Celebrating 5000 entries at Lent and Beyond!

It was just over a year ago that Jill wrote a post celebrating 4000 entries at Lent & Beyond.  Today, we reach the 5000 post milestone on this version of the blog.  (Actually we’ve published more than 8500 posts, when you count in the 3500+ posts at our original blogsite!)

It’s fun that I’m in a short season of renewed blogging and get to commemorate it myself and highlight some of my favorite posts from the past 8 years!  I never could have imagined when I first started a Lent prayer campaignand associated blog in Feb. 2004 all that God would do in the years ahead, or that I’d still be blogging, albeit sporadically, 8 years later.

It has been hard work, (especially some of our intensive prayer efforts for Lambeth 2008, various ACC meetings, or for the 2006 and 2009 General Conventions.) I remember vividly, for instance, some very very late nights spent hunting the web for a few of the primates’ pictures for our Primates’ prayer brochure, or two seemingly-interminable Saturdays spent constantly hitting refresh on the election results as the diocese of Tennessee held marathon convention sessions for their bishop election a few years ago…  !

Since 2009,  there have been long seasons I’ve had to step away from the blog due to needing to focus on priorities related to my work and ministry.  But lest it sound like I regret the work involved, this blog has been a great blessing and joy too, especially through the friendships and “partnership” in ministry that God has given me with Jill, Torre & Jean, Tim+, Rob+, and others who’ve been a part of this blog over the years.  I’ve also been blessed by many of the resources I’ve discovered, and the spiritual disciplines that blogging has sometimes helped strengthen in my life, as it has helped keep me in a focused rhythm of prayer and praise.

Anyway, enough reminiscing!  Here are some of my favorite of the 8000+ entries here and from our old site’s archives include:

Among my own posts:

• The inexhaustible pursuit of God
• Turn Your Steps toward these everlasting ruins (Praying Psalm 74 for the church in crisis)
• Seek the Lord and Live
• Praying the Scriptures for our leaders
• A Prayer of Self-Dedication
• The Spirit of Prayer

Some of my favorites from Jill’s posts

• Prayer for a Paralyzed Church
• Turn Our Eyes to Your Cross
• The Anglican Communion
• The Supplication
• Lorica For Sudan
• Holy Innocents / Sudan
• Sin – The Prodigal Son
• Our Hearts are Parched
• Transfiguration
• Jesus
• Prayers of Spiritual Purification
• A Graduation Invocation (this is the most popular prayer on the blog!)
• The Pearl of Great Price

Some of my favorites from Torre’s posts:

• A Well-Watered Garden
• Praying the Nicene Creed
• A Prayer from Philippians 3
• Prayers from Psalm 107
• A 19th Century Bishop’s prayer
• Holy Spirit Abide with Us
• Arise and Have Mercy

And a few favorites by Fr. Tim Fountain (he blogged here at L&B for a few seasons before starting his own blog and then just recently joining the Stand Firm team)

• Isaiah 58 – The Promises of Godly Fasting
• Send Us Leaders (based on 1 Sam 8)
• Ideas to Help You Pray for Your Clergy
• In the Face of Terrorism

Hopefully Jill and Torre will also post some of their own favorite entries or memories.

Here is a link to the archived entry to my post at our original blog celebrating our first 1000 entries in July 2005 (with lots of favorites linked).

In case it’s of interest, we actually have a small  “L&B Favorites” category. You can find some of my/our other favorite entries there.

May Jesus be glorified in all that is posted here and may He continue to teach us to pray.

-Karen

(Apologies if some of the links to various of our older posts are now a bit messed up in terms of formatting, or missing pictures.  Lots of links break or change over time and pictures get taken offline… )

art credit for celebration image