Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Sunday, 22 June 2014 "Prayer Tip"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Sunday, 22 June 2014 "Prayer Tip"
Prayer Tip:
Recently, my husband Scott and I climbed to the top of Observation Peak at Zion National Park. It was a four mile uphill hike on rocky terrain and switchbacks. I needed to stop every so often to catch my breath, and I needed a walking stick for support. There were times that I really wanted to quit and turn around, but I didn't because I received encouragement from fellow sojourners who told me how close I was to the top. The experience of this journey along with our sermon series on work has given me opportunity to pause and reflect on my own personal vocational journey.  
First, a calling doesn't necessarily have to lead to ordination. My daughter Kacie frequently tells me that serving as a cardiac ICU nurse makes her feel like she is doing the work of Jesus, because she is serving those who can do very little for themselves. In addition to my deep love and calling for pastoral ministry, I have been called to jobs that do not bear the stamp of ordination, such as baby sitting, scooping ice cream, customer service, motherhood, teaching in the public school system and as an adjunct professor.  On the other hand, I have worked at jobs to which I was clearly not called, such as retail sales, waitressing and typing.  My journey has been marked with successes and failures, highs and lows, joys and sorrows.
Second, my journey has been consistently marked by faith. Sometimes the encouraging words of fellow sojourners have strengthened my faith and sometimes even by blind faith. On July 1, I will be transitioning out of Church of the Resurrection, and with faith as my walking stick, moving toward something to which God is calling, but I can’t quite see the top yet.  Thomas Merton wrote a prayer that I keep framed in my bathroom so that I can see it every morning when I wake up. I’ve shared this prayer with you before, but I think that it is fitting to repeat:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that
I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am
actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for You are ever with me,
and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Thank you for allowing me to journey with you through the GPS, exploring the mystery of prayer.  If you would like to stay in touch, my new email is revnancypauls@gmail.com.
I will conclude with words of Margaret Silf from her prayer book "Wayfaring."
"I would like to wish you a safe journey along these Gospel roads, but 'safety' is not always compatible with the ways of God or with the adventure of prayer.  And so I wish you, instead, a graced, and a joyful journey through the darkness and the light, the rock faces and the mountain-top wonderment."
And let it be so.(Nancy Pauls, Pastor of Prayer)
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