life is not a resort

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

I'm reading a book right now on parenting adolescents (hard to believe it but my hubby and I are almost there!)  One of the first things the author wrote that really resonated with me is that most of us go through life wanting it to be a resort.  It's not.  It's a war.
Well I might not go as far as to say that life is a war, I will admit that it is tough.  There are certain "issues" in my life that just won't go away.  And there seem to be new "issues" for me to face every day.
My life sometimes feels hard.
And I know that I am not the only one that feels this way.  Looking around me yesterday, at the gym, at WalMart, at the school, at the dentist's office, I saw lots of people who looked worn out, tired, wounded even. 
I wanted to go up to them and say "I know how you feel".
But that just might be seen as crazy.
So, I did what I felt the Lord wanted me to do.  I prayed for them.
Every person who had that "look" about them, I prayed for. 
Yesterday started out as a challenging one; it was Monday, it has been raining for weeks and I was not really feeling up for the battle. 
But by the afternoon, all that had change.  Not on the outside of course; it was still Monday, it was still raining and the problems I had woken up to yesterday morning were very much still present.  No, what had changed was me.  After praying for others all day, my heart overflowed with the love, peace and hope of Jesus; knowing that life is hard, challenges are guaranteed but we are not alone.  Our sweet Jesus is with us every step of the way.

Thank you Jesus for the life changing power of prayer.