i WONDER what she PrayEd

As you sat helpless in the chair
     Your eyes greeting everyone who walked into the room
      Ears straining to identify all who came to the door
           An active mind, trapped in an uncooperative
fading body marked by the rough passage of time

I saw you

I saw you and thought
       while your daughter made soap and jam
       canned jars of jelly
       trooping through the countryside to create the farm
                     gather the chickens
                     growing the memories of who you once were
to show you her overwhelming love

I saw you and thought
         as I listened to the stories
         of road trips from New York City
         two little girls who kept you chasing them
                      down the dirt lanes in countryside North Carolina
and the grown-up grief stinking of broken relationships
       bitter berries of an unforgotten youth

of the empty places around your bed just before the sunset

I saw you on that day and listened
          to tales told of long ago
              lives you lived
                  hearts you touched
 and tears needing to be caught as they all came just in time to catch
        a glimpse of the gathering twilight

and I wondered what you prayed as you were a silent witness to the your life
   slipping away

because they all heard it

ABBA DADDY

Abba Daddy,

What a precious gift You gave us when You gave us Your Son Jesus Christ! How glorious, wonderful, fabulous, and amazing is Your love!!!! Thank You for today. Thank You for the gifts it contains and thank You mostly for Your ongoing presence in it. There has never been and never will be anybody quite like You. You are One of  Kind, the Pearl of Great Price, and all majesty, honor, glory, go to You and You alone. Even as You said to Abraham long ago, I hear You speaking to us yet again, "Fear not, I am your Shield, your abundant compensation, and your reward shall be exceedingly great." We pause to reflect on this truth God and what it means for You to be both our shield and abundant compensation. Our reward is found in You and the gracious and merciful love You showed that day on Calvary as You gave Your One and Only Son for us.

We declare because You are with us we will be afraid of nothing! Because You are for us and are the Creator of the Universe, we place absolute trust in Your unfailing love, unwavering faithfulness, and steadfast unconquerable strength as the Shield surrounding us. Thank You so much for the abundance You grant us to the extreme and we ask only for You to give us wisdom to faithful stewards with what You grant us. LORD GOD, in You we find the exceeding great reward You promise. May the eyes of heart be open to perceive it and the longings within us find satisfaction in the reward of You and You alone.

In Jesus' name, we ask all of this...even as our hearts overflow with love and gratitude to You, amen.

adapted from Genesis 15:1 AMP The Complete Personalized Promise Bible