1. In a bed many months ago, Nora and I prayed for friends--friends for her to play with, people who were her size and had similar interests (animals with large eyes, kitties who meow and prowl, very small plastic ponies with hair you can comb and style, that kind of thing). And while glancing down at the church bulletin, there it was: "Register for Preschool at St. Paul's in Utica." And not only did Nora find friends there, but I've found some women who stop my heart with their strength and song and cooking and laughter and realness. And we are singing and supporting and talking and laughing. I didn't know how dry my well was until it was filled again.
2. Kids. Kids everywhere. Kids in my kitchen asking about solar energy and composting. Kids designing telescopes and security cameras. Kids picking flowers and planting flowers. Kids splashing the moms perched on the edge of the kiddy pool. The sounds of their laughter, their peace and perfection. Each one so different, so filled with God's light blinding my heart open again, clearing it out of anything shadowed, dusty. In my house yesterday, the fullness of this life was so present in the sound of two boys and a girl--friends at last. To accept the gift of a mother who trusts you with her most precious. This made me feel so good.
3. And Nora dances in the kitchen while I make sandwiches with the jam we made from scratch, and she's holding the butterfly magnets she painted with Grandma, doing a dance of life and transformation, the way she's metamorphosed in the love from all those folks who are her height.
4. She is in the laundromat tonight thinking of our prayer sharing. My hoping friends, I encourage you to ask what you can be praying for each other. When she first asked me that question (And what can I be praying for you?), it changed my life. And now, if you'd like, leave something here for me, and I will be praying for you, heart open and handing it to our Father who brings the rain and the sun and the friends you'll love forever. His gifts are real. Ask for them.
I love you, Lisa. I pray for inner peace for myself, for you, for all I love, and for every sentient being on this lovely earth.
ReplyDelete"His gifts are real. Ask for them." I love those words. I guess I have never thought about God's gifts as being real, or tangible, but so many of them are! Our friends and family, the sun, the rain, chocolate :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight!
Alisha
You didn't know how dry your well was until it was filled up again. So true for me too. Thankful for the friendship and the feeling of being home. Prayers for more aprong-clad fearlessness (in a God pleasing way, of course).
ReplyDelete:) Laundromats are wonderful places to pray... the dirty getting clean, the folding and sorting, the hanging to dry, each piece of clothes treated differently, because while some may be similar, we're all a little different.
ReplyDeleteThanks God, for friends. teach me to love them well... teach me to love them forever.