Last Thursday was my daughter's 14th birthday. I have been preoccupied lately and when Hannah's birthday reached out and grabbed me by the throat (!), I was unprepared. That is an understatement.
Hannah's birthday had been celebrated with friends the previous weekend, yet we still seek to make a big deal on the actual day. So, Thursday began okay. Birthday breakfast as a family - check. Treat packed for school lunch - check. Plans for a friend coming over that night for a sleepover (crazy, right?) - check. The birthday intentionality started to fade towards late afternoon. The plan was to watch a cross country meet of Micah's. Oh, right....not the most fun for a girl who cannot run due to a hip fracture. The meet is delayed; we wait around, grumbling. Birthday girl begins a query into the rest of the evening.
"Oh, yeah, remember what we talked about Hannah? Chick-fil-A and Prayer & Praise tonight, then Emily comes over."
Um, 14 year olds apparently don't feel celebrated over fried chicken and praying at church. Strange, I know. Our birthday tradition is always a special dinner at home, family members taking multiple turns saying what we love or admire in the celebrated one. Followed by decadent dessert. Not this birthday: The five of us are sandwiching Chick-fil-A between cross country meet and swimming for Andy and Eva and prayer night for me, Hannah and Micah. Oh, this day...
5:45 pm - Driving over to the meet, hurt feelings emerge. Adding to disappointment is stress over unfinished homework and studying. Pastor Tim Kirk frequently points out that discipleship is a series of hard conversations. Commence Hard Conversation: I confess to Hannah that I have blown it with her birthday; I have put my needs and concerns first. I ask her to forgive me. She does. Hannah requests that we skip Prayer & Praise. Hard Conversation, Part Two: No, I am compelled for us to go (truth be told - I am questioning whether the Lord is really compelling me or if I am merely being stubborn).
6:15 pm - The meet finishes; we divide into two cars for a pit stop at Chick-fil-A before going our separate ways. I point the minivan south on Keystone and speed towards Main Street. I am beseeching the Lord silently to redeem this day but am skeptical.
Oh ye of little faith.
7 pm - At church, Hannah and I settle into our seats in a back row. Micah chooses the front row, slurping a Blow Pop he was given at the XC meet. (This is keepin' it real, people!) A passage of Scripture that was chosen is one that I can just blow right by and miss. Luke 11 finds Jesus answering his disciple who says, "Lord, teach us to pray!" Jesus talks to them about a man with a need who persists with his friend until he gets what he is after. He talks about a father whose son asks for food - a father would never give his son something harmful, but instead something good. And in between, Jesus instructs his followers to be persistent: Ask! Seek! Knock! "For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened."
At 7:30 pm, we divide up into smaller groups to pray. I ask Hannah to pray with me outside and she consents but first seeks a friend to bring along. Coming up empty, she tentatively walks with me, outside. We have just read how Jesus has sent his followers out into the world. So, Hannah and I pray for those people and places to whom and where we have been sent. We pray for specific school friends, for teachers, for coaches, and for other moms and daughters. Persisting in prayer with my oldest daughter on her birthday- knowing she is sacrificing her desires to do so - what a birthday blessing. My heart is full. I am so thankful for a persistent God who gives good gifts to his children, and who gives his very "Spirit to those who ask him."
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