Mr. Wonderful is an ordained minister and has preached many wonderful sermons. He has preached in many small churches where there is no nursery and has competed with noisy children, sleeping parishioners and crying babies. He can take all this in stride and never loose his patience or train of thought as long as it is not one of our children that is making the commotion.

We were visiting a church in Dickinson, North Dakota. I was nine months pregnant with our son and our girls were 2 and 4 years old. Being a wiggler when I grew up, I had several items to keep the girls quiet and entertained during the service .

The children of this congregation were allowed to run in the aisles of the church and none of the parents seemed to mind or even pay attention. I could see that Mr. Wonderful was distracted and growing annoyed at the children's antics.


As the sermon progressed, our Suzy ( a terrible 2) suddenly decided to stand up on the pew and flirt outrageously with the people behind us. This did not go over well with dear ole dad who promptly turned her around and sat her down in his lap. Suzy decided that this was a good game so popped right back up. This up and down behavior continued several times and I finally heard the dreaded words that all of our children hated to hear. "If you do that one more time, I'm taking you outside."

Being taken outside meant that that punishment was close at hand. All our kids knew that "being taken outside" was not for fresh air! Usually the threat was enough to bring the desired obedience but it wasn't working that day with Miss Suz. She apparently thought that the show she was creating was far too much fun or that dear ole dad wouldn't fall through with the threat.

Always one to push the limits, Miss Suzy continued to smile and flirt with the amused people behind us until Mr. Wonderful grabbed her up, threw her on his shoulder and stared walking in a stern manner toward the door. Mr. Wonderful was embarrassed that His children were the ones causing a disturbance . Suzy instantly knew she had pushed dad too far and started pleading, wildly....."I'm sorry Daddy, I'll be good, I'll be good!"

Seeing that her pleading had no effect on Dad and also seeing people were starting to chuckle at the sight, Suzy went for the big guns. She imploringly looked at the entire congregation and said in the most dramatic voice of a two year old, "YOU ALL PRAY FOR ME!"

Her pleading statement sent the entire church into gales of laughter and embarrassed Mr. Wonderful who couldn't get Suzy out the door quick enough. The pastor picked up on the situation and said, "What that man is doing is Biblical and right. We need to teach our children to respect God's house and many of you need to follow his example."

What was your most embarrassing church story?

Labels: Monday memories, Prayer, Suzy

This is one of my favorite Norman Rockwell paintings. It's called "Prayer". I remember one elementary teacher used to show us one of Rockwell's painting and have us make up a story to explain the picture.

I like this picture because I come from a long line of prayers. The little old lady with the hat reminds me of my praying grandmother.

According to my mom, I could pray almost as soon as I could talk. My dad told a story about me as a very young child. Dad was in the Air Force and flew on a crew for 10 years. Many times he would have been up for very long stretches before coming home.

I was a "Daddy's Girl" and I loved his attention. According to Dad he and his crew had been up for over 24 hours and he was exhausted and wanted to go to bed. He had given us tickle time, drinks of water, and was tucking us in when he says I looked at him very earnestly and said, "Dad, I forgot to say my prayers!" Hoping for a "God bless Mommy and Daddy and Sister Bobbie" he allowed me to hop out of bed and get down on my knees to say my prayers.

According to Dad, I prayed for everyone in the known world of a 4 year old and he swears I prayed for some of them twice. He said that every time he started "to pitch off'' I would yank on his leg and say, "Daddy, you're not listening!". After about 20 minutes I was satisfied that everybody had been prayed over, he told me as I got back into my bed I looked over at my sister Barbara and said, "Wasn't that a good one Bobbie?"

From about 10 years old and up it seems like I was "the designated prayer" for my Sunday School class or youth group. Talking to God has never been a chore, awkward, or embarrassing and praying over the phone is as natural to me as talking to my neighbor.

Several years ago we had "Secret Sisters" as a part of women's ministry. The concept was you drew a ladies name out and she became your secret sister. You were required to send her small gifts and cards throughout the year and you were to pray for her on a daily basis. At the end of the year we would have a banquet and the Secret Sisters would be revealed.

I'll never forget when one year when I was revealed as a Secret Sister. The lady (who was a close friend) looked at me and blasted me for not praying for her and her family. Bear in mind, it had been a stressful year for her. She had gone through extreme illness with a child, financial crisis, hospitalization, and family emergencies.

When she saw that I was her Secret Sister she broke down sobbing and said, " You knew my needs, Why didn't you pray? I needed your prayers!"

It broke my heart to see her so broken and fragile. She had been in my thoughts and prayers for the whole year. Many times the Lord had wakened me during the night with the urgency to pray for her and her family. Our children were the same age as her daughters and we had prayed for their situation even as a family. It was a really awkward situation and all eyes were on us during this exchange.

Hoping to take the tension out of the situation I breathed a quick prayer before I answered.

With a twinkle in my eye, and broad smile on my face I assured her that she had indeed been in my prayers and added in mock indignation "Honey, if it weren't for me, You all would be dead!"

Labels: Prayer

Today is Tasty Tuesday in the Daisy Patch! On Tuesday I like to think about non-food items that feed the spirit, soul or mind. I give myself permission to be a little more serious and according to scripture, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things!"


I pray! I pray about everything and anything. I pray all day long regardless of what I'm doing. The Lord brings people and situations to mind all the time. Some times praying is all I can do as circumstances are beyond my control and most often I just ask the Lord to take care of the details.

However I have found there are times when praying isn't enough. God says, as it were, "Why are praying? Get busy? Do something!"

Moses cried out to the Lord while being hotly pursued by Pharaoh's army. They were between the approaching army and the Red Sea. I have to laugh at Exodus 14: 15 "The the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on." In other words, ....get these people moving Moses!

Joshua had a similiar experience in Joshua 7: 10-11. The people had a huge defeat at Ai and Joshua was on his knees with his face to the ground praying about the situation. "The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing on down on your face? Israel has sinned."

If our hearts are listening while we pray many times God will ask us......Why are you asking me? Why not become part of the solution. You know what to do.....now do it! Amazingly enough we will know what it is that we must do.

C.S. Lewis suggests in his "Letters to Malcolm" that as we pray, Christ stands beside us changing us.

"This may send a man from his prayers to help his wife in the kitchen or to his desk to write a needed letter. I am often praying for others when I should be doing things for them. It is so much easier to pray for a boor than to go and see him."

Labels: Prayer, Tasty Tuesday