Saturday, October 16, 1999 ~ BLESSED! ~ I’m trying to retrain the way I talk. For example when someone asks "How are you?" I try to respond "I am blessed!" When I do that I am blessing myself over and over. Isn’t that an interesting concept?

Friday, October 15, 1999 ~ PROTOCOL ~ There is protocol involved in approaching royalty. I read about it in a newspaper article about the royal family in England. It said that the prince never went anywhere without his protocol book.

Protocol can be important in relationships too. A family member mentioned that they would like to be asked as opposed to told in regarding to family activities. That seemed reasonable to me.

We can find the protocol to approach God in the Psalms in the Lord’s model prayer. "Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name." We enter His gates with thanksgiving and that sets a positive atmosphere of faith and respect before we ever ask for anything. God is a great King but it’s not like He needs anything. He deserves our respect which we can demonstrate in protocol.

Thursday, October 14, 1999 ~ OASIS ~ We have an oasis in Kansas City in these troubled times. It’s the International House of Prayer. I used to go to all night prayer meetings and I noticed something. When the worship music stopped I didn’t have grace to go on. At IHOP the worship music never stops. There are live worship bands playing all the time. That is so amazing to me.

I thought It would be difficult to put in over 8 hours a week but boy was I surprised. I find myself sneaking back to the prayer room at every opportunity. It’s invigorating like exercise. You might think it would make me tired but the opposite is true. The more I exercise the more energy I have. It’s possible to exercise too much but that has never been one of my problems. When I get tired it’s usually more from unexercise. The same is true in connection with IHOPKC.

In the year 555 A. D. the Celts started a similar house of prayer in which two choirs sang the Psalms back and forth to each other. That prayer meeting lasted 300 years and Bangor, Ireland became the revival center of the world. I wonder why? Not! There is a principle connected with night and prayer as related to in the parables.

I think one of the reasons I am invigorated by prayer and worship is that is my purpose. I think when people find their niche, so to speak, it is invigorating. I wonder how many people ever find their oasis of purpose in a lifetime. There is nothing more encouraging than finding your purpose is God. Our true identity can be found in no other.

Sunday, October 10, 1999 ~ IHOP Conference ~ This weekend we attended the first ever IHOP conference. The International House of Prayer started 24 hours about 3 weeks ago and it’s my favorite place to be.

In the year 555 AD the Celts started a similar house of prayer in which choirs sang the Psalms back and forth antiphonally. That prayer meeting lasted 300 years and Bangor, Ireland became the revival center of the world. We hope this prayer meeting will last until Jesus returns and that many more 24hr houses of prayer will be started in other cities.

The difference between this and other prayer meetings is that it is founded on musical worship and the fasted lifestyle. The only prayers allowed at this time are the apostolic prayers, including the Lord’s prayers and the prayers of Revelation. These prayers are prayed and sung over Kansas City. Many of us feel like we were born for such a time as this.

Sunday, October 3, 1999 ~ 24^th Wedding Anniversary ~ The weekend began with a bouquet of lavender, crimson, and golden, pink-tipped roses, beautiful in a green vase in the middle of our glass topped brass dining table.

We left early Saturday morning for Eureka Springs, AK, and enjoyed a beautiful 5-hour drive to Days Inn where we caught the trolley and explored the many quaint shops downtown. He enjoyed dinner in the Local Flavor café and headed back to our room.

Later we enjoyed a swim in the heated swimming pool at the Inn. After that we relaxed in a jacuzzi for 2, drinking pink champagne, for a couple of hours before retiring in a king size bed with five pillows and a hand-made double wedding ring quilt.

The next morning we decided to check out the Cosmic Cavern since Don hand never has been inside a natural cave. It was a difficult tour with many steep steps up and down but was worth it for the natural beauty and divine sculptures. Cosmic Cavern is primarily an onyx cave where the onyx was mined for the gear shift handles of the old Model T Fords.

When the tour was over we decided to go back to Kansas City by way of Branson because to countryside was so beautiful with its mountainous cover of fall leaves. At one point we thought we might go to the Weird Al Yankovich show but somehow we missed Branson altogether.

We had the KFC all-you-can-eat buffet for lunch and it was great. Then we headed home filled with ideas to visit Branson sometime in the future.

Monday, October 11, 1999 ~ Pain Free ~ I purchased a book sometime ago called Pain Free by Pete Egosque. Today I actually did some of the exercises and to my amazement I was able to sleep pain free for the first time in about 20 years. It seems that my left side was out of alignment causing chronic pain in my right side.