I pray the prayer of Jabez frequently throughout my day:
Oh, that you would bless me, indeed
And enlarge my territory
That Your Hand would be with me,
And that you would keep me from evil.
The second line is a step in faith asking the Lord to take me whenever he would to do HIS work. I know that my capacity is limited these days and I believe that he is telling me to simply touch everyone I come in contact with.
We just moved into our new home in Toms River, and yesterday morning (Sunday) our new neighbor John came to our door to tell us that our well (for the sprinkler system) was running constantly into a drain and out into the street. We thought it was rain water coming out of the drain caused by Friday's heavy rain. Anyway, John showed me how to turn off the system and then showed me the access to the well and commenced to get down on his knees and removed the pressure relief valve that was causing the problem (John is 81 years old). I thanked John for his help and told him he was a good man and a great neighbor.
He then took me around to all the neighbors that were outside their homes and introduced me to each of them. I asked John what he was doing a for the day and he said he was taking it easy as his had just left to go shopping with their daughter and the last thing he wanted to do was go shopping with them. But then he paused and told me that maybe he should have as his daughter recently had a mastectomy followed by radiation treatment and new reports showed the cancer had returned. I told John that I could only begin to imagine how he felt. John then turned to leave and I asked his daughter's first name and he said Karen, as he was walking away. I told him that I would place her on the top of my prayer list. His head turned back slightly to give me some acknowledgement, but then walked away. I wanted to do more for John to take away his pain, especially since I know the hurt of loosing one so close. John's reaction to me seemed a bit awkward, but I trust that HIS Hand will be with John, his wife and their daughter Karen. Perhaps you could say a prayer for Karen and her parents, John and Jean.
