ELEPHANT PRAYERS

it's autumn. my absolute favorite time of the year. jeans. sweaters. boots.

this morning the kids and i headed out to church.  our energy level was high as we headed toward the oceanfront.  these kids MAKE ME LAUGH.  and they were in RARE FORM today.

we pulled in the parking lot at church, greeted by a tall, middle-aged gentleman wearing khaki pants and a plaid button down shirt.  carson was CONVINCED it was mitt romney.  which made me laugh out loud for real.  he wanted his autograph.  i wanted him to be quiet.  lol.

we sat in the balcony, back row.  this is best for everyone.  trust me.  the boys are well behaved.  REALLY THEY ARE.  but they don't want to go to kid church and prefer to stay in 'big' church with me.  i'm fine with that.  but if they were sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, you might not be.  lol.

anyhow, this is still a relatively new church for us.  i'm enjoying the mix of old & new.  but some of the 'old' comes with things i'm not used to.  like a bulletin.  an order of worship.  it's nice.  i like it.  but, again, not fully accustomed to it yet and there is a reason that i'm sharing that.

at some point during the teaching jordan needed lip gloss.  i handed her a tube that i had gotten from sephora as a free birthday gift.  it's not what she is used to and it went on gloppy.  jordan doesn't do gloppy.  so i looked for a piece of paper for her to blot her gloppy lips on.  i handed her an insert from the bulletin.  a bit later, the pastor told everyone to take out their (whatever it's called).  which happened to be the insert.  which happened to have her big ol' lip prints on it.  and i mouthed to her 'we're going to hell.'  and she just laughed.

i'm contemplating framing this baby.  it makes me laugh.

anyhow...for what it's worth, the teaching was on the priority of prayer.  

i JUST had a conversation this week with a friend about praying.  how sometimes you find yourself praying prayers that God must just scratch his head over...like, seriously?????  you think i'm going to answer THAT????  you wonder if it's best to just leave them unspoken, un-prayed.  but the reality is that HE KNOWS WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE YOUR HEAD, INSIDE YOUR HEART anyhow.  there's no hiding.  so you might as well be real and just fess up, right?

and that's where i've been lately.  going for long walks, allowing myself to just utter everything and anything and know that God isn't shocked.  but they certainly have not been the kind of prayers that would get you a gold sticker at the local women's prayer group.  lol.

i've struggled just a bit with that.  

but this morning, part of the text was from ephesians 6:18.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

as the pastor was talking, i may or may not have been a little distracted at one point...this happens when you have three weirdos sitting on your right hand side (they belong to me.  i'm allowed to call them names)...anyhow i heard the pastor say GOD DOESN'T WANT YOUR ELEPHANT PRAYERS...

which brought me back to the moment and i realized he was ACTUALLY saying GOD DOESN'T WANT YOUR ELOQUENT PRAYERS.

which is equally encouraging to me.  because i don't have elephant OR eloquent prayers.

i DO present ALL KINDS OF PRAYERS AND REQUESTS.  lol.  and i left feeling a little bit better...knowing that the God of this universe knows what's in my heart, he knows what's on my mind, and he's TOTALLY okay with me sharing it with him.   if i can't be honest with HIM, then seriously there's no hope. 

and while ELEPHANTS NEVER FORGET, i'm thankful that God DOES forgive AND forget.  there's hope for me yet.

we did a post-church trip to the beach starbucks and ran into my buddy, the banjo guy.  the dude can sing.  he pretty much told jordan to brace herself...because if she thought that her mother was weird, there's no hope for her.  the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  such wisdom from a man who clearly needs my fashion help.  lololol.