"THOU SHALL PRAY AND PRAY AND PRAY SOME MORE"

*Things that make ya go "Hmm..."

Yesterday, as Summer and Gracie sat in my little office with me, I asked Miss Linda to come in here so I could read to her what I wrote to all of you ABOUT HER.

She was overcome with emotion, of course. And she shed many tears. It's not everyday that you get to actually hear a "love letter" written about you that is shared with the "world".

So I completely understood why she wasn't able to keep her composure...and I promise I didn't let her cry alone. :))

After I finished reading my post, I THEN read to her all of your beautiful responses.

She was amazed.

Then I turned my computer around to face her and showed her all of the "private" messages from friends of mine asking if she had any openings.

She was stunned.

 Overwhelmed.

 And she was just plain grateful to God for what she was feeling at that moment.

I gave her a minute to get herself together and then I said, "Miss Linda, you gotta know that these people are not really clamoring for you because of your cleaning skills. You do know that, right?"

With confused eyes, she looked at me as she continued dabbing her eyes with her tissue.

I explained, "Yes, You are the best cleaner in the world....but I'm telling you that these women want you, not because of your cleaning skills, but because of how you pray over my family and the other families you work for.

And you know what this tells me?

 This is such a clear indicator to me that people crave prayer. We all receive such peace and comfort from knowing that others are praying for our children, our family, our lives."

Miss Linda put the tissue to her face once again covering her eyes while shaking her head. She was in such disbelief that, through my words, she was able to touch so many.

I asked her, "Miss Linda, what made you decide to use your job as a stepping stone to the greater job of praying for the families you work for?"

Do you know what she said to me?

Miss Linda gathered herself, sat up straight in the chair, as if she were in front of a courtroom jury. She cleared her throat, lifted her head and said these words to me:

"Teri, I'll tell ya. It all began early in my life with my mama. We never had much growing up, but my mama insisted we never act like we didn't have much. She insisted that we had all we ever needed and we were never allowed to pity ourselves. Mama taught us that while we pray for ourselves and our particular situation, that we always pray for others as well."

I leaned forward, put my elbows on my desk and placed my hands together in a ball over my mouth (like my dad used to do, I realized) and I smiled at her, stunned and wonderfully amazed by her response.

I asked, "So praying for others just simply became a habit that felt good? necessary?..."

She cut me off, "No, I'll tell you the truth about when it became more important to me...... When the government took prayer out of the schools and everywhere else. I became worried...and stubborn."

"Stubborn?" I asked.

"Yes. Stubborn." She replied laughing, "I thought, 'y'all might take prayer outta the schools, but you'll never take it outta my heart...and outta my job.' If anything, Teri, I started praying harder. I started feeling God calling me to pray for everybody I ever came into contact with. People call me to pray for them all the time, and Lord knows I do it. And to me it's a privilege. A beautiful privilege....and yes, part of my job."

I hugged her and told her how much I did love her so....and how very lucky and blessed I am to get to have her in my life and my family's life.

You know, I haven't been able to stop thinking about what she said.... I couldn't even sleep because my mind was going 90 to nothin' last night.

 ...I even googled this sentence in the middle of the night,

*****"What has happened since prayer was taken out of public schools"*******

...and I could hardly believe what I read in site after site after site.

You know? Here's the thing: (in my very humble opinion)

Prayer is the single most important thing we can ever do for each other....for our country......and for ourselves.

I don't give a fiddle faddle your religious affiliation....how you pray.....or even to whom you pray to.(Because quite frankly, I do believe everyone should have the freedom to pray however is most comfortable for them)

 .....I certainly don't want anyone telling me how to do it...or to whom they think I should pray to. Jesus is my Lord and Savior and God is my Heavenly Father...and nobody could ever make me believe differently for MY life."

Look, I'm still trying to (as my dad would say) grasp the all encompassing Oneness of God, and understand how we, man, and everything else, is created in HIS image!

And I actually LOVE that it will take me a lifetime and into eternity to get all of my earthly questions answered.

But as far as prayers are concerned?

 Sending positive prayers up for our fellow man is so good, no matter how you send 'em up! Prayers of any loving kind can only help us....it can only lift us.....and it can be THE ONE and ONLY thing in this entire world that could ever truly bring us together.

So, maybe Miss Linda is onto something really brilliant here. Our government can take away many of our "rights", but the one thing nobody in this world can take away is our mind (without our permission).

So use your mind to pray.....doesn't have to be blatant, loud or even demonstrative. Prayer can be spoken from the heart every minute of the day without uttering a word.

God knows your heart. God knows what we crave...and if what we crave is Him? Well, then rest assured that He will be revealed to you in so many wonderful ways.

....especially through the "Miss Linda's" in your life.

Trust Him.

Here's to Prayer....

Cheers

 *Clink*