A day of mercy.
In a previous post I stated that I would be praying one simple prayer all day on July 30th.
We'll the 30th has come and gone so...

The band had our big break and got our first single played on the radio.
A family member was miraculously healed.
My car started working again.
I beat my record 5k pace.
And I found five dollars.

Actually none of those things happened.
So did my day of prayer work?
Was God more on my side because I was trying to be more on his?
Nothing really even changed, right?
Except I think I may have changed...a little.

Two moments where I saw something that I normally would have missed (isn't that all a miracle really is?):
The first happened when I was sitting under the umbrella on the dock in the rain with my grandparents after a swim. The bathing suits were on and our towels were wrapped around us so we wouldn't get wet. It was then that I thought to say the prayer again. In a way I've never felt before, I realized how frighteningly similar we all are. We are all so deeply connected in our need for mercy. My grandmother, myself, the family across the cove; we all sit in the exact same condition when you look at us in light of the prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy."
The second was on the backroad drive home that night. I was thinking about how crazy it's going to be to have kids. I'm going to have a kid someday? Most likely. Insane. Then I thought of the prayer again. I thought about how it applies to my not-yet-existing-on-the-planet kids. They need mercy like I have needed mercy. Then I started doing something I don't do enough. I started begging. I started begging for God to have mercy on my kids. They need you, God.

After the conversation in my head I looked over at Lauren staring out the truck window into the black and thought, "This prayer needs to stick around a while. Maybe I'l keep this thing going for more than one day." So it has stuck around and I hope it never leaves.