Wish for Prayers

When I was a senior in high school, (fifteen g.d. years ago!) I was really involved with the youth group at a local church. I met my closest friends there who have become like sisters to me. I also met people who would become partners in ministry that I would come to love and respect greatly. One such person was a woman I'll call Liv (for confidentiality reasons). Liv was a pretty cool chick. She was creative, outspoken, committed, and unconventional. She was a few years younger than me, but I may have looked up to her more than she did to me because I respected her unique style and natural beauty. Live dated a guy on an off in high school who was equally as cool. They both had an affinity for fusing the punk scene and Christianity. They truly seemed like they were made for each other. Over the years I kept in touch off an on, and during college I ended up working with Liv doing urban ministry kind of stuff. Liv ended up marrying her high school sweet heart and they moved out of state to pursue college ministry. We have exchanged newsletters, e-mails sporadically, and have supported each other either financially or prayerfully or both, over they years. I don't know them super well, but there is something about their partnership in something bigger that has kept them in my thoughts. I recently received an e-mail that Liv's 31 year old brother was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness and has been given literally weeks to live. In the email they shared that Liv's brother has been anything but kind to himself over the years and is paying harshly for a life of poor decision making. In the email Liv's brother petitioned prayer from friends and family, and shared with great humility and vulnerability her brother's painful struggle with addiction. She also enclosed a photo of the two of them. I hear a lot of bad news in typical day, and most of the time I just try to block it out or I figure out if there is something I can do about it and I try to do it. In this case though, I just couldn't help but feel really broken hearted for Liv's brother, and family. Hearing their plea for prayer was really hard to ignore. The problem for me though is that I can't pray right now. I am in the midst of a pretty unexpected and slightly problematic (for a seminary student) bout of doubt. After reading the email though, I wanted to do something, but what else is there to do if you don't pray? You do the next best thing, you ask other people to pray. The irony is rich, I know. If I have enough faith to believe that someone else's prayers mean something, why would I think mine wouldn't? It's so bizarre. But it is what it is. Anyway, I literally sent out a mass email to friends and family explaining the situation my friends are in and of course, I asked them to pray. I must have sent the email to about 50 people. A couple of days go by and I get an e-mail from my grandmother. My grandmother is close to 80 years old. She has limited use of the right side of her body because of Multiple Sclerosis, and she recently had invasive heart surgery. Somewhere, between healing from surgery, going for her daily swim, and praying the Rosary, she found the time to send me an e-mail. This is what she wrote: "



"I always pray for those suffering from any kind of addiction... I will continue to pray for Liv and her brother. It's the saddest thing in the world when folks sufferfrom addictions. Hopefully they'll find God in their lives also. Life is sure filled with painful situations. I am home two weeks after spending six weeksbetween hospital and nursing home. I'm on the mend and went to Church today for the Good Friday Service on my second day out; the first was for a doctor'sappointment... Well my dear, Grandpap just about has dinner ready; he made salmon... which we love. I'll have to close for now; I'll be in touch in between physical and occupational therapists coming to the house, Happy Easter and lots of love, Grandma.



My Grandma barely has the use of her right hand yet she types me an email (which she taught herself to do over the past few years) to tell me that she is praying for my friends, and I know she is, faithfully! She is in pain, she is not able to do the things she wants to do in life, yet she finds time to selflessly lift up the struggles of people she doesn't even know, and she does this every single day. I seriously do not know anyone like her. I often wish that I had the kind of prayer life my grandma has. Not just the prayer life, but the ability to believe that it makes a difference. I just don't have that, which admittedly is pretty difficult. I am so much stronger than my grandma (physically) and I have more opportunities, education, and academic accomplishments than my grandma will ever know, but somehow I look at her at think that she has for more than I will ever have. Heres to wishes for prayers like hers.