Prayer Meeting

Today’s after church event was our monthly prayer meeting. Our church is divided up into approximately 6 prayer groups and each month, generally on the 3rd Sunday of the month we have prayer meetings in our homes. This month we’re having a Head of Household’s meeting on the 3rd Sunday, so we had the prayer meetings today, instead.\par
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Although I initially wasn’t crazy about going to prayer meetings – the request time could be an hour long, followed by an hour long prayer, sometimes – I have begun to really enjoy them. For one thing, since I’m generally walking around with one of the boys, the prayer doesn’t seem quite so long. And we’re in a different prayer group right now with a lot of families with small children, so few people tend to wax lengthy in their prayers. But mostly I find that it is a perfect opportunity to fellowship with other church members who live in our general area of Portland. It’s so easy not to talk to somebody for months at a time at church – you’re busy with your kids, they’re busy with theirs, and if you don’t sit together at the meal – well, you might say “Hi” as you pass in a hallway, but that’s about it. But when we meet once a month we keep our fingers on the pulses of other local families – who’s going to be out of town, who’s having difficulties with stubborn toddlers, who’s feeling the February lag in home schooling, who has mid-terms. The prayers are good just because they’re prayers, of course, but also because it helps you to realize that you’re part of a community of believers, and that we all have problems as we dance this crazy dance of life. Hmmm. Waxing poetic here. Anyway, it’s a wonderful tradition in our church and I hope to someday be a grandma at a prayer meeting with my grandchildren – what a blessing that would be!