Prayer Partners

Jer and I signed up for 'Leadership Boot Camp' - a 3 month journey with some others in the church, lead by the Lead Pastor. Along with the classes, there are some outside assignments that we need to do, including writing our testimonies, reading some books, and meeting with a prayer partner twice a week. All this is on top of the current busyness I am already experiencing - work, school, youth group, homework, housework, sleep... so it wasn't a small thing to take on.

I saw the roster for the class and felt like I was supposed to ask Jane Palmer to be my prayer partner. She is the mom of one of our senior boys, and she also leads a ministry for single mothers called 'MOMS'. We have had a few conversations in our 2 1/2 years at Faith, and she has always struck me as a very humble, intentional, caring person. What more could you ask for in a prayer partner?

Jane and I meet twice weekly - once on the phone (typically on my drive home from my Monday night class) and then once in person. We talk about our challenges, what we are struggling with, where we are seeing God moving, and just learning to love others well. Jane and I have both been so blessed by this relationship - the Lord often using one of us to speak to or affirm the other.

Last Sunday, Jer and I went to the Palmer's for brunch after church. We ate with the family and then spent time sharing funny stories of dating, growing up and personal habits. I'm sure we could have done that forever, but His love really shines through when we are intentional in inviting Him into the conversation. As Jane and I were preparing to pray, I was sharing with her the two options that God seems to have opened up for us: STORM and Chapel Hill. I held out my hands and said 'God has these two things, these two great things, and we are trying to see which one the Lord is leading us to.' And that is when Jane stopped me and said 'Keri, I see you holding out these two hands... and I want you to know that the Lord will bless whichever one you choose. Sometimes we try so hard to figure out which one is THE one, when both options have been provided by Him.' So as we continue to seek the Lord's will for our next season, I'm realizing that He will, and is, taking care of us, and that we don't have to do anything extra, anything special, anything outside the ordinary, except have faith that He will be faithful.