10 days to Go

I've been unmotivated and offline for the better part of the last two-three weeks. There hasn't been a blog entry since day 7 and we're now pushing day 30. Of course I've participated in the vigil during that time, but find that blogging doesn't provide for recuperation in the same way that laying on the couch does. :) It seems to be taking longer to recover from the late nights or early mornings than it did last year.

Enough about me.

For the most part the last few weeks have been uneventful in terms of neighborhood visitors. The weather has been cold, rainy and snowy which cuts down on sidewalk traffic tremendously. I have had the opportunity to pray at the building in the early morning hours. It was as refreshing as Kyle described in his blog entry a few weeks back.

I awoke at 4:30 to a sky filled with large beautiful white flakes. I ended up being alone at the building from 5-7a on that Saturday morning. There was virtually no road traffic or sidewalk traffic. I needed a prayer partner (where two or more are gathered.....). I was reminded of a recent blog I'd read about guardian angels, so I called on my Guardian Angel to pray with me. At night there are noise, music, shouts and distractions and we manage powerful prayer despite those things. But those early morning hours are a peaceful time and despite the lack of corporal companionship, I never felt alone.

When I go there I've recently bore the image in my mind of a woman entering the building. She's got a child in her womb. A child who could one day laugh as my boys laugh. I hear the voice of that child telling her mother, "I love you Mom." I see a child chasing butterflies and running through a sprinkler.........But then the woman leaves the building. Like a bubble popping at the slightest touch, the image of the child is no more. The woman leaves alone. Childless. This image has been haunting me a bit while I'm there and I offer it up to God.

I pray the woman who enters that building would be struck by a similar image of their child. I pray that it haunts her and drives her to leave posthaste. I pray that if they do stay that she one day seeks the healing she desperately needs. I pray that she finds the peace of God's presence I found on that Saturday morning. We are never alone.