Kicking things off...

It's just about midnight Friday night here. Most of you will read this sometime on Friday during the day I would think - maybe Friday evening. How funny is that? I already know how Friday is going to look because it's 20 minutes from ending, and you're still in the midst of it.

Tomorrow at noon the prayer room opens. We're going to gather as a team for communion, and to pray together and celebrate the opening. Later, at 7, we'll gather again for worship and community prayer - we're expecting quite the crowd for that event. Then, down into the nitty-gritty of filling time slots and covering 13 straight days around the clock with prayer.

I'm excited - a few finishing touches tomorrow, and then we're there. Just the little "atmosphere" things - candles, final decorations.

Kari and I are covering the night shift on Sunday. So, with some combination of sleeping and waking, we'll fill the hours from midnight to 7 am, then drag ourselves out to catch a 7:30 bus back to our hosts home and catch some sleep. We're excited to do it though. Before coming, we had both toyed with the idea of letting the night shifts slide if no one expressed interest. We realized, though, that we were willing to let them slide because we really didn't want to do them. So, we've decided to do at least one, and probably two together. 3 and a half hours or so alone with God in the middle of the night - intense but so good.

I'm actually feeling pretty tired right now. Jet lag has worn off, I'm settled, and the exhaustion from the people and things I've carried so deeply these last six months or so has begun to surface. It's taking time and tears and long conversations, and moments of just sitting, and journal entries to slowly release them into the atmosphere and allow myself to be fully present here.

Lord, help me to be present here. Be present with me.

I'm finishing each day with the last several verses of Psalm 91 - promises that have become so deep and real to me over the course of these last months. Promises I need to remind myself of here.

"Because she loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue her."
"I will protect her, for she acknowledges my name."
"She will call upon me and I will answer her."
"I will be with her in trouble."
"I will deliver her and honor her."
"With long life will I satisfy her, and show her my salvation."
(Psalm 91:14-16 - with personalized pronouns courtesy of Dana!)