Photo credit: ~Esther Havens ~
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I don't pray for happiness all the time, I know that is an unrealistic expectation. Happy all the time feels fake and unattainable to me. That is probably why I
I don't even pray to feel content all the time. The sorrows and injustice of this world always leave a certain discontentment. That is a discontentment I am willing to walk in continually, I want to be troubled by the atrocities.
Now that I have reached the old age of forty, I don't pray for an easy road with a lack of conflict, hardship, or failures. I have learned that with each conflict, hardship, and failure I am able to learn more about myself and so much more about God. This better prepares me for the next conflict, hardship, mistake or failure. We are all drawn most to those that have suffered and failed and are honest about it, their unusual grace is like a magnet. I don't think that level of grace comes free, it costs something. An easy road would be nice, but understanding and empathizing with authenticity about the heartache of others is actually very nice too.
"How can we pray for you?" is a question we are often asked. We ask that those of you that pray would pray for us what I am guessing we might all want prayed ...
...That is, let us pray that we will (all) have strength, endurance, courage, and a sense of humor to lighten the load. May we grasp tightly to an unrelenting hope and may we have an unusual ability to always see the best in people while we try (and sometimes fail) to love them as we want to be loved.
-t.p.l.
