope.

Thank you for reading and praying.

I really appreciate it.

© all photographs and text property of Elizabeth Dianne unless otherwise noted

the woman--oil on canvas-enhanced in Photoshop

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

Praying for the peace of Jerusalem is such a great privilege as well as our Christian responsibility.

 We are reminded several times in the Bible to pray in this way.  One of them is found in Psalm 122:6.

 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

I am grateful for the privilege of continuing what I hope to be a long tradition here on my blog--the faithful prayers from God's children lifted to Him for the peace of Jerusalem.

I also wanted to include one other country each week to pray for--This week my heart is especially connected to Algeria.

Father, We come before you today to ask your blessings on Jerusalem and all of Israel. We pray that in the days ahead you will burden our hearts more and more for Israel and teach us how to pray. In your Word we are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and we know that you are peace--the only true peace comes from you-- We pray that you would protect Israel from those who would want to destroy her, who would want this country wiped from the face of the map. When her enemies stretch forth their bows, may their arrows fall short--Psalm 58:7b And not only that, Lord, but we pray that her enemies would have miraculous encounters with you--we pray that You would make Yourself real to them in visions and dreams, in encounters that we cannot even imagine. And Algeria, Lord, please bless the people of northern Africa today. Let your blessings flow unbounded, may many come to know You, even today. Thank you so much for the readers of this blog from that part of the world. Be gracious and compassionate towards them, Lord, and enrich their lives abundantly with the knowledge of You. Thank you for the power of prayer. All things we ask in the name of Jesus, Amen

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2015

I love hearing from you.  My email address can be found under the 'Contact' heading at the top left of this page

Celebrating Our 50th Anniversary!

When Larry and I were dating and starting to get serious, he sent me a dozen red roses. That bouquet contained a white orchid. Now, it just so happened at this point in time that there was a popular song by Wayne Newton entitled "Red Roses for a Blue Lady."

Also, the lyrics contained the line, "and one white orchid for her wedding day," and it also talked about "a silly quarrel," which we also had had.  The only one we had in over a year of dating--

I thought Larry was starting to allude to marriage about this time during our courtship so when I got the flowers, I wrote him a letter and said, "Yes, I will." He was working out of town at the time. He wrote back and said, "Yes, you will what?"

I don't remember when I got up the courage to tell him that I was answering "yes" to what I thought was a marriage proposal. We found out later that Cabot Florist in North Little Rock (the greatest florist anywhere) automatically put one white orchid in every bouquet of a dozen roses. OH ME! How embarrassing!!

Last Friday morning (July 31) he drove to North Little Rock to the same florist to get me one dozen red roses with a white orchid but alas, fifty years have changed things somewhat and they no longer have white orchids.  They did place a white lily in the bouquet, though, and it is beautiful.

My husband posted this on Facebook yesterday:

I'm not sure what celebrating 50 years of marriage is all about, but I have concluded a few things: 

* It feels pretty good to have had the privilege to love my wife for 50 years. Maybe that's enough, but .... 

* She loves God and we have attempted to build our marriage around a covenant with Him and each other. Now that is something to really celebrate, especially when we actually do it. And ... 

* We both had parents to point us to God. I have concluded success in our marriage and anything else is always preceded by obedience to our Lord and Savior. Our parents lived this truth and showed us how to live. Then ... 

* We had three ornery boys along the way and I lovingly refer to them as goats. It seems that they are not perfect, just like their Mom and Dad, but they have good hearts and I am desperately proud of them. We also had a special son who lived with us for a time and who remains in our hearts. He's living in New York City and we've only seen him once since he left us 20 or so years ago. He'll always have a special place in my heart and he has made me very proud. Then there are those special guys at Renewal Ranch that we learned to love deeply during their short stay. What magnificent testimonies they have about overcoming their addictions. We love them all. And ... 

* If that were not enough, we acquired 3 daughters too, and what a catch. We have loved them and they have loved us - what more can I say. And ...

* Eight grandchildren and one grandson-in-law later, Dianne and i are abundantly blessed. All except the 2-year old have given their hearts to Christ. 

* All of these things are not peculiar to our marriage but they are blessings from God and I celebrate them. He is the source of life, and not only that but abundant life when I choose to do it His way. And He loves us unconditionally. The love between Dianne and me, and among my family is nothing more than God's love through us. Thank you God for my wife and my family and my friends.

AND ON THIS EVE OF OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY, I JUST THOUGHT IT APPROPRIATE TO TELL DIANNE THAT I LOVE HER WITH ALL OF MY HEART.  I PLEDGE MY LOVE TO YOU AGAIN IN A PUBLIC WAY JUST AS I DID WHEN WE SAID OUR VOWS ON JULY 31, 1965

And this is what I posted:

Fifty years ago today, I got up early, took my shower and put my hair up in rollers so it would have a few hours to air dry, 

drove to the Heights to pick up my wedding cake, (there was an awesome bakery up there--can't remember the name of it now)--

swung by Little Rock University to borrow their silver punch bowl, 200 cups, plates, and saucers, drove to East Broadway to my pastor's house, 

proceeded (with my mom and maid of honor) to hand wash 200 said plates, cups, and saucers--

drove to grocery store on Wright Avenue to buy sherbet and ginger ale for the punch, brought it back to parsonage, 

went home (southwest Little Rock), got ready, drove to church, picked up a handsome dude along the way, 

ended up that evening at the Aristocrat in Hot Springs, AR--

oh, we made one more stop--I had dreamed all my life of driving off with my Prince Charming in a car all painted, cans clanging from the bumper, et. etc.--

and people honking at us all the way to our Honeymoon destination. 

As soon as we left the parsonage where reception was held, Larry whipped in to a car wash and proceeded to wash his brand new SuperSport Impala Chevrolet (with stereo radio)--there was only one stereo radio station at the time in Little Rock--LOL--

I sat there in stunned silence watching all my little girl dreams wash down the drain--ANOTHER LOL--

Oh, the unreal expectations we have as young lovers--I can look back now and laugh at my ridiculous self but at the time I thought it was the end of the world--ha ha--

All I can say is "he more than made up for it" and we had a beautiful new car that didn't have a stained paint job--

Happy Anniversary Honey!

This picture was taken last Friday on our anniversary.

no filter, no retouching--
--will make sure I post one of my husband and me soon that HAS
been retouched--

I will be 71 next month!

I got so excited when I got to my kids'  house for a steak and lobster dinner that I forgot to have them take a picture of my hubby and me--

Here is the beautiful table that my daughter-in-law set--
I forgot to take a picture of the steak and lobster--
It was the best I had ever had!

and the cake was absolutely delicious--strawberry on the inside!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2015

I love hearing from you. Email address can be accessed at top left of this page.

Praying for the Generations

On Mondays I would like for us to concentrate on praying for the generations that come after us--our descendants.

A number of years ago I was reading the Bible and came to this verse--

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Mark 8:36

That hit me so hard especially in the area of my family and the generations to come after.  I can leave a lasting legacy by praying for them now.

and this scripture--from Psalm 78--

5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, 

6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. 

7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. 

(accents mine)

Heavenly Father, It is our desire to be faithful to pray for our children and grandchildren and all those to come after us in our lineage. It is also our desire to be diligent to talk to them about you--to talk of your unfailing love and promises, to let them see the ways you work in our own lives--to make known the fact that you have never and will never let us down. That you will always be there for us and never leave us-- Father, in so doing, it is our hope and prayer that their hearts will be prepared for the day when they are confronted with You and making the eternal choice of a personal relationship with the God of the Universe through our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that each generation of our lineage would be faithful to tell of your great love, to make living for you a priority in their families. We pray that not one of our lineage will be lost to the enemy of our soul--that ALL would come to a saving knowledge of You. In Jesus' Name, Amen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2015

Photo is of our youngest granddaughter--a few years ago--she is almost 11 now