bears and prayers

It was a last minute ride this evening...around the church parking lot.  My only company was the feral cats.  They were cute, and I'm glad none of the black ones crossed my path. 

I always get worried when the phone rings on a Sunday morning...rarely is it someone who cannot come to church ;) This morning's call was from a woman whose 3 year-old granddaughter was just diagnosed with leukemia this morning.  Ugh.  The little girl was admitted to Riley Children's Hospital early this morning, has already had a blood transfusion and awaits bone marrow work tomorrow.  Our congregation makes teddy bears to give to children at Riley...and once a year we get the completed bears and bless them before sending them up.  This morning, as part of the children's message, I invited the kids to the middle of the sanctuary and they held the bear and the rest of the congregation laid hands on us as we all blessed the bear sending our prayers for Kenley, her family, and all who love her.  So many times in worship we speak, pray, or sing in unison...and the voices are all together.  But as we blessed the bear (in true children's message fashion) I said a line, and everyone repeated after me.  The voices were so in sync and so strong.  There was some sense of urgency and concern coming from the congregation that at this moment, today...all that we could do for Kenley was pray for her.  I'm sure there will be times in the future that will allow more hands on ways to show our love and support for the family, but today it was prayer.  An amazingly, powerful experience. 

We are not at a point where we celebrate communion weekly, but today was a communion service...which was the physical reminder of all that God has done for us, with all that we've been through. 

After a wonderfully busy weekend with very little sleep, in combination with an emotional morning, I took a solid 2 hour nap this afternoon.  I remember dreaming, that's how out I was. 

Here's hoping I'm ready for the rest of the week.  While I would love to see who is the better 'Manning'...I may just have an early night. 

Until tomorrow...