Come Pray with Me for 21 Days!
Come Pray With Me!
INTRODUCING PAM’S 5 MIN FOR 21 DAYS!
CURIOUS ABOUT PRAYER BUT DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START?
A Personal Story: The Rosary Gift
Recently I was at a family gathering and a favorite uncle who I haven’t seen in a few years called me to the side and said he had something for me. I watched as he reached deep into his pocket, I knew instantly what he was going pull out. In front of me sitting in the palm of his open hand was my grandmothers sparkling crystal rosary beads. Tears welled up in my eyes as he stuck his hand out and offered me this most precious gift. I waved at him to indicate that I needed a second to pull myself together. I took a few deep breaths and mouthed “thank you” to him as I patted my heart with my hand.
I have such vivid memories as a little girl of my grandmother holding her beads with her big soft white hands. In the weeks since, I have had flashes of memories of her in church, in the car or by her bed praying with them as she worked them with her fingers. She always kneeled by the side of the bed with her head bowed and eyes closed when she prayed. This seemed magical to me a little girl as I stood peering at her through the open doorway. I somehow I had a felt sense when I came upon her that this was a Holy moment, I would be super quiet until she winked at me and nodded for me to join her. I also remember that her rosaries were “off limits” and as generous as she was, I didn’t get to hold them very often. I wanted my own beads so badly. Once when I was visiting she gave me a cheaper rosary that came in a tiny little plastic box and had a folded up print of the Lords prayer on the inside of the lid. The beads were purple and white and I still have them some fifty years later. I keep them in my sacred space with some of my other favorite treasures. Getting my mom-mom’s rosary beads all these years later was a real gift from God. The timing was truly miraculous as I have been going through a difficult time in my life.
I believe that God sends us hope when we need it most. Sometimes we are so upset with people or situations that we can miss these miraculous blessings. I am so grateful for my intentional prayer life, as it has equipped me with the awareness to catch a moment of grace like this. We are often so caught up with our hurts and grief that hope could whiz right past our consciousness. That is the head space I was in the day my uncle gifted me with this precious gift from God—caught up in my head. Prayer often helps me move down into an awareness of my heart. The place where God dwells.
When I was able to collect myself, I reached out my hand and took the rosary from my uncle and tucked it into my coat pocket. I held them tight and then gently rolled my fingers over the beads as if they were a lifeline from God. My uncle said, “I knew how much you would love having these and I have been meaning to get them to you. It just didn’t feel right sending them in the mail, so here they are!”
The timing and delivery of the “rosary gift” was everything I needed in that moment. I was reminded that God was near and that has given me the strength and courage to face many of life’s ups and downs. Author Barbra Brown Taylor writes, “the only promise a prayer practice makes is to teach those who practice what they need to know—about being human, about being human with other people, about being human in creation, about being human before God.”
Perhaps God is prompting you to be more intentional about your prayer life or maybe you are wondering how you might move to a deeper awareness and understanding of the presence I mention in this story. I know for sure that we can enjoy and live in the light of God just like my grandmother did. This understanding helped me create time and space for payer in my life and it truly has made all the difference.
Faith is a way of life.
-Pam xx
Sign up and spend five minutes every morning with me for twenty-one days! You will be joining me in my personal quiet time as I share with you different ways to pray.
“The present moment holds infinite riches beyond your wildest dreams, but you will only enjoy them to the extent of your faith and love. To discover God in the smallest and most ordinary things, as well as in the greatest, is to possess a rare and sublime faith.”
~John Pierre de Caussade