Tuesday, August 28, 2007

request

Thank you, Jill, Joel, Nightfly, for your comments. One of the problems I have is that I have so few "IRL" people that I feel like I can bounce ideas off of (I haven't even told my parents about this, and I tell them EVERYTHING...I just can't bring myself to go through the whole sad story with them again) that sometimes I wonder if my perception of a situation is all messed up.

Anyway (deep breath) I have a request.

Would those of you who pray, please pray for the youth program (and for me?) I've come to the conclusion that I am doing the best I can, and the only thing at this point that will help the kids resist the temptation to behave badly (and change the hearts and minds of the adults who are opposed to the program) is a big bunch of Divine assistance. That this isn't gonna get "fixed" unless "The Man Upstairs" fixes it. 'Cause I don't have it in my power to "fix" it, that's for sure.

Oh, I'm praying about it myself, believe me. I even "yelled at" God yesterday during my workout. (When I'm really upset about something, I yell at God. I figure that's preferable to curling up into a little ball and going all snivelly and claiming I'm being "punished" for something.) I told God, "YOU need to take this over. There are all these problems and I can't see any way they can be overcome outside of YOU doing something to change the people involved. YOU need to [heh, yeah, I hate it when people use that locution with me. Sorry.] help the kids resist the temptation to do stupid stuff, the adults need to have their minds changed so they don't see the kids as "just riff-raff." Something needs to happen because I'm at the end of my rope emotionally and there's nothing more I can do to fix things."

(And yes. I realize perhaps this is one of those situations not unlike the one the comic described, where he said, "If you have a bumper sticker that says 'God is my co-pilot,' you need to change seats." I'm bad about things that way - trying to do it all on my own, believing that I can "fix" things and I don't need to "bother" God with my problems.)

So anyway - like Bart Simpson once said when he feared that his soul had been sold to some "weirdo," I need some of that good stuff right now.

4 comments:

nightfly said...

You've got my prayers, Ricki - whether that qualifies as "good stuff" is beyond me, but it's all the stuff I got. =)

And in all seriousness: I'm touched that you asked me. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

You got it.

(I was getting the same way at the end of last week and someone wise quoted Romans. . . it occurred to me that when I get frustrated I should just go sit down and read Romans.)

Unknown said...

Absolutely. I'm basically a quaker atheist, but we "hold people in the light" in our meeting, and I will do that for you and this group in my thoughts. I'm honored to be asked.

Maggie May said...

I am sorry for your trouble, Ricki. I got behind on my blog reading, and just got caught up today, and I am sorry that you are going through this.

I am afraid I am not much help to you, beyond expressing my sorrow for your situation. This is the reason I left...or FLED from organized religion years ago. The hypocrisy of those running the show just blows me away, and I cannot recover from it. Every time I thought it was isolated to one group or one church, I found out differently, until I abandoned the thing altogether.

I believe in God, but I personally feel that organized religion has very, very little to do with Him. For most people, it is just a way to assert power, make money and feel superior.

I will tell you, I have been "saved" from a lot of my negativity towards so called "Christians" by reading the blogs of good people like you, Nightfly, Tracey, and others whom I adore as well. I realize that not all people who practice organized religions are part of the problem. But those bad apples seem to be the rule rather than the exception. At least that is my experience. I am not claiming to be right in all circumstances.

At any rate, I will keep good thoughts for you, and hope your experience turns out differently in the end.