This week we are ramping up for the new. We have a new class of employees that will start their orientation this week. We are also hiring and training new staff for our Independent Living Plus and Day Treatment programs. This is also a new quarter for our residential youth in school, starting after a week at Quest. We will be praying for all things new happening around the village this fall.
My hope is this provide you an insider’s view into the ways we pray God uses us to impact our staff, while they pour into our youth.
Grace and peace, prayer partner.
Blessings,
Mark Holcomb
Director of Spiritual Life and Staff Care, Eagle Village
mholcomb@eaglevillage.org
Prayer Calendar – Download Printable Calendar Here
September 16
Today we begin our New Employee Orientation with new staff joining our organization. Pray for them today, and over the next two weeks, that God confirm their calling to participate with us in this important work we do.
Would you also pray for our students as they begin a new quarter in school.
September 17
Pray for our Foster Care Team as they gather for their weekly meeting, discussing the ways God is working in and through our foster care families, and review what is ahead this next week.
September 18
We begin a new series in chapel called, Out of Chaos. Today we’ll be sharing with our community that what God created didn’t begin with brokenness, pain, and death, but what God created he said was good. Everything was good. I wonder if we believe that. We know something happened, and we’ll get to that, but today we start at the good beginning. Pray for us today that our eyes are open to how good creation is, providing a clue to just how good the creator is, too.
September 19
It has been an especially heavy week for our forensic interview team at our Child Advocacy Center. It’s taxing, heavy work that they do tirelessly. Would you pray for them, that God enable them to remain healthy as kids share their stories.
Also, for our new residential staff, part of their orientation is beginning their observation hours in houses. Pray for them as they join our direct care team for the first time.
September 20
Our admissions team works tirelessly in their search for youth that we believe is the right fit for us, and us for them. Would you pray for Chad and Dani today as they work with the residential placement unit, helping youth find the right placement for them so they can receive the help they need.
September 21-22
I’m always drawn to our foster families on weekends. While for many weekends are about breaks and rest, weekends for them can be long and difficult. Would you pray for them as you think of them throughout the weekend while we rest, that God provide them with the strength and energy they need to parent well.
Prayer Calendar: Impactful Moment
When Once Isn’t Enough
Eyesight is important. It is often taken for granted until you can’t see clearly anymore. When that happens you usually get your eyes checked by a professional, because who doesn’t want to see clearly? If there isn’t something serious going on, then you make a decision about what you’re going to do to see clearly. When I got my eyes checked last week here’s what the optometrist told me this year:
I need to wear 1.0 glasses casually, when walking around, driving, etc. (Really?!)
I need to wear 2.0 glasses with blue blocker when I’m working on the computer. (Okay)
I need to wear 3.0 glasses when I’m reading. Anything closer than 3 feet requires more help. (Uggh)
Or, get trifocals. (Nope)
My eyes are getting worse with time. Since I’m refusing trifocals, I will need to wear three set of glasses – 1.0 casually, 2.0 when working on my computer, and 3.0 when reading. Not kidding. Go ahead, say it now. I’m prepared to hear a variety of stories from those who agree with my decision to those thinking I’m stubborn because I won’t break down and get the trifocals. Any way you look at it, my eyes need help, and with the choice I’ve made, I’ll be wearing three set of glasses determined by what I’m doing. My eyes are no longer capable of adjusting on their own. Different circumstances require a different set of lenses.
“Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village.
Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, ‘Can you see anything now?’
The man looked around. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.’
Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened.
His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.”
Mark 8:23-25
Weird story, huh? But there is more here than meets the eye. (Sorry)
What do you do when your eyes are no longer capable of seeing clearly? When you, “see people, but you can’t see them clearly”. How is your eyesight? I’m not just talking about physical eyesight now, but how you see the people and circumstances around you? If you aren’t seeing clearly, what are you going to do about it? Seek out help, or continue to not see clearly? If the man in this story had walked away, what would he have been left with? But he didn’t, he stayed asking for help. And because he did, his sight was completely restored, “seeing everything clearly”. In what circumstances in life do you find your vision blurred? Who do you go to when you need help with your vision?
Last week I said asking for help wasn’t a sign of weakness but means you’re aware that you aren’t seeing clearly – yet. I believe that, and hope you do to. I went to an optometrist because I wasn’t seeing clearly, and I needed help. The blind man needed help too, and went to the one who could help him. Could Jesus have healed him with one touch? Absolutely. Why didn’t he? I believe sometimes seeing clearly takes time and is connected to our willingness to hang around, asking for help. I believe our vision can be improved because I believe God wants to help us see clearly, but we need to ask for help make that happen. And sometimes, once isn’t enough. Apparently, Jesus is okay with that.
