"By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples": Christian Prayer Thread for April

[Tuo]

I thought it was about time we started a new thread, seeing as the previous one now has over 600 posts, making it difficult for some people to load it and navigate around it. I used the quote from John 13. 15 that I posted on the previous thread on Maundy Thursday, because I think it sums up what this thread - and this group of people - is all about.

We pray particularly at this time for RoomForALittleOne: that her baby hang on where s/he is for as long as possible and continue to grow in size and strength, and that Room stay well and as pain- and stress-free as possible. Prayers, too, for the medical team looking after them both at this worrying time.

We pray also for:
amberlight ? for her work raising awareness of ASDs, and for her friends who have cancer;
BabyBeatrice and her family ? for continued healing and with thanks for recent good news;
BlackEyedSusan ? for strength to cope with all the many things on her plate, for health for her mum, and for happier times at school for her DD and DS;
BlueTinkerbell ? for work possibilities and for her vocation;
charlottecollinsislost ? for a peaceful holiday, despite the circumstances, and for as pain- and recrimination-free a separation as possible for the sake of all concerned;
Dontsteponthemomeraths ? for her as she dips her toe back in the 'dating pond'; for her ?LM? as he tries to establish contact with his children; for her brother to regain full use of his thumb, following an accident;
DutchOma and Bob ? for health for Bob, and for Oma to feel supported as she cares for him day-to-day; also for Oma's planned trip to Holland;
GingerCurl ? for the successful and (relatively) stress-free completion of her thesis;
HavingALittleFaithBaby ? for as easy a time as is possible during these last days and weeks of her pregnancy;
jann2013 ? for strength for her following the break-up of her marriage, and for her dd who has badly broken her arm;
Kaykat ? for her and her DS to know peace and happiness as they emerge from an abusive relationship, and for the legal issues to be sorted out quickly so that they can get back into their own home;
MadHairDay - for strength as she lives with chronic illness and for the Spring to bring her better health;
MaryBS - for peace and happiness following a difficult situation at Scouts with her DS;
PositiveAttitude ? for her mission overseas and for her family both over there and back here, especially her DD1;
...and for all who post on this thread, for those who lurk, for occasional visitors, and for those known to us who are in need of prayer, whether mentioned here or not.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

[Tuo]

Praying Room. Glad they are keeping you in where you feel safe... you're in the best place for now.

Praying, too, for all those caught up in the explosions in Boston.

[RoomForALittleOne]

How is mini-Faith doing? Is she still feeding OK and transitioning well?

[madhairday]

Praying, Room.

Yes, praying for those caught up in the Boston events :( :(

I'm feeling a little better so still holding out hope to be ok to go tomorrow night.

[Kaykat]

Congratulations Faith and welcome little Abigail Faith.

Still praying for Room and baby.

[HavingALittleFaithBaby]

We have had a rather challenging time purely because she is a tiny, hungry baby. Last night we reached a point where she was hungry and so tired she was hysterical but couldn't sleep (so nor could I!). There's a reason they use sleep deprivation as torture! Anyway they have bumped up her top up feeds and with a lot of input from the staff she has now settled down (we had constant crying for about 12 hours and I couldn't put her down!). They took her from me a couple of times so I could sleep then DH just kept her settled in the cot. I got 2 1/2 hours sleep then a shower! :) so we are getting there. The nursery nurse said its purely because she's so small and it will get easier!

[DontstepontheMomeRaths]

Just a little update on LM. Tomorrow morning he meets with ExW lawyers and her husband. They've had a week to review his proposal and tomorrow is D day. Pray an agreement is reached. Just to re-cap my comment on previous thread:

Just had a chat with 'lovely man' he's abroad in ExWs Country with a final attempt before High Court to find an agreement. His lawyer has sent it to hers for her to look at and either agree or go to Court.

This has been dragging on for a year and it seems his final offer to her may not be enough and it's going to cost him a fortune in legal fees, not the contact arrangement he longed for with his 4 DCs and it'll take him a long time to clear his legal fees. Or afford to live really. It all seems so unjust after this long drawn out process that he may not even get justice here, just an enormous amount of debt. The Court system there isn't fair, it's nothing like the UK

Please please please can I ask for a miracle here that we all pray that God can make a way where there is no way here and that his and her lawyers can reach an agreement that's fair for everyone and the kids.

It reminds me of Matthew 5:25 that we should settle out of Court. Pray that is the case here. He never wanted it to get to High Court in the first place, just for a fair agreement to be reached and justice.

[DontstepontheMomeRaths]

Praying your lovely baby has a more settled night tonight faith.

Also my son is still struggling with returning to School but Monday was a much better day than expected. So thank you if you prayed after my post x

[BlackeyedSusan]

I am still up. ds is now quiet, he as still awake until a few minutes ago as he fell sleep on the sofa when we got home. yesterday/usually this dooes not affect his sleep... not so tonight. dd has woken with nightmares, and screamed and crried for mummy, even when I was holding her. I have yet to hang the washing.

school were not concerned about the seriousness of the incident.

[Tuo]

Praying tonight for...

... Room and her baby

... Faith and little Faithlet - for rest for both tonight, and for Faithlet to keep on growing and feeding well (but just not continuously all night long!)

... MHD - for her to be well enough to enjoy her dd's birthday treat (and, just maybe, a little treat for MHD herself, as well )

... Momey's LM - for the situation to be resolved so he can see his children again

... BES - for rest, for a more helpful response from school, and for a good night's sleep and sweet dreams for both her DC

... Blue as she sees her DDO

Kay - how are things for you?

And Momey - how's your DB's thumb these days?

[HavingALittleFaithBaby]

Morning all! Thanks for the prayers: we had a good night and seem to have established a 2-3 hourly feeding pattern with a good latch for bf and taking top ups well. Most importantly she is sleeping between feeds so I have too!

Prayers please for another MNetter from my ante-natal thread. She had her DS Samuel Friday after a difficult labour. He is now in Bristol Children's hospital with multiple tumours and she said it 'doesn't look good' :( I can't imagine getting this far only for your child to be do gravely ill...

Glad you're feeling a bit better Momey.

Bes praying for your DCs and the issues at hand.

[amberlight]

Praying...

[madhairday]

Thanks Tuo - I am indeed going! LG have helped by sorting out wheelchair hire and access etc. I'm so pleased! I won't be able to hear tomorrow, but never mind

Praying for everyone, particularly Room and the littlefaithbaby, and for LM and BES' dc.

[BlackeyedSusan]

I have had a good sleep this afternoon, which is just as well as they both had nightmares in the night. dd was very distressed and shouting for mummy even when I was there. she calmed down rapidly after prayer though... thank God!

mhd. been praying. glad there is some improvement and support to attend. (what? did i miss that?)

I have been pissing off emailing the head teacher again, asking for documents etc, using the wording from the sen code of practice, without directly referencing the paragraph numbers.

[Dutchoma]

Sounds to me you need to speak to the head of the governors or the education authority if the head and deputy head are not taking your concerns seriously. Glad you had a sleep.

[RoomForALittleOne]

Please will you all pray for DD2? She is really struggling with mummy being in hospital. She was sad yesterday when she came to visit me and realised that I might be in hospital for her birthday. She was even more upset on the phone tonight saying 'mummy, I want you to come home... Please come home' I can't tell you how that makes me feel. She really needs me and I need to be there for her.

[Kaykat]

Room, praying for you and baby and DD2. How old is she? My mum was in hospital for a long time when I was little and looking back I don't think it was as traumatic for me as she probably thought it was. I'm sure I begged her to come home too but I don't remember being too desperately upset. And for birthdays we took a cake into the hospital and had a little celebration. The main thing right now is to make sure that baby is ok.

As for me I am still frustrated by the slow speed of legal things. I get a flurry of activity then nothing for ages. It takes weeks just to get one letter organised.

I had some wonderful support this week from several people who I haven't seen for a long time and seeing another old friend tomorrow. I am still struggling daily with what is probably grief. Missing my old life, remembering good times instead of the terrible things of this past year. I have to constantly give myself a good talking to and Im scared that at these vulnerable times (pretty much every day at some point) I will do something silly like contact him. I also feel constantly guilty. Someone told me they think he has a woman staying overnight in my house and that made me feel very sad, but not at all surprised.

[DontstepontheMomeRaths]

DS got his first choice of School today. Now I just need the assessment to come faster. It's end of May.

LM is in a different time zone. I'll probably hear tomorrow how it went.

Prayers for everything on here being said x

[Tuo]

Feeling very tired, so just popping by quickly, and would appreciate prayers for energy to get me through to the weekend, when I can catch up a bit.

Praying tonight for Room and her baby, and also for her DD; for quicker legal answers and ongoing strength for Kay; for BES to get some rest and some answers from school; for a good outcome for Momey's LM, and thanks for her DS's school place; and huge thanks for MHD being well enough to take her DD out for her birthday treat. Prayers too for baby Samuel and his family. And also for niminypiminy, who is seeing the bishop tomorrow and has asked for prayers on t'other thread...

[BlackeyedSusan]

praying room.

[madhairday]

Kaykat it's great to hear from you, and so pleased you are getting some support from those around you. No wonder you feel so vulnerable and in grief :( Continuing to pray. You are being so strong, but more than that, you have God's strength. Keep fighting...x

Room, praying for dd. I more than understand how this feels. the dc are now 12 and 9 and still get upset when I'm in hospital and I end up feeling guilty and horrible. But they are fine, really, as Kay says. I was in hospital for ds' birthday once (think it was his fourth) so dh brought in a cake and presents and we celebrated together. It was so hard, I remember how wretched I felt about it, and you must feel even more so with worry about the new LO. Praying for peace for you, for peace and comfort for your dd, for your whole family.

Thanks for prayers - I made it! ( it was a One Direction gig, BES) - it was great! Have talked about it on the other thread, so won't repeat myself here, but thanks so much for praying - I do feel so much better, but v v worn out today so resting all day.

[DontstepontheMomeRaths]

LM update:

It was an interesting meeting. His ExW and her new husband didn't turn up at all. They were meant to. So he got 3 hrs uninterrupted to talk to their lawyer with his present. It was an excellent meeting but ultimately she still needs to agree to all negotiating done. Thanks for your prayers x

[RoomForALittleOne]

Just wanted to say that I am praying for you all as prayer requests are made. I may only update about me but I am praying through the posts.

[BlackeyedSusan]

oops that middle one was a yawn!

[HadALittleFaithBaby]

DD has exclusively breast fed overnight - not a top up cup in sight! - and slept in between feeds so I have to. Utterly, utterly wonderful. I do believe we've turned a corner and I'm hoping we can go home! :)

Praying as I read. Room still praying for that baby to stay put.

[RoomForALittleOne]

Yay! Glad to hear that you are finding things better, Faith. I can't stand the whole cup-feed top-up thing as it is so exhausting.

I had a rough day followed by a bout of regular contractions yesterday evening/night. The midwife and doctor were most concerned. I was most fed-up. Very glad that baby stayed put but I could do without the painful interlude. At least DH is coming round to the idea of me being sterilised...