Invitation to Prayer

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).

We See a Gardener"Risen Lord,
so often encountered,
so seldom recognized,
you meet us in the gardens of our hearts,
on the lonely roads of our lives,
our empty beaches, and greet us.

But in our blindness,
we mistake you for someone else.

Through our tears, we see a gardener;
in our weariness and wariness, a stranger.

But you call us back to ourselves.

Forgive us our hard-heartedness,
our lack of understanding.

Open our eyes and our ears to you,
wherever you are found,
and give us grace to love you with abandon,
to throw ourselves into your service,
as Mary threw herself at your feet,
as Peter threw himself into the sea.
Amen."

- by Ms. Jennifer Heckart

Women's Uncommon Prayers
Edited by Elizabeth R. Getz, Marjorie A. Burke and Ann Smith

A message from Chris Laufer, Coordinator, Faces of Children

Greetings, Faces of Children Prayer Partner,

I used this same prayer several years ago and felt drawn to it again today. The devotional that accompanied it in May 2011 is below if you would like to read it again.

The Faces of Children prayer group will meet to pray for children on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. in the Bride’s room at First Presbyterian Church-Midland, with lunch ($5) and fellowship to follow.

If you have prayer concerns or celebrations about children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, or those who harm them (the really hard prayers to say sometimes), please send them to me at at claufer@facesofchildren.net, or give me a call.

Grace and peace,

Chris

---

Letter from the Gardener


My "Gardener" moment came during a season of illness and loss in April 2010 as we struggled with my mother's terminal cancer diagnosis. I kept asking God if there really was a time or place where there wouldn't be any more weeping or mourning or death or pain. I begged God to prove to me that the promises God made through Jesus Christ were true. That my precious mother would be in God's presence. That there was a heaven and that my mom was going there. And God answered in the form of a letter from the Gardener.

On the morning of the day I'll never forget, I felt drawn to a flower bed full of purple irises as I walked back to the house from the mailbox. Mom had given me the rhizomes and I thought she might like one of the flowers in her hospice room. The perfect iris was waiting for me...one blossom had dried up, another was in bloom, and a third was budding out. As I twisted off the stem, I noticed a folded piece of paper on the ground at the base of the iris. In large script, the words "HE IS RISEN" blazed off the page.

There in the chaos of the flower bed in my front yard, was evidence of God's reassuring promise. A letter from the One Mary Magdalene mistook for the gardener when she found the tomb empty. My mom was going to be ok no matter what might come that day. Jesus is risen. The tomb is empty. The Gardener's message and timing were perfect. Mom died later that night with my sister and me by her side, in a room overlooking the Hospice House garden, an iris and a note from the Gardener on the table.

God has given me another reminder of God's promise of enduring love and eternal life. On the day we celebrated the resurrection of the Risen Lord, on Easter Sunday, I observed the first anniversary of my mother's death. This isn't the final chapter for my mother or for any of us. God will wipe away every tear. There will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain because the tomb is empty. He is risen! Rejoice!

Chris Cain Laufer
May 2011