prayer 4 - Barbara Lynn Seibel

July 18, 2021July 17, 2021

THE DANGER OF MANY WORDS

Depending on who I am with and what my role is I may be a quiet person of few words or someone who always contributes to the discussion.

Often, the larger the group I am in, the quieter I will be and the smaller and more comfortable I am with the people around, the more talkative I may become.

How about you?

Are you a person of many or few words?

What situations encourage or discourage you to talk freely?

What about when you pray?

What does Matthew 6:7 have to say about how we pray?

July 11, 2021June 26, 2021

PRACTICING SECRECY

While I was still in my undergraduate studies, I was busy practicing secrecy.

The reason I was practicing secrecy resulted from a desire along with my siblings to plan a surprise 25^th anniversary party for our parents.

We decided the best way to keep our parents unaware of the party would be to secretly invite extra guests to a party our parents had already planned to host for family on the 4^th of July.

Their wedding anniversary is near that date, so this was a great cover in our minds.

Since I lived the closest to our parents, I was tasked with sneaking photos out of their house to put together a photo album and manage the secret invite responses.

My siblings and I were practicing secrecy because we intended to bless and honor our parents.

We all laugh about how our parents hosted their own 25^th wedding anniversary surprise!

And yes, I especially receive some ribbing because of frequently calling them before the party to say I had invited some more friends that they had to feed. 😊

The reward for practicing secrecy in this case is we did bless our parents, family, and friends with a great memory to share with each other in celebration of their marriage.

Did you know practicing secrecy is also encouraged by Jesus in Matthew 6:6?

July 4, 2021June 12, 2021