Family: Thursday- Morning Prayer

Thursday mornings on Malcomb Street start early! When my alarm went off at 6:50 am, I woke in a confusion. I waited a little while till I heard someone else stirring in the house before turning my lamp on and pulling back the sheets. Finally, I stumbled into the living room and met my housemates for morning prayers. 

We always read Psalm 51, a Gospel passage, and another psalm or favorite passage. Then we share updates on folks we're praying for, burdens we carry, hopes we have. And we pray together. We pray for each other. In the early morning, we lift our hearts, minds, and bodies to our Lord and in that outpouring pledge ourselves to Jesus and one another and to the people he is helping us to love. 

Some friends are recovering from a long life on the streets. We're struggling to learn to give dignity in friendship and wisdom in help. Others are making the same mistakes over and over. It's hard to love without hindering growth by enabling. We're learning as a household and family to open our hearts deeply to one another and walk together in the Holy Spirit. I'm learning that when we ask for miracles of restoration from on high what we often get as an answer to our prayer are sweet struggling souls shown grace to walk with. We get an invitation to give and receive in relationships that in God's steady timing bring the freedom and joy of maturity. 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. He still does become flesh. Slow to rise, sleepy, stumbling flesh. Praying, listening, Holy Spirit sustained flesh. We're learning to be the Body of Christ. 

P.S. Our friend Maddie Smith is visiting this week. She's been living in Paraguay for the past year with the Peace Corps. When prayers were done and we saw Abbye and Jeff off on their bike-ride to work, we all cooked breakfast together. We talked about simple good things like favorite fruits and good bacon (I don't mind spending a little extra for good bacon). We've been glad to have Maddie visiting for a few days!