"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
-Luke 22:31-32
I don't know that this chapter of Luke details events in chronological order, but this verse occurs after the Last Supper and the argument between the disciples about who was greatest. The thing that struck me most about this verse was the realization that Jesus prayed for his disciples. I knew He prayed; I'd read the verses about Him going off alone to speak to God. I guess I assumed He spent the entire time praying about the coming crucifixion. But Jesus prayed for Peter. Jesus knew what Satan wanted to do, and He knew that Peter would deny Him, and how awful Peter would feel afterwards. And He prayed for Peter.
Why do we end our prayers with "In Jesus' name"? Because Jesus is our intercessor! He interceded on behalf of Peter and He does the same for us. Isn't that awesome? That verse made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, because I know that Jesus, my Lord and Savior and the beloved Son of God Himself, is praying for me!
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Yesterday was Uno day; Chickpea and I played at least ten times, and she beat me at least eight. And that's with me being able to see her cards. When she was younger I used to let her win a lot, but lately I've been thinking she needs to learn to lose gracefully, so I've been trying to beat her. Note the key word: Trying. Maybe the Lord's trying to teach me to lose gracefully. To a five year old.
She can also give me a good beating playing sword-fight. Literally. She has a wooden sword and a stiff foam sword that makes obnoxious noises, and she's always challenging us to a duel. Well, I'm no fool. I always say no. That kid's vicious. So yesterday she told me, "Aw, Mom! I'll go easy on you because you're a woman." She also refers to the action cards in Uno as weapons.
Unfortunately, I didn't do any baking yesterday. I think at some point I'm going to run out of flour and butter, and maybe yeast. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get some more (I've already gone through quite a bit of flour), so I might have to just stop when I run out. Even if I don't win anything at the fair, at least my bread-making has greatly improved, which makes DangerBear happy.
* Clean up the upstairs
* Clean out expanding file
* Bake bread for fair
* Go through inter-library loan books
* Pay personal bills
* Pay bills for DangerBear's business
* Defrost meat for today and tomorrow
* Go through papers in living room
* Fold laundry in dryer
Here's a nifty website that another, much more popular, blog (ZenHabits?) recommended: Now Do This
If you're ever overwhelmed by the length of your to-do list (which for me is only, like, every ten minutes), this website is about as simple as it gets. Enter your list (preferably a short one) and it presents one task at a time. Nifty.
Lord, help me learn to use my time wisely and to be diligent. Give me the energy to do what needs to get done today, and the grace to do it with a cheerful heart. Amen.
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