Prayer

I've been thinking an awful lot about prayer in the past year. One year ago I was pleading with God incessantly to get me out of a town/job that were unfulfilling to me. He obliged. And the timing was perfect, I might ad. But prayer has had me somewhat stumped.

I began thinking, maybe our prayers have become too self-centered. Maybe we expect that just because we ask God for something, He's going to give it to us. Maybe we feel like we deserve things or are entitled to them. Whatever they are, it can be crushing when it doesn't align with God's will. Oddly enough through all the struggles of last year, I felt at peace with accepting His will.

So my connundrum comes with me asking myself what can my prayers change? Who am I to argue with God's will and who am I to assume I know what I or others need? I started thinking about prayer in the Bible, the most important being The Lord's Prayer. The Message puts it this way:

"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes."

I love the idea of praying simply. That prayer pretty much covers all of our needs. Pray it daily!

Sometimes I think we pray to comfort ourselves. If we can just petition God about this, we will feel like we've done something. So I started thinking about Jesus praying in the garden.

"Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, 'Stay here while I go over there and pray.' Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, 'This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.' Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, 'My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?'"

His human side is making one last-ditch effort to say "Man, I really don't think I can do this!" But even through his sorrow and anguish, he is ever conscious that God's will is more powerful than his desires, and ultimately more important! Could Jesus have changed God's mind with this plea? Thankfully not!

Take what you will from this. I hope it means something to someone. For now, I'm changing the way I pray. Simplifying.

Update: Glenn and I were discussing this and he brought up a point that I thought extremely relevant. Sometimes we think that by praying we are not worrying, when in fact we usually are. Just another thought.

Why David Archuleta is a Tool

Ugh...don't get me wrong, he's a nice kid, but he's not great. But he will win.

After last night's performances, I was cemented in the fact that Cook is a real artist and Archuleta is a tool, ready and willing to be molded by the American Idol minions. Sure the boy can sing, and that's exactly what the producers want -- someone whom they can make money off of. Honestly, Cook is better off persuing the route of Daughtry. And he will be much more sucessful than Archuleta. Mark my words!

Last night, Cook showed that he is versatile, has a great vocal range, is creative (that's been a season-long showing) and is just an all-around more talented musician than the 16-year-old "prodigy". Gosh I hate that word. Clive Davis is a genius in the two songs he picked and finally someone tackled a U2 gem.

Archuleta sings the same song every time with that same nasally tone, squinted eyes, bobbing head, lip-licking and odd hand guestures. He's awkward and I really have a hard time believing serious, deep songs coming from a teenager. Although I respect teens a great deal, they have not experienced the hardships of the world or the facets of love...how can they convince me they are singing these things from their hearts? Also, give up on the humility after the judges comments. I just can't take it anymore. Grow a pair and at least act like you think you're talented and deserving of the praise they give you.

David Cook is humble in a way that is not annoying. Maybe I'm a bit biased toward a KC boy, but seriously, he should win, even though I don't want him to. He's better off.

And thanks David Cook for the small slam about Archuleta repeating a song. It's about growth and a repeat will never be as good as we remember it.

Shipps...out.

Adolescent Obesity

Something has been weighing heavily on my heart for a long time now. With American obesity at what I'm sure is an all-time high, I am greatly saddened by obese adolescents.

Now I was never a small kid. Actually I was pretty big. Not fat really, just big. In fact, I haven't grown a lot since 5th grade. My feet are and since then have been a size 9 and I've never worn a pants size below a 9. Ever.

But this is just ridiculous. I see overweight and obese children ALL the time. It's out of control. And for the most part their parents are obese and teaching them terrible habits. Children don't realize the expectation they are tuning their bodies to when they eat and eat and don't exercise. Adults have a hard enough time taking weight off; just imagine a generation of adults who have always been obese and have taught their bodies that this is the way it goes.

I mostly blame parents. Children can't be expected to have self-control. This is a concept I'm still learning today! Letting children eat whatever and whenever they want is detrimental to say the least. Setting them up for disaster. And it makes me very, very sad. How difficult is it to set some boundaries? How hard is it to say, no you've had enough?

We can't keep teaching our children that obesity is the norm and its OK to be that way. It's not. It's truly not.

I have struggled with weight my whole life, it seems. So I can show some sympathy to the love of food. But this epidemic has gone too far. I'm tired of seeing 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds eating twice as much as me and constantly going back for more food. But I feel helpless. You can't tell someone how to raise their children. If they don't feel bad that their kids are going to turn out exactly like them, there is little I can do. Except feel the sadness.

A link from my friend Mandy: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24842630/

My New Hero

Driving in Kansas City is not the most joyful of experiences I've ever hard. Since moving here, one thing I dearly miss is open roads and a lack of stoplights. Lately construction has been really bad. Going into downtown they have closed two lanes on I-35 and we were lucky enough to have to go down that way for my dad's graduation last Saturday. It was backed up for miles and while I will not question the validity of having two out of three lanes closed for miles when you're working on a 1/2-mile section of the highway, I will say that this construction phenomenon led me to see one of the coolest things I've seen in my whole life.

The way home was even more backed up than the way there and as we were nearing the end of the merging of the final two lanes, my hero emerged. One car, dismissing the line that spanned for miles, and obviously in a state of higher importance than the rest of us, decided it would be OK to barrel down the ending lane and bypass the rest of us suckers stuck in the line of eternity.

Now I see this all the time. People who think they are more important or their time is more valuable, so they scoot around and wait until the last possible second to merge, thinking...well they will have to let me in when I'm out of room. I have been guilty of letting these fools in to save myself from eminent danger. And mostly because I don't have the cahones to do otherwise.

This is where my hero comes in. Seeing the overly self-important person coming in the merging lane, a man in a humble car moved into this lane in front of him. We thought...what is this guy doing? At first we thought he was trying to pass people. Until the other car came whizzing by. He held his ground and prevented the car from going around everyone else in front. The car swerved around in an apparent fit at seeing the demise of his evil plan and finally accepted his fate. My hero had blatently told this jerk: Not today - you have to wait like the rest of us.

Honestly, we laughed and cheered and thought...why haven't we thought of doing this before? Seeing it done, I think maybe I could have the cahones do to it in the future. Here's to you Mr. cut-off-the-jerk-trying-to-pass-everyone-in-the-merging-lane-guy! You are my new hero.

China

Like most of the world, I've been following the devastation in China that began one week ago today. Beginning with an earthquake and followed by massive aftershocks and landslides, the death toll is expected to reach 50,000 people.

Because of its proximity, I always think of 9-11 when disasters happen. Thankfully, this is the worst tragedy I can remember in the U.S. as far as number of victims. I say thankfully because
2,752 people is so small in comparison to 50,000. Though I would never be so bold as to say those nearly 3,000 lives are less important, but it's a perspective issue. Because they were Americans, that number means more to most than 50,000.

I can't even begin to imagine what has happened in the past week in China. For the most part I am grateful for this. On the other hand, I can't ignore it and some part of me wants to see the gruesome details and hear the heart-wrenching stories so that I will be forever changed. With a heart more deeply tuned to world suffering and tragedy in the aftermath of the wrath of nature.

In my small world, the earth seems like a relatively safe place. And then I see the awesome and magnificent power it can unleash and I am humbled, feeling ever so much smaller.

A big story coming about now is the shoddy construction of old or hastily built schools that killed many children in 6,900 classrooms. Can you even comprehend the number of children? In one town, one in seven people was dead. As I think about the floor I work on, I imagine one out of every seven people being gone and it is unbelievable.

In addition, it is estimated that 5 million people are now homeless in China. When I think of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it left here, it is almost something I am just now able to grasp. But 5 million? No. I cannot even begin.

God bless those affected and the survivors who have a long road ahead.