Whispers

The last 24 hours have been full of whispers – little things, blowing by my face, and sending tingles down my spine.

A deep awareness of Jesus keeping company with me.

Here are some snippets from the day…

I’m really thankful right now for the women in my life. I never thought I’d say that. Mostly, though I love hanging out with my girlfriends, when it comes to the intellectual and spiritual conversations I’ve really been interested in, they haven’t happened very often with women. (Perhaps because in the world I grew up in, the sphere of the women was almost always primarily the home and children – and while I know the importance of that, I haven’t wanted or needed to occupy that sphere to this point in my life). When it comes to words that have challenged or encouraged me through the years to go deeper with the Lord, they have generally come from men. That has slowly begun to shift in the last while. At the end of September, I sat on the floor of a friend’s home in the mountains with two other dear friends as we prayed and talked about the restoration/redemption (can’t remember the exact words we used) of the feminine. Another friend – a guy – joined us and prayed that very thing over the three of us sitting close together on the floor.

I’ve been sick all week, and yesterday was no exception. I found myself asking if I would really have the strength and energy to follow through on hosting people in my home for 24 hours of prayer this weekend, when I’d hardly eaten or slept all week. Over the course of the day yesterday, I received unexpected emails from two separate friends – women in two other towns near Calgary, who spoke words to me that deeply encouraged my soul. Another friend on the other side of the country (with whom I chat pretty much daily) also wrote to remind me of some truths, and to tell me she was praying with and for me. I’m thankful for these three beautiful women that Jesus has brought into my life. I’m thankful for their words of encouragement in the moments when I felt so low. I’m thankful for the joy and smiles they bring to face and to my heart.

Kirk wrote a blog post yesterday that sent shivers down my spine and whispers past my ears. You can find it here.

Two of the youth girls from church came over last night to help me transform my living room into a prayer space for the weekend. Amid much laughter we covered two walls of my house in paper, and established various prayer stations around the room. You can come and curl up with a blanket on my couch, a book, and a bible. You can come and paint. You can come and write your prayers on my walls (and the back of my bookcase, and across the tops of my dining room table, coffee table, and end tables). You can come and sip tea and coffee, or take communion alone or with friends. There is a large space with a map of the world, and fact sheets on 15 or so different countries that our church, or myself, or my friends have connections to – you can come and pray for the nations. You can plop yourself down on throw cushions stationed around the room and just be. You can light candles or incense. You can play worship music on the stereo, and dance if you so desire. (I’ve taken pictures – I’ll probably put some before and after ones up at some point this weekend). I had such fun with these two young women, watching them work together to paper the walls while I worked on other projects. Listening to their crazy jokes, and laughing at the way they interacted with each other. And tonight, I’m looking forward to praying for and with each one of them.

I went to bed, and slept, though not well. But here’s the thing – I woke something like five times in the six hours between when I turned out my lights and when my alarm went off, and I had some dreams in between (I’ve been dreaming all week again) and yet, I wasn’t disturbed, or fearful the way I would usually be. Each time I woke, I knew the presence of Jesus, and talked with him – asking his presence and mercies for each person who crosses my doorstep over this weekend of prayer, asking for his strength as I go about the days. He was there, holding me, and I was aware of it, and in the midst of it I was aware so deeply of what a blessing that really is.

And now, as I sit at my desk and realize that I should probably stop blogging and get to work (slow day – I can actually afford the time to clear my thoughts before I dig into the work stuff today), I am still so deeply aware of the presence of Jesus. And I’m thankful for the friends around the province and country who have written to tell me that they’re joining with us in prayer this weekend from a distance, and for the friends who have written to tell me that they’re going to come and fill an hour or two in my house over the next days.

See you around!