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

  • When Jesus Leads

    Jesus says if we will come to Him, He will make light our burden. If we will come alongside Him, He will take the lead and the responsibility for our destination. We won’t have to struggle at all; He asks only that we walk with Him. And while we walk, He will teach us the…

  • God’s Purpose

    Deep within your heart, God has planted a seed of purpose for your life.  That purpose has its own unique plan and there will be true joy in finding and living in His perfect way. Discovering your purpose and its divinely charted course, is like standing in His presence and experiencing God’s love just for…

  • In Quiet Preparation

    He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. (Psalm 78:70-71 NIV)   I suspect there were a few during David’s time that imagined themselves to be king material.  They no doubt whispered of…

  • The Empty Tomb

    Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; He is risen!  Luke 24:5-6 The stone wasn’t rolled away for Jesus, it was rolled away for us.   To enter in.  To see the miracle of our Lord – that He was lifted up from death to life.   We peer over…

  • Abiding in Christ

    In the gospel of John, at the time of the Last Supper, we find some of Jesus’ most compelling words.  He speaks at length, and out of love and compassion – both for His disciples and for all of us yet to come.  (John 17:20) His words are soothing and drawing.  Jesus explains much, part…

  • Something Beautiful for Jesus

    While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one…

  • Decision to Betray

    Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.   And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him for they feared the people.   Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.   So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains,…

  • Intercessory Prayer

    Oswald Chambers, in his devotional book, MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, reveals an important piece of intercessory prayer that I am afraid I miss much of the time. He says “Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of…

  • Psalm of Comfort

    Psalm 103 is a psalm of comfort for the one who feels ashamed and discouraged over sins and needs reassurance that God forgives and loves His children in spite of their actions.  It is for the one who needs encouragement, healing, and hope.  This psalm answers the question “Does God still care about me?”  And the answer…

  • Where There Is No God

    Where there is no God, there is no discipline, no sense of concern for another. Without fear of the Most High man stumbles, flails about, makes mocking of life’s meaning. Where there is no God how can one go forward, or know when to stop? How can he know where to turn, where to climb,…