Prayerful Pondering

by Pat Luffman Rowland

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I don’t remember a time I didn’t believe in God or know that Jesus was His Son and our Savior, but I made my profession of faith and was baptized at age 12. I’ll never forget the experience of understanding I was the Lord’s! The sun became ten times brighter and it was as if I could hear angels singing. It was a supremely joyful moment. And I can still “see” my immersion baptism in the small Baptist church as if I were looking on. With certainty and gratitude, I can declare that God has never failed me, even though I have failed Him many times over. God has blessed me with family and friends, opportunities and health, freedom and education. He has been ever faithful and I look forward to the day when I can bow at the feet of Jesus and thank Him for His unconditional love that has made all the difference. I have an undergraduate degree in Healthcare Consumer Relations and a master’s in Religious Studies. In 1990, I received the designation of Fellow with the National Society of Patient Representation and Consumer Affairs of the American Hospital Association. I worked for 27 years in healthcare, retiring as Corporate Director of Patient Affairs with Methodist Healthcare in Memphis, TN in 1998. A major part of my career was teaching about patient concerns and needs, their rights, and ethical matters of healthcare. I taught through writing, as well as speaking from coast to coast. For several years, I authored a byline, Patient Perspective, for a healthcare journal. Other publications include Tennessee Hospital Association newsletter, Marketing Perspective, nursing and pharmacy newsletters. I received a writing award from the American Hospital Association in 1990. There are three things in my life that I count the most rewarding: my work with the mentally challenged from 1978-1983, my healthcare days establishing and directing patient advocacy for a large healthcare system, and my present work as a reading tutor. Most of my writings at present are devotional in nature. Devotional publications include Upper Room, Presbyterian Daily, and on my church website, www.famemphis.net. I am retired and live in a suburb of Memphis with my cat Chloe. My daughter and son-in-law, Kristi and Mark Hearn, live in Georgia and are the delights of my heart. Additionally, I am blessed with a spiritual family, Son (Tim) and Hien-Anh (Hannah) Le, their children, Rachel, Rebecca, and Esther, and Hannah’s mother, Phuong Hong. I am active in my church, First Assembly Memphis, and tutor second graders at First Assembly Christian School (FACS).

Category: Christianity

  • Pain that Lashes Out

    French author, Gustave Flaubert said “Human language is like a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, when all the time we are longing to move the stars to pity.”  In my hospital setting it looked like this: A 16 year-old complained about everything to do with his nursing…

  • Hearing the Voice of God

    Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.  — Psalm 68:10 Hearing the voice of God takes trust and practice.  It requires believing what you hear even though it may not make sense in man’s way of thinking. One of the most remarkable times of hearing and acting on God’s voice was following the…

  • Early Morning Light

    We all need a daily place of solitude, a place to be in communion with God and with ourselves.  For me, the time is early morning.  I love to watch the day arrive and experience the quiet and still of dawn, hear the first chatter of birds, the occasional sound of a cricket holding on to…

  • Trusting God through Trials

    Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men! Psalm 31:19 We have a Father who is good and only good. There is nothing evil in Him, ever. He is…

  • God’s Perfect Way with Me

    For I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil, that you may have a future and a hope.   Jeremiah 29:11 When I become shaky with fear or anxiety, I remember God is in control, and He is neither fearful nor anxious.  God always has a clear mind, a…

  • My Grandmother

    One of my earliest memories of my grandmother  is of her praying on her knees at her bedside.  She would kneel in her homemade muslin gown, bow her head with clasped hands, and speak aloud to God.  In the early years, she wore her hair in a wreath of braids during the day and by night…

  • God Heals Our Heartaches

    When heartaches come like heavy rains, we can take comfort that a rainbow is not far behind. In time, God will lift the gloom and still the pain; He will say enough is enough. Peace!  Be still. Noah built an ark to take him through the heavy rains, and we can do the same. Our…

  • Prayer for Discernment and Patience

    Father, I pray to know truth.  I pray to know what You have brought into my life, and for what purpose.  I pray to know the difference in what my choices have declared, and what Your divine arm has orchestrated.  I pray for Your light on my pathway, that I may neither stumble nor fall. …

  • God’s Peace

    The peace that passes all understanding comes to us only when we are in the center of God’s will.  It is a peace unexplainable, a peace undeniable, and a peace that covers the whole of us.  It leaves no room for doubt or fear.  When God is in the plan, He gives us this embrace…

  • Aging with Acceptance and Anticipation

    Aging is a bittersweet thing.  It provides us wisdom, but weakens our  bodies.  It affords us good memories – but also the bad.   It is a time of reflection of things accomplished and things left undone. When we can admit that aging can’t be conquered, it can bring an acceptance of a body not fresh…