Why did I do all those sit-ups!

I remember when Jackie Onassis died. She was such a dedicated mom and she delighted in grandmotherhood. When she got cancer (she was only 64) I read an article about her in a glossy magazine where she said, "Why did I do all those sit-ups?" It made me laugh out loud. It was so genuine and was such a silly thing. Exactly the sort of thing I may have thought of if I was her. The sit-ups kept her beautiful, vibrant, in excellent shape. Why did Jackie do all those sit-ups? Because she was driven to. Because she couldn't stop.

Like Jackie did her sit-ups, I do my praying, and I've experienced an epiphany this week. It's as if I've been dog paddling in prayer all these years and suddenly I'm gliding through glassy waters doing a beautiful side stroke! You might think dog paddle prayers are lame but they're not. With the dog paddle prayer you can pray very far, for a very long time. It's easy. Anyone can do it. It can be a life saving prayer and swimming stroke.

I travailed in it for years, entirely satisfied. But now! I can pray out loud for a full 30 minutes. I've done it this week. I practiced it at church and accomplished it with the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I can quote verses from my Bible from memory too. They come to my mind now. Get out of town, you say. No, really! As a quiet woman, I am happy I can do more than silent or only memorized prayer. Moses complained to God that he wasn't qualified to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt because he was slow of tongue and slow of thought, but Jehovah boomed, "Who hath made man's mouth? Have not I, the Lord, made man's mouth?" Well, I suppose He did.

Praying for lost souls, revival, and the election this past week I feel I've gotten the absolutely wrong reply that I sought from the Lord, yet personally my prayer life has grown exponentially. That's something! It's huge, for me anyway. The Lord is more far seeing than I am. He has a plan. We know this. So I will continue to pray knowing the answer is always going to be one of three: Yes, No, or Not Now. I am driven to pray. I cannot stop.

I have a short video I made. It's how I'm thinking today. As my little sister put it so succinctly this morning, Welp, I guess we shall see how Obama proceeds to jack everything up now. Hopefully it won't be too bad.