my prayers this week . . .

There are a few things that I'm celebrating this morning.  One, I'm about to begin my final week as a St. Francis Hospital employee!  Two, we finished our Home Improvement initiative at church yesterday and we came together and raised over $3000 for some much-needed improvements to our ministry space!  Three, we begin a new semester of connection groups this week.  I'm very excited for how these three facts will affect the life of our church and my family life.  Here are some of the things I'm praying about this week:

• To be grateful - I've know it for a while, but God really showed me this issue last week in some of my devotional time.  I'm really not as grateful to Him for His blessings as I should be.  I often recognize times and situations when I have been very blessed and should be very grateful, yet I'm not.  I see this as a pretty big character flaw and I'm trying to be very conscious of it and change it, but I'm also praying that God would change me from the inside.
• To be patient - A few months back, I made a very conscious decision to be more patient with my kids.  It really did work for a while, but the last couple weeks, I have been back to feeling very frustrated with my boys and my patience has been very short.  I HATE being this person.  I HATE going to bed knowing I was short and sometimes even unkind to my own sons.  I feel sick about it this morning and I'm spending some time fasting & praying over my lunch break today about it.  Please pray with me if you think of it.
• To be wise - Next week, I go back to being self-employed.  My only job will be pastoring our church.  Last time I did that, I can recognize that I was somewhat unwise in how I spent my time.  I am determined to be much more wise with the time God has blessed me with this time around.
• To be disciplined - If God gives me the wisdom to know what to do and not do, I'm also praying that He gives me the discipline to follow through.  Sometimes the most important things that should be done are not the most fun.  I also struggle with a huge lack of discipline in my eating habits, so I would very much appreciate your prayers to be disciplined in my time management and in my eating habits.
• Our house - I mentioned a while back how the foundation on our house has settled and caused some pretty significant damage.  We got an estimate to get it fixed and it's $4000.  Sara and I just don't have that.  We've mostly depleted our emergency fund just living with the pay cut I've taken this year.  But we are both praying that God fixes the foundation and the cracks in the house.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but God is very able to do that.  So, could you pray that prayer with us?  

Thank you so much for your prayers.  I am at a point in my life and in my ministry where I'm asking God to do the things that only He can do.  I'm going to keep on working hard and doing all I know to do, but for the vision He has placed inside of me to come to pass, He has to do it. It's because of that, that your prayers feel more important and more powerful than ever.  Thank you.