As children and especially teenagers, some may have had a hard time being the pastor's kid, but let me tell you that as an adult, it is good to be the pastor's child!!! I was in a funky place this morning and I called my dad and he immediately began to pray for me as I was driving to work. He is a true prayer warrior. In addition to prayer every Saturday morning at the church, they occasionally have all night prayer. I really admire intercessors who can stay at the throne of grace for hours at a time. Please don't get me wrong - there is no place that I would rather be, but again, there are not enough hours in the day. However, I do thank God throughout the day for whatever may come to my mind. I was amazed at His presence this morning. My graphic designer (www.geegeebishop.com) and I are putting the final touches on my company's website (www.clavierchanean.com). She needed the the photo and verbiage that I was using for the site. I thought I had everything, but what I had was specific to a subsidiary site, so I told her on Friday that I would have everything by Monday evening. I gave it a little though this weekend, but hadn't really formalized anything. I had 2 keywords that floated around in my mind. When I began writing this morning, I was able to fill 2 pages in my composition notebook that completely embodied what I wanted to articulate. When I sent the email, I just looked in amazement and all I could say was WOW!!!! I had to acknowledge that God stopped by my side this morning and wrote my statement of purpose for me. In moments like these, when doubt begins to creep in, I am assured not only by His presence, but also by His power that I am on the right track. So, as we enter Thanksgiving week, I want to say Thank you God for visiting me this morning!!!

I am so excited!!! Clarke wore one of my original design t-shirts to school on Tuesday and got some positive feedback!! The idea of launching a clothing company came to me in 2008 and 18 months later, my first prototype has made its debut. On top of this venture, I am seeking submissions for a book that I am editing with a working title of "Prove Me Now Herewith....God's Promise to Faithful Tithers". If you are a tither and have a testimony that you want to share, feel free to submit it to submissions@clavierchanean.com. Also, I am on the board of the Boston Learning Center (www.bostonlearningcenter.org) and we are gearing up for our first ever fundraising campaign. My girlfriend asked me yesterday where my "me" time is. I've blogged before about how I wish there were more hours in the day, but I manage to get everything done. As far as "me" time, I enjoy doing for and giving to others. I used to go to work and go home and plop myself in front of the TV and do the whole thing all over again the next day. TV writers have done me a favor by producing such garbage that my evenings are now spent on endeavers that develop me as a person and enhance those around me. I am meeting new people, one of whom - David Ginsburg is a social media genius and has been working with me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and how to maximize them for the non-profit that we both volunteer for as well as my own business. I tell my single girlfriends all the time....Mr. Right isn't going to come knocking on your door - you have to get out and cross his path. In the same vein...a fulfilling life isn't to be found in 30 minute sitcoms or 60 minute dramas - you have to get out there and fulfill God's plans for your life - plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer. 29:11)

As I have mentioned, I subscribe to 2 daily devotionals. I've mentioned the Streaming Faith Daily Devotional (http://www.streamingfaith.com/community/devotional/default.aspx) before, but I also subscribe to Proverbs 31 Ministries (http://www.proverbs31.org/dailydevotions/dailyDevotions.php). Yesterday's devotional really resonated with me, as it happened to me this morning!!!! I get up at 2am Monday - Friday, and 3am on Saturday and Sunday. I deliver newspapers, and as you can imagine, people want their newspapers fairly early. Once I'm done delivering, I go to the YMCA and walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes doing whatever it takes (6.5 incline, 4.2 MPH) to burn off 400 calories. Then I go home and get myself and 2 kids dressed and packed and shuffled off to school, to the sitter, and to work. I get off work at 5pm and pick the kids up by 6pm. We are generally home by 6:15. That gives me 1 hour and 45 minutes to get dinner done, give medicines, iron clothes and pack lunches. Despite my best efforts, rarely am I in bed before my desired bedtime of 8pm. The first thing I do once the alarm clock goes off is head to the bathroom/prayer closet and read some scripture and talk to my Daddy (pray to God). However, this morning, I kept nodding off during my reading and my conversation. I hate when that happens. But God knows my heart. I believe this devotional was written just for me to assure me that God knows and He cares and any time - not necessarily 2am - is the right time to talk to him. Enjoy.....
Communing Over Chaos
9 Nov 2009
Whitney Capps
"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." John 15:4 (NIV)I am out-going and chatty. I like to make fun of myself. I love to laugh. I enjoy being with people – until I don't. You see, at heart I am an introvert. At some point I can sense my energy waning. I begin to crave quiet, silence and solitude.This is why I cherish quiet time with the Lord. I love the stillness of sitting and reading the Word or a book that turns my heart toward Jesus. My husband knows that one way to fill my love tank is to give me an evening of going out to dinner alone: just me, Jesus and a good book. (All you extroverts just cringed at the thought of eating alone didn't you?) Don't get me wrong, I adore my family, but I need mental white space.However, with three kids under age four, quiet time with the Lord is an endangered species. I don't often get to go the bathroom by myself. If the water closet isn't a quiet place, you can imagine the chaos that follows me to my prayer closet.For a few months after our youngest was born I lived in a spiritual desert. My soul was parched. I was desperate for quiet time with Jesus and prayed earnestly for God to help me find time to be alone with Him. Faithfully, He always provided, but often my tired and flesh-wrapped spirit dozed off in prayer or got distracted by other things.I couldn't consistently make it work. After several months of mostly failed attempts, I cried out to God, "I don't know how to be alone with You!""Daughter, you don't have to be alone with Me. Just be with Me. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you."Rather than give up on being with Jesus because it's not like it used to be, my Savior is asking me to abide with Him all day. God has ordained this season of my life and He knows even better than I do how much my children demand of me. In the clamor of the sword fights and confusion in the playroom, He is my hiding place.I am learning to seize each moment, and see it as an opportunity to fellowship with Jesus. While my kids recite "God is great; God is good," I have a chat with Jesus. When I feel alienated from girlfriends, I read a magazine article. P31 Woman and Today's Christian Woman magazines are spiritual lifeboats for me in this season. While my kids do art at the kitchen table, I read a psalm or two. Whenever possible I try to have praise music playing in our house. Sometimes singing those lyrics is the closest my heart may come to meaningful prayer time all day.Please hear me. I am not suggesting that these brief moments should replace consistent, focused times of prayer and Bible study. Those habits are hallmarks of Christian discipleship and growth. I am learning, however, to rethink my ideas on fellowship with Jesus. In this season of my life it's not so much the quantity of quiet reflection as it is the steady communing over chaos. But hey, at least we are together!

Would you believe that I'm still getting up at 2am and have been to the gym every day this week!!! In addition to burning calories on the treadmill, I try to mind my caloric intake, although my daughter offered me a Snickers bar this morning. I thought it would be rude if I didn't take it, so I did - and promptly ate it!!!! The beauty of diets - and Christianity - is that once you fall off the wagon, you repent and you move forward.
I was talking to my mother today about a cousin of mine. Her son is going through a depression about a break-up with his girlfriend, so she asked me to pray for him. We began on the topic of prayer and she told me that she had found a stack of books in her library on the subject. I mentioned to her that I had taken a class at church on prayer and my text was a pretty good book. It was by Dr. Myles Monroe. She said that that's who her book was written by. It turns out that we have the same book!!! We both marveled at how God orchestrated that. I suggested to her that God wants us to pray for each other. There is power in corporate prayer!!!
Some time ago, she suggested creating a phone book of all of our relatives to help us keep in touch with each other. I mentioned supplementing that with a family newsletter of sorts that lists all births, deaths, and especially prayer requests. God's word says in Matthew 18:20 (NIV) "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." How much more effective would our prayers be if we touched and agreed with someone else for that thing that we are seeking?
Ours is a huge family and we have family reunions every year, but honestly, I only see most of these people at the reunion - if I go. I want to know how my cousin that I spent my childhood summers with is doing. I want to know if my favorite aunt has become a grandmother again. Again, as we strive to walk in Jesus' footsteps, we need to understand and appreciate his concern for family. Remember as he was dying on the cross, one of the last things he did was make sure that His mother would be taken care of (John 19:25-27 NIV). My father always says that God put families together for a reason. We are to pray for each other and share our time, resources, and money to ensure that one doesn't have too much while another has too little. As we approach a new year, consider adding this to your list of resolutions - call your grandmother more often, buy a package of diapers for your young cousin who just had a baby, try to touch each member of your family with the touch of Christ in the upcoming year. Can you imagine what the world would be like if each of us spent more time cultivating our own families??? We all want peace, joy, and kindness in the world, but you know what????? It all starts at home:)