Karen Anna Vogel
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Anxious Over Aging Cast Off Prayer

1/15/2019

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It started with a headache, and now it’s been seven-day marathon with a nasty virus. Despite the sore throat that feels like swallowing razors, I’m finding this time in my recliner, snow falling outside, my dog Bea at my side, quite peaceful; it’s given me time to reflect.  Reflect and set goals. But, setting goal is fearsome at times. That familiar anxiety of failure pops up. I used to ignore it, but now I give it a name. How can I cast something on God in prayer that has no name?
Drumroll…I’m pushing sixty! 6-0! I’m getting old, but I still have lifegoals. Am I too old?  
So, I’m finding it key to name my cares. It takes some soul searching, some solitude, but when they crop up, I want to nip them in the bud by prayer. Some mock the notion that prayer, that it’s for weak people. They are correct. Oxford scholar and author C.S. Lewis said:
“I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping.”
After casting my care on God, I try to find inspiration.
So, my role models for aging are:
Grandma Moses, the great folk artist, who started to paint at age 75!
Colonel Sanders sold chicken out of his station wagon and started the first KFC at age 62!
Frank McCourt who wrote Angela’s Ashes and won a Pulitzer Prize for this book at age65.
But, my favorite is my old neighbor in Ellington NY, who at age 75 talked to neighborhood kids while sipping lemonade. Stories of Jim Rowland’s kind heart and listening ear, steering kids away from trouble, changing their lives, are still pouring in. (His story is in my book, The Amish Doll. I hope I did him justice.)
So, let’s name our anxious thoughts and get some inspiration to overcome, by God’s grace. <3

 
 
 

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Casting off the cares of the world

1/15/2019

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Dear Readers,
The day I hit the "publish button" for this blog, it seems like everything went south. Winter flu, helping others with the winter flu etc. I hope to be more consistent on the blog. Your patience is appreciated. 

Over the past few days I've been grieved for the world! The mosque shooting in New Zealand shattered my image of the peaceful setting of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The violence rate in NZ is so low! How could this happen?

A letter from Bairon, our Compassion International sponsored child, wrote to ask us to pray for his safety. Gang violence in his city in Columbia is rampant. 

My son-in-law went on a mission trip to Africa. While there, on the very same road he was on two days prior, a Christian pastor was killed at gunpoint, by radicals opposed to Christianity.

So we have a lot of violence in this world. It's weighed me down. No wonder Jesus was a man of sorrows while on this planet.

"...a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief...." Isaiah 53:3.

I'm re-reading the book, The Jesus I Never Knew, by Phillip Yancey, and according to his research, Jesus lived under such oppression from the Roman Empire, it's hard to imagine. Very, very violent. 

So, how do you do a casting off prayer for the entire world? I have no words sometimes. 

 "
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.…" Romans 8:26 

Can our moaning and groaning, crying out to God that we don't understand and please help this fallen world count? 


“A sigh, a sob, is the most you can get out. . . . The inward moanings of a broken heart are music in the ears of the Infinite Jehovah, and he accepteth the sincere prayers of his people.”  Charles Spurgeon

Richard Foster, in his award winning book, Prayer, echoes Spurgeon's thoughts. Yes, when we cry out to Jesus, He hears, and then He intercedes. Fosters book has helped me the most. It's heavily underlined. To think that I have to say the right words hinders me from praying. Sometimes I just want to...groan and moan while praying. 

I did this past week when the life of a 35-year-old local girl was taken by the flu. Unbelievably sad. Hard to understand.

So I get speechless at times and just bow my head and cry. Jesus wept, too. And the Holy Spirit intercedes. We don't have to have the correct words to pray. We just need to pour out our hearts to a very understanding, empathetic God. 

Blessings,
Karen Anna Vogel





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New blog for a new year!

1/9/2019

6 Comments

 

Dear Reader Friends,

This blog is for you and future readers. 

In a nutshell, over the past ten years, when Granny Weaver began her knitting circle, letters have poured in about...cares...distress...anxiety. At this blog, I'll be posting encouraging scripture, words of wisdom, testimonies (that hopefully you will send me) and much more. Today, I'd like to share about 1 Peter 5:7. 
In the Amplified Bible, it says:


"...casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].

I LOVE that! It tells me that God:

Listens to me for the billionth time! 
Wants to help carry ALL my anxieties & worries.
Is concerned about my concerns.
Cares! (Let that sink in. Mind boggling!)
Is Affectionate!
Watches over me...I'm the apple of His eye. (Psalm 17:8)

The other night, I felt restless. I just couldn't put my finger on it, but something was making me anxious. So, I try to practice what I preach in my books and sat in my comfy recliner to cast my cares on God. It went like this:

"Lord, I feel antsy. Is it the after Christmas letdown? Too much gluten? Lack of sunshine here in Pennsylvania?"

As I went on, I began to really unfold, get real. 

"Lord, I am anxious for my loved ones." I went on to tell him my fears for my four perfect grandchildren! ;) I will spare you all the details, but if you're like me, I want the values of Little House on the Prairie back. Thankfully, so do my adult children. (They believe the Amish helped form their world-view. Praise be!)

I don't want my grandchildren to live in such a fearful, crime-ridden, values-compromised world!

I sat for a while. I knew I nailed it. "Lord, I need to cast my grandkids on you. You care about them more than I do, which blows my mind! I LOVE my grosskinner!"

I could breathe easily again. Fears fled. Pressure lifted. 

And this is what casting off prayers are all about. I may need to do them throughout the day, as the need arises. I don't have to sit in my recliner. I can be driving. It's simply knowing God is good, getting honest with Him, and letting go. Trust him to:


"...perfect that which concerns me." Psalm 138:8 NKJV


I know I'm not alone in my concerns. Please post a comment or prayer request. We can form an online community of prayer...a holy space...to cast all our care upon God! 


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    ​Granny Weaver, a fictitious character in the Amish Knitting Circle Series, has whet the appetite of readers worldwide to cast their cares upon the Lord...because He cares! 
    Dear Reader Friends, this blog is for you! 
    Karen Anna Vogel


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