"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.

Afternoon all.

PA sounds like a brave decision. Praying for all your family.

Praying for all those needing wisdom.

bes how's the dental work now?

I'd like prayer - baby/stress related. She's slept through the night a few times in the last week - 11-6, 10-6.30, 8.30-6...I asked on a local BF FB group and one of the counsellors had said its too long and got me all worried. Waiting for a call from a lactation consultant to advice me but feeling like a rubbish Mum!

How was school for dd Mome?

Whatever you are Faith you are not a rubbish mummy. You are a mummy that asks for advice when needed and no doubt will stick to that advice once it is given by a properly qualified person. Faithlet is getting quite big, so maybe sleeping through is quite ok.

Personally, Faith, I think that as long as she is putting on weight well, producing plenty of wet and dirty nappies, is feeding well during the day and is alert when she is awake then you have nothing to worry about. Some babies sleep through earlier than others not mine and I would just be eternally grateful of the sleep if there is no indication of a problem.

I wouldn't worry Faith. If she needs more milk she'll let you know in a growth spurt and feeding lots and your clever body will produce more. No need to worry at all. As Room said, she's gaining weight, happy and producing lots of dirty nappies. It's all good.

DD had a really good day. Praise God. This morning was awful before School. So I'm very thankful.

The other day in School she cried in the afternoon for 30 mins after a minor incident. So I'm glad today went well.

Glad to hear it Mome

I can't wondering if everything she's been through with the divorce, my depression two years ago and a high needs younger sibling is now coming out. I need a sea change. Need a better way forward and I need to try and fuss over her this weekend one on one when I can.

'Can't help wondering'

Well praying for it then Mome. It must be tough for her.

Well after a minor row then proper chat with DH, I feel better. Spoke to lactation consultant who said although its a long time she's not concerned, to keep an eye on it and get her weighed for reassurance next week. DH has offered to have her for a few hours tomorrow (there's plenty of expressed milk in the freezer) so I can have a break. I also had a bath tonight so I feel a lot better! :)

I am praying for you all. Legal things are not moving forward at all, he is doing a good job of delaying, no surprise about that. I wake up early every morning feeling anxious about it.

I have been asking God to speak to me then choosing completely random bible passages to read on my bible app. Wow I never knew there were so many passages that speak so clearly and directly about my situation and my H's behaviour.

oh my goodness,the low bloodsugar storm has been bad this morning, so bad he got biscuit in the hope the sugar would get to his system quickly. toast and jm hve calmed things down and he is now calm enough to eat the healthy bit. oops, maybe not.

That sounds difficult BES

Kay I'm so sorry to hear that things aren't progressing more smoothly. You are doing so well to keep focussing on God. Keep hanging in there - it will pay off.

BES we had two little girls who needed food before there was sanity in our household this morning. Oh, the joy!

I've had a busy morning helping to run a crèche at College as it was the commissioning service for the leavers today. I think I may have overdone things a bit - loads of tightenings now and (sorry if TMI) quite a large chunk of mucus plug has been lost. I think we may have McDonalds for tea and an early bedtime.

ooo you have had a show. might not be long now. should we prray for in or out.

Preferably out on thursday at 37 weeks! But let's face it, it could be weeks yet especially with it being number 4! I've put my feet up, had McDonald's, some paracetamol and a bath. Now to put the kids to bed and nag DH to crack on with his sermon for tomorrow that was landed on him a bit last minute.

Long live Ronald McDonald. Excellent plan.

Hmm, more show and ultra wriggly baby... If someone wouldn't mind massaging my persistently swollen feet, I'd be very grateful

How are you today Room?

Tired, so tired here and I just couldn't get myself together to go to Church

I'm exhausted from having to get up and wee all night. Church went well for me and the kids. Then we went to one of the villages in the benefice for the village festival this afternoon. It's been a bit of a full-on week. DH managed to write a good sermon and then one parishioner turned up to the service. DH didn't even get his robes on, never mind getting to preach. I feel quite sad for him.

Hi all. I posted on the thread a couple of pages back when I was given the news that 4th miscarriage was imminent. I did finally lose the baby at 9 weeks after a fortnight of bad scans but nothing happening. It's our third similar loss in a 10m period, I had another loss between my 2 boys.
We have a recurrent MC appointment next month but have already had most of the tests after MC3. I'm not hopeful that they have anything to offer us.
DH and I have some big decisions to make. There is always another avenue of testing to explore, but those remaining are costly in terms of travel, disruption and £££, and the trying again is emotionally costly. We are having this embryo tested, if it turns out that it was potentially viable but I'm killing them off, how can I justify creating more? Before we embarked on TTC no 3 we had explored the possibility of fostering, which in the end we rejected. I'm coming back to looking at expanding our family in other ways, probably via adoption. To be considered for this we'd have to have stopped any attempt to TTC for at least 6m then a process taking up to a year to be approved and longer to be matched with a child. That would take me past any likelihood of natural fertility remaining so bridges would be well and truly burnt if we were rejected.
I am just finding it so hard to find God in any of this. I can't see any way to reconcile the scientists explanations for pregnancy loss with God's creation of four unique and loved individuals who never got chance to be born. I don't know if this is a "no" to having a larger family, or if we need to have faith to persevere and pray for a miracle, or if the remaining desire for more children is to be satisfied in another way.
Please pray for wisdom and clarity. Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Certainly praying for wisdom and clarity for you and Mr Bakingtins. I'm sure you've tried everything, but have you tried very high strength vit B6 and vit D when you've been having your treatment? I know that some centres that have better success rates use this and research is being done to find out how it helps. Just wondering because it is simple and cheap compared to many options.

Oh and FWIW, I'm not convinced that you will be creating more embryos that don't implant and thrive than any woman who has no trouble with ovulating would do. The only difference is that you know it is happening as opposed to it happening in the womb where it goes unnoticed. I don't know if that makes sense? It's just that your motivation is the same as any woman having unprotected sex in order to TTC and you are doing everything you can to try and keep your embryos alive.

Oh baking, I'm so sorry for your loss and the way things are panning out. Our own (obviously different) fertility issues has left our faith in tatters - struggling to understand a world where people who are desperate to have babies can't while people that don't/can't be (ie for medical reasons) get pregnant. Praying for you and Mr B about the way forward. I think adoption is admirable - a colleague of mine has two boys and they are on the waiting list to adopt a girl with a view to giving her a permanent home :) but of course that's a big step to take.

Room, my sympathies with the peeing. Faithlet has slept through the night a couple of times in the last week and I realised that with pregnancy and urological problems before its rare that I've slept through in the last year! Well done you though, nearly 37 weeks and that baby is well cooked! I was worried at one point you'd have it before I had Faithlet....

I am realising I am unhappy in church. I know DH doesn't really want to go any more, he is struggling with his faith. However - when I moved to this city I joined a huge church, very vibrant. After 4 1/2 years (with DH joining me in the middle) I realised it was just too cliquey and I didn't like it. We deliberately chose a small church with a family feel next time. It was a network of small churches that met as big church once a month which we liked a lot. Then last September they changed the format to big church all the time for practical reasons and what the leadership felt God was calling for. However now it feels cliquey again and like we don't fit! Example - obviously we just had a baby. Someone asked me if they had cooked meals for us on a rota. Er, no especially when someone else mentions she's on the rota for a girl due next month! However her DH is the worship leader and her parents are on the leadership team....I don't think they deliberately didn't offer for us, just that we were overlooked. Still feel cut out though! Not sure if the answer is to persevere and try to be more social or find another church. Neither really appeal but if we don't do something we'll just stop attending church. Prayers appreciated!