Hmmm

I’m still so blown away by events tonight that it took me ages just to come up with a name for this blog!

The second year cadets are all back on-site and it’s weird & wonderful all at the same time! We had a meeting this morning followed by brunch and then tonight, we met back again to pray together.

It was so good just to take time out from our assignments and all the other things that keep us so busy and just pray. I was touched and challenged by something that never fails to stir me.

Part way through the evening, we watched a hugely emotional slideshow reminding us of other situations and circumstances that people can find themselves in and that we can pray for. The pictures were pretty powerful and I was reminded of my passion not just for children but for those who are unable, for one reason or another, to speak for themselves.

Then this stood out to me at the next prayer station – so much so that I didn’t get anywhere near anything else that was prepared for us in the room:

World Wide Day of Prayer for Children at Risk – June 4

Those of you that check in fairly regularly might remember an earlier blog that I removed back in February. It was about a child that I taught earlier on this year who came to school with 2nd degree burns to his hand that had been left uncovered for the better part of 4 days. I was a little rattled, to put it mildly, about the fact that parenting/home situations/finances could get so bad that a child is left without basic medical attention. In the end, I had to take the child up to A&E on behalf of the school and pay to get the burn cleaned and covered properly a week after the injury. My passion for the profession of teaching is part of what made it hard to leave but also a lot of the reason that I am where I am today. Who are the advocates for these children? Where are they? I was motivated further by becoming aware of the day of prayer coming up … things got pretty emotional for me pretty quick about here.

Just as an aside – if you’ve ever been so moved by something that all you can do is cry, don’t ever underestimate how God uses the cries of the heart…

The last part of the evening found us in yet another amazingly prepared room to focus on The Salvation Army itself. Part of this was the challenge to fast and pray on any of the days left this year for as long as we felt led and for whatever purpose whether it be an event or for The Salvation Army as a whole.

I found myself without hesitation writing my name down on June 4 – join me if you want to.

It’s hard to get this all down in words that do it all justice. Let’s just say that I don’t think that one person left tonight without being touched in some way and we didn’t come for ourselves tonight…