God is there.

At a meeting yesterday, I was asked to participate in a guided meditation around prayer. We were told to think about a time that we were in prayer and felt the presence of God. They challenged us to go back to that place in our minds and try to feel what we felt at the time. All I felt was like I had developed a multiple-personality disorder. Three different images were battling for space in my meditative attempts.

First, I thought about the Church of the Sacred Heart in Paris, France. I remember walking in there after a wonderful day of sight-seeing. I was tired and excited, thankful and slightly overwhelmed. David and I had stopped in to pray and there, above my head, was the mosaic of the sacred heart of Christ. I have never felt so instantly peaceful. Surely God was in this place, at this exact moment, because holding my hand was the man I was spending the rest of my life with. God was there in my happiness.

The second picture wrestling for a place was the hay field on my grandparent's farm. It was my childhood "praying spot". I went there after my parents told me they were getting divorced. I remember the way the hay smelled, the sound of the birds, and the feel of sun shining down on me. God was there in my fear and uncertainty.

Finally, I pictured myself in the front seat of a car with the windows down and the radio cranked to an unhealthy volume. The make and model of the car change with the years and the song playing can be anything from U2 to Andrew Lloyd Weber, from Amy Grant to the Palmer choir. It's where I go when I am mad: about fighting the school system for the rights of my special needs child, or my husband's job, or the cat that just threw up on my sofa. This week, my music choice is Nicole C. Mullins and while she sings, I am made more aware of His presence. God is there in my anger.

Now go and read Psalm 139 and join me in thinking about all the times and all the ways God has shown you that he is there. Share some of them with your children and help them to be more aware of God's presence in all their own moments.

Peace and Love, Robyn