Mesa Adventure Part 2

I had just made my way out of an arroyo and turned onto a dirt road heading west. I could tell that the road experienced some travel because there was a well worn washboard pattern on it. It probably served as a shortcut for people who lived in one of Rio Rancho’s north side developments. I crept along pretty slowly since I was in no hurry. The road was hilly and prevented me from seeing too far into the distance as I ascended each hill. As the road ahead of me came into view I noticed in the distance a car on the side of the road, upside down. At first I didn’t think twice about it, I often saw abandoned vehicles out here but this one was different. As I approached I could see busted windows but this mini-van looked too new. No rust, no bullet holes, headlights still in place and unbroken. I suddenly realized that this wasn’t an abandoned car but an accident scene. “Oh Lord, don’t let there be anyone in there!” I thought to myself. As I crept slowly in front of the van I couldn’t see anyone. I stopped the Bronco and jumped out to get a closer look. I looked through the front of the toppled van where the windshield used to be. No one was inside. Busted glass was all around. I looked back up the road from where I came from, I could see how this van must have been going too fast and as it came down the hill on this washboard road lost control, hit the embankment and flipped at least once, maybe twice. I looked down the road and had an instant rush of adrenaline.
to be continued...

“Can you hear me?!” I shouted down at the lady. “Can you hear me?!” I shouted again a little louder this time. My heart was pounding from adrenaline. How quickly circumstances can change, just five minutes earlier I was enjoying a leisurely ride in my Bronco, four wheeling through the sandy arroyos enjoying a nice diversion on my lunch break out in the “boonies”. I was working at Gateway’s Tech Support call center in Rio Rancho, NM. Since I had an hour for lunch and was just five minutes from being out in the middle of nowhere I often enjoyed getting away for lunch to exercise my Bronco a little. The torrential downpours that would happen occasionally had cut some pretty deep arroyos through the mesas near the call center. They were perfect for getting oneself into a slight jam to four-wheel your way out of. The dirt roads in that area were susceptible to being washed out, if you weren’t careful you could be driving along and suddenly find you're taking a nose dive into a 6 foot washout.
To be continued...

To Market, Lawn Work, Pampered Chef, and Shelves

Tara went to the Grower's market with Grandma and Grandpa. She really enjoys seeing what other people have to offer.











Of course sampling the different kinds of jelly is high on her list of favorites.














I mowed the lawn, something I really enjoy doing. Zackary has asked me a couple times if he could do it but I just won't let him. For me its theraputic.

















The boys got the fun jobs, like pulling weeds and spraying for bugs.



Valeta and Tara also spent the afternoon at a "Pampered Chef" party, sorry no pictures available. Zackary and I finished off the afternoon building shelves for our front hall closet, that evening the kids were off to piano lessons and Valeta and I spent the evening home alone... all in all a good Saturday.

Power in Prayer. Really?

I've been thinking a lot lately about a trend among Christians concerning prayer. Seems we've come to believe that when it comes to prayer, the "power" is in the numbers. We have prayer chains, and prayer groups, and whenever there is a real crisis we send out prayer requests to all our friends, family, and acquaintances and beseech them to add us to their prayer chains, etc.

Thanks to the Internet we can get our requests to massive amounts of people through email, social networks, even blogs. Do we believe that the more people we have praying for something the more likely God is to grant our desire? I think we do. You may have heard it as I have, "Wasn't that amazing how that worked out?", "Well, we had so many people praying..."

I suppose that if all three of my children came to me with a request I would be more likely to grant it than if just one came, at least the first time they did this. Once I became aware that their coalition was a means to an end, I would probably be more apt to deny their request. But then again, that's because I am a human.

So, what about God? Does He honor our numbers? Is He more apt to answer the masses? I see in James 5:14, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." and James 5:16, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." ESV I am hard pressed to find scriptural precedence for assembling a mass of "Prayer Warriors".

What is prayer? As the catechism says, "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies."

If God is Sovereign, as I believe He most certainly is, then why pray at all? Because God has ordained that what comes to pass will be in response to prayer. He has chosen prayer as an avenue for His Grace. He not only ordains what will happen but also how it will happen. I think He involves us in prayer for two reasons, first, so He can show Himself strong on our behalf, and second, so He will receive Glory for answered prayer.

So I am torn, its hard for me to see God moving mightily on my behalf as I intercede for someone, along with 200 other people, but the more people that participate in prayer, the broader God's Glory will be spread... providing we look past the "praying" to the One who answered the prayer.

Power in prayer? I don't think so. Prayer as an avenue for an Almighty God to move on our behalf? Absolutely!