My family & I will be driving up to Oklahoma City this weekend. My niece is getting married on Saturday and most of my family (mom & siblings) will be there. My sister (bride's mother, who we're living with now) drove up on Sunday and won't come home until Monday or Tuesday. We're leaving in the morning and will be driving back on Mother's Day so my hubby can go back to work on Monday. Please pray for safe travel and good weather (they're predicting rain!) Also, pray relationships between extended family members don't get out of hand. Some get along fine, others not so great, so these family gatherings can be "interesting" to say the least. Finally, please pray for my health. Overall I'm doing better, but the last day or two I haven't felt well at all, especially at night. Last night it was 3 AM before I could get to sleep so I'm going on about 4 hours' sleep today. Not a good thing! I think a lot of it is nerves, worrying about how the weekend will go, and stressing over when we'll get moved into our house. I just need to relax!! But I don't think I'll get to do much of that until we get back home.

Holy Heavenly Father, I lift up Lori and her family to You. Lord I pray that You would give this precious one the peace that surpassess understanding in all of this. Lord, your word tells us to 'Be anxious for nothing but in and for everything to give thanks and through prayers and requests make known all our requests known to You'. I pray for Lori to be praising you and thanking you for all the situations she finds herself in and facing and that she would just release all her anxiousness to You. I thank you Lord that your word tells us by not be anxious and in making known our requests in prayer to You that You give us the peace that passes understanding.
I pray for traveling mercies for this family and others in the extended family that will be traveling to this wedding. Lord, I know you already know in advance what the weather situation will be and how the whole event will turn out and I praise and thank you in advance for the outcome. Lord, if it is your will I pray for you to hold back the rain for this event.
Lord, I lift up the family gathering of extended family members and thank you for such interesting times and for allowing this family to come together for such an event. I thank You that You call marriage sacred and Holy and I pray for this couple that they invite You not only to the wedding but into thier marriage also. I pray for those in attendance that know You as Lord and Savior to allow You to guide them in the words they speak and even the words You would have them not to speak. May You be seen in the lives of those who know You at this time of family gathering and at the wedding ceremony.
Finally Lord I lift Lori up to you and pray that You will make this a time of 'resting in You' that you would make a time perhaps even during traveling when she can physically rest and that starting immediately You would cause her to take her thoughts captive to You and focus on You and who You are and in the power of prayer for this occasion and all the other concerns in her life. I thank You Lord for calling us not to worry as You are in control. Thank You that we can believe You to never leave us forsake us and that in the midst of everyday life You are with us and have a plan for our lives. Thank You God that You are a God of details and that You can work those details out and the truth of Your word that tells us the prayers of the righteous acheieve much. Lord, thank you for the gift of prayer. May you bless this sister and her family in a big way from now and all through the time they are traveling up until the day following their return from this trip; in a way that they would know that You are in all of this and allow each of these in the immediate and extended family to come together at a wedding event and family gathering that leaves them with lasting memories of a special time together with loved ones and may You get all the honor and glory for all You do through this. In Jesus Name, I pray.

Thanks for the lovely prayer, Saint Deb!
Lori, did it all go OK?
Christine

We survived the weekend! I think that's about the most accurate way to describe it. The wedding was beautiful, and the weather was good for the most part, so we are thankful for that. The family stuff was about what we expected, and some feelings got hurt. There are hard feelings between my mom and some of my siblings, to the point that they just avoid her completely. And since we choose to have a relationship with her, they tend to avoid us, too. My kids get hurt because they see all the other cousins visiting and having a good time but they are left out. It happens at every family gathering, and it happened again this weekend. But we got through it, and we're doing okay now. We've decided to just put it all behind us and focus on what we do have, instead of getting upset about what we don't have and can't do anything about. My sister (who lives here) will be home tomorrow evening, so she'll be driving back all day tomorrow. She's having breakfast with her daughter's mother-in-law before she leaves, so I don't expect her until dinnertime or later (it's about an 8-hr drive).