For June 21st:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

When my oldest daughter, Lily, had a seizure one Saturday morning a few years ago, needless to say, this was a very traumatic incident and the events of that day are permanently carved into my memory.  I was a wreck, as one of the first things they tell you in the ER is that it could be a brain tumor.  The next day we went to church and talked to many of our friends about what had occurred.  Everyone asked what they could do for us, and we said we just needed their prayers. 

The next day at school Lily had another seizure.  As I drove to pick her up to take her to the hospital, sat in the waiting room, talked to the doctor, and held her hand through an EEG, I have never had such a sense of peace – to the point that I could almost physically feel God’s hands around us.  I truly believe that this peace was due to the friends and family that were lifting us up in their prayers.  Having that peace poured over me made me keenly aware of the power of God’s love, and when you experience that kind of love, you can’t help but want to pass it on to others.  Through all of the doctor visits and tests that followed in the days, months, and years to come, I used those opportunities to pray for the families that were all around me in an effort to share that feeling of peace that I had been granted.  And, by praying for others during their most vulnerable times, I was able to better recognize the blessings in my own life.  Even if those blessings are as simple as being able to walk out of the hospital with my daughter beside me, which many of those parents were not able to do.

Megan Parr