I have not been this excited to find a piece of paper in a long time. Last July, when I was speaking in Branson at Polishing the Pulpit, we discussed our troubled children, specifically the ones who seem bent on the deconstruction of Christianity in their lives. I promised, then and there, to pray, for the next year, for any children whose names were given to me that day. I, in turn, asked for prayers for my children and grandchildren. The prayers of sisters are a powerful resource. Lots of names were given to me after I finished speaking that day. I left a sheet of paper on the stage just in case someone wanted to add a child’s name.
I’ve grieved since that time because I lost that extensive list of children before I got home. I looked and looked. While I prayed for the group, as a whole, I could not pray for them by name. I did not even know enough to apologize to the mamas who had given me the names of the precious souls for which to pray.
Saturday night, I found the list! While studying for another event, I began to look through some file folders that were stacked, believe it or not, in my pantry. (I know. You probably are not blessed to have a combination pantry and office.) I was elated when that sheet of paper peeked out of that folder deep in that stack! Fifty-two names assigned to eternal souls that are extremely loved by women of God, have been added to my prayer list in the front of my Digging Deep book. Thirteen of the names are children who live together in a children’s home in Mississippi.
Two of mine, with Kathy, @ PTP-Branson
It was my grief that I lost the list. It’s my honor, now, to pray for these children by name. I know what it’s like to plead for the children we love! Every name is representative of a life, full of value and events and circumstances and challenges. Each one represents an eventual departure from this life to an existence in one of two places. I wish I could pray every single one into heaven. I cannot. But I can pray for wisdom for their mamas. I can pray for opportunities to influence, for people in their lives who can help them see the need for Christianity always, and for extension of life for those who are lost. I can pray for their families.
I know that my prayers are not more powerful than yours. But our prayers together are a particular way we can spiritually encourage each other and access THE power that can do more than we ask or imagine. To the mamas who asked me to pray, I’m so sorry I lost that list. And to the mamas who pray for our family, many thanks from a deep place!
Prayer changes things.
Frustrated about this one after three “proofings”! In chapter three, it is obvious that the Big headline near the bottom of the page should read “Samson’s Mother”; not “Manoah’s Mother”. She was Manoah’s wife. So go correct your copies. Good catch by Marlon Retana, while translating.
I say this every year but it’s worth the post.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Digging Deep ready-set-go time. Time to invite. Time to decide on a study-buddy or group. Time to pick a book or a download. 
Time to get a highlighter and a good study spot (or a bag of some kind, because it’s never the same spot.) Time to rejoice when someone says “Yes, I’df like to study that!” Time to be SOOO happy when your teen says “I’ll do it with you , Mom!” Time to give a book to a neighbor or friend, with a loaf of homemade bread and say. “I think you’d like this study.”
And it’s the very best gift you can give a friend…to get her in the Word of God. It’s the only lasting gift. She can take it with her when she leaves this old world.
The most fun news of 2024! I’m a grandmother of six now. One more sweet Colley baby is being formed by our Creator and
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 
I’m so thankful for the original and ultimate “new thing” of Isaiah 43:19 that also began with a tiny baby in Judea, and is the answer to all my griefs and problems! I can’t wait for heaven where all the tears are wiped away, all the evil is overcome and “all the things” that burdened are in the distant past of a world that’ll then be ashes…a melted planet (2 Peter 3:10). In the meantime, though, there’s a lot happening on the pre-burned-up planet that’s key to getting the people I love to that new place around the throne!