Prayer Circles

Our dear Jane, my first laugh today, from an old fogey, ha, ha. Actually, I'm 25 with 30 yrs. of experience at it!
Much love & Hugs,
Sandy

Dear Cheryl,
I went back and looked at my personal notes of the moms here and I found your name but none of the details of your information. I have been going through all the back posts to find out all I can about all the moms since I am the designated person to compile our Special Dates List. It includes the mom's name, child's name, child's birthdate(BD) and homegoing date(HD). I keep this list in date order and post regularly so all of us can pray for each other on our special dates. If you would like to be included (since your date is coming up), let me know here at the circle or email me at
mct1@ckt.net
Thank you Cheryl for posting again.
Love and prayers,
Charlene

Hi dear AngelMom Cheryl, gosh, it's been a while since you last posted, but I'm very glad that you have! Your precious Lisa's Anniversary must be soon, your Post is full of pain, it's still so very hard, isn't it. The special days of our child start to affect us before they get here, the anxiety we feel over the day build's up in anticipation over it. No, the longing for our child never goes away, my Aunt lost my little Cousin 35 yrs. ago and still think's of her daily. All we can do is to eventually learn how to live with it and keep pressing on, with God's help. We'll never understand the 'Why' this side of Heaven, but one day when we're reunited with our precious child, we will. I realize that's little comfort to you now, just know that we all care and are here to offer you our love and support and my prayers are with you, God bless you dear one,
Much love & Hugs,
Sandy

Dear Charlene,
Cheryl started posting on page 89. Lisa BD and HD are 11/12.

Dear Cheryl,
I am sorry you are in so much pain. Time does not heal all wounds. May I suggest you post what happened to Lisa again. There is still so much inside you and it will help you get some of it out. I know most of your friends want you to move on and not talk about it. Here we encourage you to talk and talk. We understand the need for a listening ear. Always know we are here for you and especially in the next 6 weeks you will be prayed for daily. Love, Jane

Hi everyone,
This morning I awoke with such sadness. I keep thinking of the Amish community and the why question keeps coming up. I know we never get answers to our whys. But this evil has really shaken me. I find myself asking where were God's protecting angels. Is He really in control? Is anybody else having trouble with this? Love, Jane

YES!! Jane, that's almost all I can think about right now; of course the media keeps it in front of us all the time--I guess it's because the Amish are so different from us and they aren't public knowledge to so many people. I guess the media are looking for ratings again. I thought this morning--what about the shooting in Colorado. It happened and was over before I knew anything about it. I looked up some information about it and wished I hadn't. Those girls were physically assaulted before one girl was killed. I was also reading this morning that 2 of the Amish girls killed were sisters and that brought me back to Casey and Carey being sisters. Life is just so full of evil any more and it's affecting too many people that I know. It used to be that when something like this happened, it affected someone else and not me. Now it's like it's almost personal; I wonder if it's because we've all lost children and this is something we can identify with, in a way. Anyway, I just wanted to answer you Jane because I'd been thinking the same thing. I've wanted to post but this Amish shooting has left me almost drained.
Love, Charlene
I don't personally know any of the Amish in Pennsylvania but I have Mennonite family from there 3 generations back so I know where this area is and almost feel like they're family. How strange is that.

It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth....Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

In this I must trust

Thank you Kathy. And that is something good that has come from the Amish; they are forgiving and are proclaiming that they know their girls are in heaven. They believe that death is to be celebrated more than birth even though death hurts more. In a way, they are showing the gospel message by their reactions to this tragedy.

They are showing the pure love of Christ as horrible as the evil is...to be able to shine Gods light through, Wow. Awesome. That is what it is all about. Please visit the website. It is awesome.
Kathy

Charlene,
I wanted to thank you for the poem. It captures how I feel so well. It is what I pray for most these days.... making it safely through another day. Very, very good!
Kathy

ps...I am very glad that you had a good visit with your Daughter and Grandchildren. I know it will all work out. You have been blessed!

Thank you again Kathy. It's not the relationship we had before, seeing each other or talking at least once a day, but it's a start. The kids are busy in school now so it's harder to get together with them too.
Thanks again.
Love, Charlene

Bless those who mourn, eternal God,
with the comfort of your love
that they may face each new day with hope and the certainty that nothing can destroy the good that has been given. May their memories become joyful,their days enriched with friendship, and their lives encircled by your love. God still sits on the throne, the devil is a liar. cheryl you may be going through a tough time right now but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith. Hello all of my angel sisters. It has been a couple of days since Ive been here. That storm has kept me quite busy. In fact let me tell you about the way God works. My basement flooded, I was down there in ankle deeped waster trying to soak up the water. Fussing all the time saying if Derrick was here, I wouldnt be doing this, and "Derrick, why aren't you here doing this? I suddenly stopped started calling all the hardware stores, they all sold out the wet vac. My girlfriend had one. I went over her house to pick it up. Came back home went in the basement and ALL of the water was gone. I said where did it go? It came to me and the first thing out of my mouth was DERRICK. Isnt God good? does He move and mysterious ways? Derrick knew that basement was too huge for me to try to get all of that water up. I've been telling everyone this story all week and everyone stated they believe it because they felt Derrick's spirit all in this house at his memorial. I will continue To Bless the Lord at all times and His Praises will continue to be in my mouth.

All I found this in my stash and thought immediately to send to my sisters: A Blessing is Coming!
When I woke up this morning, I saw an Angel standing in front of me looking directly into my eyes; saying what is
your morning prayer? I said, I want my loved ones and friends to be blessed, and He said to me again; how many days do you want your loved ones and friends to be blessed? I looked at Him...directly into His eyes, just the way He was looking into mine. I said FOREVER AND EVER, and He said your wish is my COMMAND! Then I saw Blessings coming down from Heaven towards your directions.
Everyone have a good evening and may our Father send His angel of protection down to surround you and your family this day forward and may He surround all of those babies that lost their lives in the Amish community. I asked my son today to go to and embrace all of them. All of the babies that have been sent home to glory this year. My heart is so heavy how so many of our young innocent ones left this year, and the way they left. I sent the email with my prayer to be given to them. I pray for them all, I pray for us all. God Be the Glory.

Aren't you glad that when the weight of the world gets too hard to bear, He'll carry you??

Thank you Connie for your prayer and for your blessing!
Charlene

Dear Charlene,
Thank you for your reply. Our news media went into detail about what the girls went through in Colorado. I know that I know that God is in control, but I keep questioning how all this evil can happen. I know that good is coming from it in PA but at what cost? I know what Kathy said is true, that Jesus has those families in His hands. My question, when we pray for protection for ourselves and loved ones, does God pick and choose who He will protect? Like I said before, this has really shaken me up. In my circle, I'm known as the person who asks the hard questions that no one else is willing to verbalize. I actually think I'm angry with God for not protecting those innocent little girls. I'm afraid that if He didn't protect them, He isn't going to protect me or my loved ones. I also know that I can only see a small portion of His larger plan. And as Job was reminded, who am I to question God. As you can see, I'm really wrestling with this. Well, I better end this before I bring everyone else down.

Happy birthday Charlene,
I didn't get a chance to send you an e-card this morning but I will this afternoon.
I hope you have a blessed day.
Love,Anita

Thank you Anita; I look forward to it. Bless you too today!
Love, Charlene

Dear Jane,
I too seem to always ask the hard questions. Or if I don't ask them, I think them. What's the saying?--still waters run deep--that's what I've been told. I like to think about things and try to digest them; I sometimes think that I overthink things too much. :o)
I know what you mean about asking for protection; it's taken me a while to even get to the place where I ask for protection for my kids and grandkids. I too thought that if God didn't protect Carey and Casey, how can I expect Him to protect anyone else. But then, with His still small voice, I hear Him telling me that He did protect them. They didn't suffer; at least if they did, not for very long. They don't have to put up with all the struggles of adolescence and boys and periods and all the mistakes of growing up. They are in Heaven, a paradise if there ever was one. They are where they don't have to worry or cry or be in pain or suffer any more. (And we don't have to worry about them.) It's made me more aware of eternal things and not just the here and now. The bottom line with me is to pray as Jesus did in the Garden--not my will but Thine be done; and give me the strength to face whatever is going to happen today and tomorrow and the next day. I shared in a back post about my youngest daughter and her kids coming to see me one day not too long after the girls were killed in the car wreck. My daughter was late getting here and I started to panic, thinking that she'd been in a wreck too. When she got here she apologized but I almost had a major meltdown in front of the grandkids. Then the more I prayed about it, I realized that I was living in fear and that fear was not from God. God doesn't give us a spirit of fear, but of love and power and a SOUND MIND. I pray every day for a sound mind, to be willing to trust Him with myself and my family. Will it be hard if something happens to one of them? Definitely! But that's life with it's ups and downs. Only in Heaven will there be true peace FOREVER.
Enough preaching! LOL
Love you Jane; I pray that God would give you an answer and His peace today.
Charlene

Happy Birthday Charlene!!
I pray you have a very blessed day today and you do something for you. God bless you.
Kathy

Dear Jane,
I have learned many things since Wesley went to Heaven. I have learned that while I was begging God to save him....he did. While I was thinking of holding him and wiping his tears and taking his pain, God did that for me. Like Charlene says, our loved ones are in Heaven where there is no pain, no struggle, no grief, nothing but love. I often wondered how God picks who he will save and who he won't and why did he pick my son? I have come to understand that the picture is so much bigger than we can imagine. It does not matter who is protected, who is saved, who lives to be 100. What matters to God is the closeness and trust we share with him in times of trouble, horrible circumstances, pain and grief. It is the faith we have in him that come "hell or highwater" we will trust in him. We will lean on him and run to him with our burdens. He already knows that our loved ones are taken care of. We are the ones who don't fully comprehend. I have heard that grief is only for the ones left behind. When something horrible happens like in the Amish community, there is a lesson. I think the lesson here is how the Amish responded to this tragedy. They took food to the widow and children of the gunman. They openly forgave him. Only someone with Christ in the very center of their heart could do that. They celebrate the lives of their children and realize that they are now forever in the arms of our Father. We naturally think of our safety, our protection, our loved ones safety and of course do not want anything to happen to any of us. What God wants is our trust that even if the world comes to an end that we will be free.
Sorry to ramble, it is just how I feel. Love to you Jane. I am praying for us all that we understand.
Kathy

Dear Connie,
Thank you for the wonderful prayer and blessing. Yes I know what you mean about the water being gone and Derrick helping you..I have had a similar experience. It is devine intervention. No one can convince me otherwise. Love and peace to you dear sister.
Kathy

Dear Charlene,
Happy Birthday to my older friend! LOL! Really I pray your day is filled with celebration. Love, Jane

Thank you Kathy for your birthday wishes! I'm basically being lazy today and haven't even made my bed yet. HaHa!
Yes, I agree with you about trust. I think that's the bottom line; do I trust God with my life and with my family's lives? I think it was Job who said, 'Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him'. And the 3 Hebrew young men (in the book of Daniel) who were thrown into the fiery furnace said God could save them out of the furnace but that they would not bow down to the image even if God would NOT save them out of the furnace. Now THAT'S trust! I think of the martyrs in Rome in Bible times and of the people today all over the world who are not compromising their faith even when facing death. That's a different subject than what's been going on with us, but it is still a question of trust. Why did God allow all the Jews to die during WWII? Why didn't he save them? There are a lot of questions about why and for what purpose. See, I told you I was a deep thinker sometimes. But I also think that that's what God wants us to do; I don't think He wants to just accept everything without trying to understand. And when it's too much for us to understand, that's when we just TRUST Him because HE knows what's going on.
Enough for now. :o)
Charlene