Yes, I failed to post yesterday. The weekend men's retreat for which I was one of two spiritual directors, kept us up late at night and up early in the mornings. By the time I got home last night, emptied my suitcase and my duffle bag full of props, my body was about as fried as my brain, so I just went to bed, very thankful for what we saw God doing in the lives of the men over the last 48 hours.
Tonight at our men's Bible study, Rell, one of the men who attended the retreat related how one of the men at his table was someone he had known years ago. He was surprised at seeing him at a Christian retreat, something that apparently wouldn't have happened years before. This man was now a deacon at his church, and before the week was over, he asked Rell to pray for his brother's salvation. Rell related how he had prayed for this man's salvation years before, and now he was asking for Rell's prayers for his brother. We began to call out names of men for whom we have been praying. Pastor Joe then reminded us that while we need to pray individually, we need also to pray together, and to follow our prayers with our witness. Before the evening was over, we had a list of about twenty men for whom we committed to pray. It was a moving evening that I needed. There are three men for whom I've been praying for some time, but I have to confess that my prayers have been sporadic. Tonight, I gained a prayer band of about fifteen men before whom I am accountable. I'm not instantly a better man than I was before tonight's Bible study, so I won't promise that I'll never forget as I have done too often before, but I now have a team praying with me.
I am offering my prayers for these men tonight before I sleep. And I am determined to look diligently for the opportunities I know God will give me to speak Christ to them. Two years ago, I started my daily discipline of gratitude due to the writings of Ann Voskamp, the author of the book "1,000 Gifts." She had developed a calendar with three daily suggestions of things for which to give thanks. Occasionally, the calendar had an entry entitled "hard eucharistos," which was her term for those experiences in life that we'd as soon avoid, but which are God's gifts designed to draw us to himself, develop our character, and often are the vehicles for our witness in the world. I've been impressed with how our teenagers stand so boldly for Christ before their peers. I've never found that easy. Talking to church people is easy for me; I've done it my entire life. Speaking to friends and neighbors about Christ is hard for me. I am grateful tonight for our men's Bible study; for the challenge and support we give each other to fully become the men God has called us to be.
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