Prayers for Ukraine (Lisa)

A few nights ago, we spent our first night sleeping downstairs in our daughter Claire’s room. Her dad made a new bed that fits so nice in her little room. It feels good to be in here. We slept for many years on a sleeper sofa next to her and have missed being down here.

It was very hard taking her hospital bed down and so that first night as we readied for sleep, I prayed to Claire to come to me and she did not fail me.

I dreamt we were in her room and I heard her laughing. It filled me with such joy just to hear her. I called out, Pat! We have to bring her in here! She has to see this! as I watched in amazement, at the dozens of seagulls laughing and reeling, swooping and playing just outside her windows.

I awoke smiling. It felt as if she not only saw the gulls but that she put them there. She was telling me she was already in the room, in my life, in it all. She is the gulls. She is unfettered joy.

Lately I spend a good deal of time in her room painting- my unfettered joy. I have been thinking and praying over peace in Ukraine so I painted the Ukrainian flag as fields of grain, fields of peace under blue eyed skies. The flock of gulls in the distance just appeared as I skid my palette knife across the canvas. So, I put a little person in the distance walking towards them. She is peace and joy. My Claire.

Dear LORD,

Thank you for the blue skies that follow the rain. Thank you for the hope it brings for this day. I like to think of my Claire’s unblinking infinitely blue eyes looking down on us on cloudless days such as these. So, I pray to Claire today too.

Dear sweet girl,

I am praying for all of us but especially the people of Ukraine today. They need your hope Claire, we all do, hope you woke with every day, as if you knew no other way. Your hope brought you to joys of both big and small varieties. Abundant gratitude followed. Like a chain of events…hope… then joy… then gratitude…that led to knowing there is even more…hope…joy…gratitude…on and on.

Help us to know the same unfettered, unbridled HOPE, ridiculous HOPE that resides in us as it did in you. We thank you Lord for it all. Help us open our eyes to this blue eyed sky day and begin the chain of events, hope, joy, gratitude again and again and again.

Amen