prayer - Barbara Lynn Seibel

September 21, 2025September 21, 2025

I Got New Flooring This Week

Greetings Readers!

I have been busy packing up my household belongings to prepare for the installation of new flooring over the last few weeks.

The flooring installation began last Wednesday and continued through Saturday.

Aside from a few items they ran out of material for, the project is essentially done.

Because I’ve been directing and moving items around, and dusting repeatedly, these last few days, I’ve had little time to work on a Bible study post.

I did my research, but the actual crafting of a post will wait until next weekend.

Why next weekend?

July 16, 2025July 16, 2025

Brief Time Away Needed

This is just a quick note to explain why I missed my usual posting last Sunday.

The week before, I needed to limit my screen time because of an intense headache and light sensitivity along with fatigue.

I spent one entire day in a dark room just resting.

People keep asking me if I get migraines.

I respond that I’ve never received an official diagnosis of migraines.

But I frequently get barometric pressure headaches. The worst headaches are when it threatens to rain but then it doesn’t.

Thus, I try to eat an anti-inflammatory diet most of the time. But I’m certainly not perfect at it.

This past Monday, I resumed working on a post hoping to get a study posted today.

But then that afternoon, an intense wave of grief shut me down again.

February 4, 2024February 3, 2024

Needing A Recovery Weekend

As many of you know, last week was unusually full for me at work.

We hosted our denominational national gathering which required several back-to-back fourteen to fifteen-hour days.

The week went remarkably well considering hosting an event of this magnitude is not what we regularly do.

Thank you for your prayers as I participated in all of this.

In addition to the busy week, I have developed a head cold that is draining me even more.

Thus, the next installment of Why Did They Turn to Idolatry? | Part Three will wait another week.

In the meantime, I want to share how the Lord encouraged me throughout this past week.

January 28, 2024January 27, 2024

Why Did They Turn to Idolatry? | Part Two

Yes, we are getting to part two this week.

Before we do, thank you for your prayers over the last week.

Last Tuesday, a coworker asked about my stress level regarding the upcoming conference we are hosting at my work.

I responded, “Frankly, I couldn’t care less right now.”

Granted, that response stemmed from what I shared with you last Sunday.

But by Wednesday, I realized my attitude had shifted in a positive direction. The new attitude is that this conference is just another work week.

Yes, there will be 1500 people on our campus over the next week that typically aren’t there.
Yes, I am tasked with things to do that are not a part of my normal work responsibilities that will involve extremely long hours each day.
And yes, I still have moments of sadness over the pet losses and some other expected losses that are looming on the horizon.

But, in the end, my purpose for next week does not differ from any other day.

What is that purpose and is it possible to relate it to today’s study?

January 21, 2024January 21, 2024

Seeking Prayers From You

Yes, I said I would have part two of Why Did They Turn to Idolatry this week.

When I last posted, I knew with a brief trip coupled with a busier-than-usual workload at my day job, I would not have time to post something last Sunday.

Then, last Monday my husband and I said goodbye to our sweet dog of 14 years after having said goodbye to our sweet cat of nineteen years just back in September.

And the next two weeks will be unusually busy at my day job as we host a huge conference.

February 12, 2023February 11, 2023

Why You Want But Don’t Receive

If I am remembering correctly, my sister was in high school on a morning we quarreled over a magazine.

I am four years younger than her, so I would have been somewhere between the 5th-8th grade at the time of this argument.

Our fight eventually engaged our mother as a referee between us.

Interestingly, when my mother handed me the magazine I had been fighting so hard for, I recall feeling strangely disappointed.

Why did reading James 4:1-6 prompt this memory?

December 11, 2022December 10, 2022

Taking Some Recovery Time

This past week has not gone as I had originally planned.

I got sick with a head cold while traveling back from visiting family.

And I am still in recovery.

Thus, I have not prepared my intended post for this date.

Instead, I have been taking care of my body by sleeping and drinking plenty of hot tea or brothy soups.

My pets have enjoyed getting to snuggle more with me than usual.

Each day I am making progress and anticipate resuming a more normal routine soon.

Meanwhile, as you prepare for the festivities of this Christmas season, please take some time to ponder the following prayer of Christ to God, found in the gospel of John.

August 28, 2022August 27, 2022

What Causes You Anxiety?

Our answer to this question is more nuanced in 2022 than five years ago.

In the past five years, humanity has experienced a global pandemic, ongoing political turmoil, supply chain failures, rising inflation, and the list continues.

What other stressors do we struggle against?

There are also more intimate stressors to consider, such as a loss of a loved one, loss of a means of income, infertility, divorce, to spilling water on your computer keyboard (yes, this just happened to me.)

Any of the above items and others can raise our cortisol, the stress hormone, to various degrees. How we cope with the daily intimate anxieties and the global ones reveals our differences in resilience.

Can we “bloom” like the flower in the picture above, even when we are anxious?

What can we learn about dealing with our anxieties in Genesis 25:21?

July 10, 2022July 9, 2022