Jane VanOsdol, Author at Only By Prayer

Christmas Past and Present

December 19, 2019 by Jane VanOsdol Leave a Comment

Memories of Christmases past shimmer in my mind.

My sisters and I sneaking out of bed and tiptoeing down creaky stairs, anxious for our first glimpse of the Christmas tree.
Baking and frosting Christmas cookies.
Waiting my turn to open the next door on the Avent calendar.
The scent of incense wafting in the air at Christmas Eve mass.
Visiting Grandma and Grandpa and Uncles Dave and Bill on Christmas afternoon.
Holiday singalongs with my huge extended family. Laughter and love float around the room, like angels’ wings.
Grandma and Grandpa Herrmann singing Silent Night in German.
The Hallelujah chorus ringing through the auditorium and echoing in my heart.
My husband noisily putting together a bunk bed on Christmas Eve.
My own little children excitedly bounding up the stairs on Christmas morning, a bundle of laughter and energy.

[Read more…]

Advent Devotional

November 21, 2019 by Jane VanOsdol Leave a Comment

What Advent Is All About

Advent is about waiting – waiting for the birth of Jesus. It’s the magical time when heaven intersects earth through the lives of ordinary people who are part of God’s extraordinary plan to redeem the world.

[Read more…]

Join Us for Praise & Prayer for Holy Week

April 14, 2019 by Jane VanOsdol 28 Comments

Holy Week is a time for us to praise, pray, and prepare ourselves for Easter Sunday. Mary and I would like to invite you to join Only By Prayer as we spend some time together this week doing just that.

Each day this week starting on Palm Sunday, we will post a scripture from the Psalms for you to meditate on. We will use this same post for the entire week, so we will simply add the new scripture to this post each day. Be sure to check back each day. We are taking the suggested reading from the LectionaryPage.net .

Here is a possible way you could interact with each day’s scripture, but feel free to let the Holy Spirit lead you.

Read the day’s selected verses.
Praise God using any themes that stand out to you as you are reading.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you to incorporate those themes into your own life, into the life of your family and friends, and into our nation.
Write down any takeaways you want to remember from that day’s reading and prayers.
Share any of your praises, prayers, and thoughts in the comment section of the post. Feel free to respond to others’ comments as well.

Thank you for joining us. You’re more than welcome to invite others to journey along with you this week too! We’ll be praying for us all that God will prepare our hearts for Jesus’ Resurrection Sunday.

Blessings,

Jane & Mary of Only By Prayer

Day 1 Palm Sunday

The scripture for today: Palm Sunday-Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Day 2 Monday April 15

The scripture for today: Psalm 36:5-11

Day 3 Tuesday April 16

The scripture for today: Psalm 71:1-14

Day 4 Wednesday April 17

The scripture for today: Psalm 70

Day 5 Maundy Thursday April 18

The scripture for today: Psalm 116:1, 10-17

Day 6 Good Friday April 19

The scripture for today: – Psalm 22

Day 7 Holy Saturday April 20

The scripture for today: Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16

Day 8 Easter Sunday April 21

The scripture for today: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Reflections #22: The Faith of Miracles

September 21, 2018 by Jane VanOsdol Leave a Comment

Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’ Mark 2:3-5

The healing of the paralytic man is an incredible story. Jesus is in Capernaum, where so many healings happened. Not coincidentally, the people in this region had a strong faith. That realization made me stop and ask myself this question: [Read more…]

Reflections #21: The Waiting Game

September 7, 2018 by Jane VanOsdol Leave a Comment

When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son.” Luke 1:57

Elizabeth and Zacharias had waited a lifetime for their son to be born. In fact, they were both past the childbearing years. Elizabeth thought the Lord had denied her the blessing of being a mother. Yet God had big plans for them–they were just in His timing, not hers. [Read more…]