a Tennessee Monday

81. Visiting my grandparents in east Tennessee.

82. Glorious fall-colored mountains and lovely weather, and the opportunity to spend an afternoon at Cades Cove (one of my favorite places on this earth).

83. My grandmother, who has Alzheimer's, walking into her kitchen as I pulled muffins out of the oven and saying, "I love you; it seems like it's always been like this." (Not entirely sure what she was referring or if she really knows who I am most of the time, but it was a very sweet moment.)

84. Visiting over tea with my lovely sister/friend/cousin Sabrina.

85. Seeing the sunset over the Smoky Mountains from the Foothills Parkway

86. A good conversation with my pastor

87. Encouraging texts to let me know a friend is praying for me.

88. "Hellooooooooo ma'am!" Never fails to make me smile. Thank you, Sir Green Shirt.

89. Technology, which allows me to listen to the sermon I missed last night while I drive across Tennessee this afternoon.

90. New music to play over and over on "Nonny" (my non-iPod) that keeps me focused on the Gospel.

21-30

(1-10) (11-20)

21. Encouraging cards (of both the electronic and the paper variety) from dear friends, and unexpected but encouraging phone calls

22. Our very own wireless internet at our apartment (no more huddling by the window trying to catch the one non-password-protected network near our building!); seriously, it is a beautiful thing to be able to sit at my desk and type this!

23. French-pressed Anniversary Blend

24. A lovely Sunday afternoon of cookies and movie-watching with Paul, Everly, and Birdie.

25. My rearranged (and currently quite clean) room; there's just something therapeutic about changing the layout of my room from time to time (yes, I am strange).

26. Prayers of friends, and their patience with me in all of my emotional ups and downs

27. Surviving (andsurprisinglymostlyenjoying) week one of (sort of) being a shift supervisor at work

28. The anticipation of new-to-me old books coming soon in the mail, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string (how fun is that!)

29. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him." (Lamentations 3:22-24)

30. 23 years with my wonderful, selfless, giving, loving, amazing, beautiful, godly, incredible mother, who is now in heaven with Jesus

John Piper on Prayer

God has designed and ordained and planned and promised that he will act for us when we pray. God has promised to do for us things we cannot do our ourselves when we pray—that is, when we get on our faces before God and confess our sins, and give thanks for his grace, and lift up the cup of salvation, and plead for him to fill it with supernatural blessings for the needs in our lives and families and church and business and city and nation and world.

Is it not breathtaking to hear Jesus say, “ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Isn't it breathtaking to hear his brother James say, “ You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2)! Or to put it positively, “If you had asked, God would have acted to meet your need.” This is astonishing: God acts in response to prayer. The all-knowing, all-foreseeing, all-planning, all-governing God wills for your Christ-exalting prayers to be the occasion of his action.

John Piper, "Let Your Requests Be Made Known to God"

One of the [many] things that I am trying to learn about and put into practice is prayer. Despite having grown up in the church and having prayed many a prayer over the years, I know that this is an area of my life where there is much room for improvement. A big part of the problem is my lack of discipline in prioritizing prayer; also significant, I'm sure, is that my understanding of prayer and its purpose is very inadequate. I know that prayer is important, and I'veseen God answer prayers more times than I can count, but from the little time and emphasis I actually give to praying, it's pretty clear that I don't quite "get" it. I want to, though, because I know that it's such a huge part of seeking and knowing and loving and following God; I want my relationship with Him to be deeper than it is right now. So, with two dear friends promising to help keep me accountable in this, I am focusing both on learning more about prayer and on being more purposeful in praying. So, pray for me, if you will; I'm excited to see where God takes me with this :)

Prayer Request

I got a text this morning from a friend in Chicago who just found out that her 21-year-old niece, Jennifer, is in an ICU in Dallas, and they're having trouble stabilizing her. I don't know any other details right now, but I (and my friend) would definitely appreciate prayers for Jennifer and for her whole family as they go through this scary time. Please pray that God would give them His peace even in the midst of their fear and that their trust would be in Him.

Psalm 145:18-19

The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
to all who call on Him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him;
He also hears their cry and saves them.