Completion

With the fanfare accorded a job well well done, Sue Coates entered the Social Hall at noon today. Sue held the last slot in our 24/7 prayer week and a more enthusiastic participant could not have been found. Sue took her first slot yesterday after coming home from a vacation, then signed up for 4 am this morning, and again from 11 to noon.

There is too much to reflect upon, and I am too tired following our Pasta Lunch fundraiser to think. Please check back in a few days for some final thoughts. THANK YOU to everyone who participated and supported us through this week. THANK YOU college and high school students for a week of fun & prayer. THANK YOU Erik, Jane, Peggy & Colleen for saving us today.

Changing Guard

I just relieved West Valley student Andrew Kaiser, and then watched my buddy Kathy Demerit leave the prayer room as my buddies Jo Ann & Bob were entering. Here is the person who interviewd me for this job, followed by the people who remodeled the house in which I reside.

Perhaps the most exciting thing for me this morning is having slept over 5 hours straight through last night. Enough kids spent the night, a new member of the church did a second shift, and Kaiser picked up the slack to get me these gloriously refreshing hours of sleep. Unfortunately, this extra sleep does not add anything to my ability to reflect well at 7 am, so I will say adieu for now.

Only 28.25 hours left!

Carlo completes last shift

Carlo William Donald Hector, et al. Panighetti completed his 7th stint in the 24/7 prayer room of PCLG at 6 pm Friday June 2. Eclipsed only by yours truly, Carlo is a marathon prayer who recommends art and guitar to make your time with God extra-interactive.

"Somehow, I just thought melting candles onto paper would be cool," said Mr. Panighetti, "As it turns out, I'm right. And I think God agrees."

Friday June 2 also saw the participation of West Valley Presbyterian Church's own youth director, Brooke Maffia (akwardly pronounced "Broola Muffin" because of poor handwriting on the sign up sheet). If she can be quoted, and she can, it was "a breath of fresh air." Ms. Maffia went to school in Los Angeles, and thus the candlewax-laden air is considered "fresh" by her standards.

Less than 48 hours remain in our collective prayer journey and as this time comes to a close, I should share a reflection I had this afternoon while walking the small labyrinth rug. Basically, to get to the center of this rug, you've got to turn around a whole bunch of times. Similarly, if you want to get to God, or make him the center of your life, you've got to turn around (or repent, as it were) a whole bunch of times. There's just no getting around the fact that making God the center of our lives takes time, discipline, focus, and like walking a prayer rug that's too small, a decent sense of balance.

78 hours to go

A while back we crossed the halfway point and I was tempted to start sentimentalizing the experience the way high school seniors do when anything is "the last time we'll do x." Temptation denied, I'll try to continue doing so.

Today is the day where parents might be annoyed with me because of their kids' inability to sleep when amongst peers. We'll see how grouchy the late night crew is when I wake them up in 15 minutes. Actually, the test will be their interaction with parents after school.

I had a good chat with McFarland on the security check last night. The guy was reflecting on the goodness of what's been going on this week and how many different people we're bringing in on a common project in which they can connect with God for a short time, and also be part of this larger daisy-chain of prayers over the week. As I was thinking back on that this morning, I remembered that we're just continuing a daisy chain around the world that has been going on for almost ten years now. Not only that, in this week alone, we've joined at least 25 churches in prayer including churches in Zimbabwe, the Slovak Republic, and for one day, a house church in China (which, of course, left no contact information on the website).

Oh, I gotta go wake up the kiddies!

Another Night, Another Party

Thus far, the Hospitality suite has been a hustle of a bustle of energy in the evenings. Older kids come to pray/guard and don't leave once their shift is over. Right now, the party is back at the house and Brian and I are once again enjoying the company of each other's silent typing.

All unseriousness aside, this journey has been fantastic so far. People are leaving calm, blessed, joyful, incredulous at their time spent inside the prayer room.

Unfortunately, lack of sleep and overstimulation of people and God-time actually dims my reflection ability. That, and I'm already thinking about the next project because that's what I tend to do.

Tonight we have every hour covered by kids sleeping over, but it's a school night. The challenge is making them sleep obviously.

Brian has nothing in particular to report. Sorry.

Commentary

A selection from our community sign out journal:

"This experience made me realize I don't set aside enough time for God in my life. Letting God take control of my problems and concerns helped me to relax and relieve stress."

"There is not enough silence in my world..."

"I give thanks to my new family: PCLG."

"'Be still and know that I am God' One of the hardest things to do nowadays but if we're never still, if we never stop, then we'll never know God, will we?"

Bedtime for Bozo

After pulling an all nighter in the prayer room and then having my staff meeting, I am ready for some Zs. Robin so graciously drove back from the North Bay to be a hospitality guru, and people are signed up all day long. Yay. A super long nap is coming my way.

Last night: Awesome.

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place

Almost 24 hours into our weeklong prayer vigil, and themes are beginning to develop. For those unfamiliar with long bouts of silence or at least some quiet time, an easy connection with God in this place leads to the revelation that God really is easy to talk to, and worth spending time with. For those this morning, words and phrases are key touchstones for their hours. Joy, vision and guidance have been those key words so far today. Where are we going? Only the wind of the spirit knows.

I decided we ought to have a common thread each day, a theme of prayer if you will. Acknowledging that if there is are any survivors still buried in rubble, they better be pulled out today, the prayer theme is for the final rescue attempt following the earthquake in Indonesia.

According to the 24/7 website, 16 prayer rooms in six countries are praying right now. We're part of something huge!

In other news, Carlo P and David S.W. will be completing the recording of their first CD today. The pre-production buzz going through the youth group music gliterati is quite positive.