Praying and painting a floor

Everytime it rains ALOT in Universal City (has happened twice since I moved here 4 years ago), our Parish Hall can flood. It's life. We work with it and move on.

BUT, the youth room usually gets lots of water, so the last time this happened, we decided to rip carpet up and go with the bare floor. We seal it with garage paint and it really works out nicely. We have area rugs that go on the bare floor and the couches sit on bare ground. (Yeah pretty rustic room but it works).

So, the youth room flooded last month which meant that it was time to reseal the floor. It really needed to be done and I had just been avoiding it. So, I bit the bullet and have done one side at a time. It is a one person job, really. Anymore than that and it gets complicated.

So, what does this have to do with prayer. Well, this was my prayer time today. I turned on a CD and just really listened to the words to the CD. I got stuck on a song by Rachel Kurtz, Invocation. It is just a very spiritually moving prayer. As I painted I thought more about the activities of the room and how neat it was going to look when we got it all put back together. I spent time in prayer for the various youth that are currently in High School.

The interesting thing was when I finished, I wanted more. So, I grabbed a candle. I find that very little light and distraction really helps center me. I kept the Invocation song on lightly and found the darkest room in that building and just spent some good quiet time with God.

It still amazes me that my crazy brain likes this new found prayer and quiet time. Calming myself and releasing the stress and just BEing is still difficult. I think it always will be. My mind wants to fight it and releasing the noise takes practice. But, it is so so worth it.

It is worth it that I can release the stresses of the day. It is worth it that I feel different, better even. It is worth it to my soul to have that prayerful God time. I was led during that time today to Romans 8:38-39(yea trusty Blackberry for letting me search it while praying).

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is so freeing to stop and realize that even in the craziness of life, nothing will separate me from God's love. I can take it for granted. I can fight it. I can let other things appear to get in the way. Nothing will separate me from God's love. That is AWESOME. It is beautiful.

So, the floor is painted, my spirit is renewed and it was a good day.
AMEN