The Meeting Place

The chair sits in my bedroom. It can best be described as a high-backed, Queen Ann chair, I think. It is burgundy with some diamondish design lightly imprinted on it. The foot rest kicks out and makes a comfy spot for my legs and feet. The always nearby pile of fleece blankets is within reach, so as I climb into the chair, I grab a blanket or two.

After adjusting the covers just so, I kick out the foot rest and my always aching back settles perfectly into the lumbar portion of the chair. On the left side of the chair stands a lamp that I bought a few years ago. The light is just right for reading. Not too bright, not too dull. While the base of the lamp is stationary, the top arm swings to perfect adjustment. I pull the arm to the exact right spot to help me read.

The floor on the right side of the chair sports a woven basket. The colors match the room in burgundy and hunter green. The basket is large. It has a handle on each end, but the basket is never moved or picked up. It is completely off limits to all other people or animals. The basket is not special. Instead, the contents of the basket are what is so important. The basket holds the printed materials for my special meetings. I have meetings every day or two, and I always need to know exactly where to find my materials.

Maybe I settle in the burgundy chair at 9:00 in the morning or 9:00 at night. Sometimes I get there at 2:43 in the afternoon. With four kiddos and a busy house, each day dictates a different meeting time, but I've learned to be flexible with the schedule. It's okay with me, and probably with my prayer partner, too.

I reach into my basket and pull out a few things. First, I get out the devotional book that I am currently using. Right now it is simply called Truth. I like it. Each day aligns what the world thinks with what God thinks. Refreshing. Next, I pull out my journal. In this, I write my deepest thoughts, fears, prayers, concerns, joys, and anything else that strikes me. Then I pull out my personal Bible. You know what I mean? The kind with a leather cover, my name inscribed on the front, with pages that turn, words that I can underline, and margins in which I can write. There will be no electronic technology used during this meeting. None. Absolutely none. My prayer partner and I don't need anything like that to communicate. He's already there waiting for me to get started.

After reading through my devotional thoughts for the day, I turn in my personal Bible to the place where I left off yesterday. Currently I'm ready about Elijah and Elisha. Quite a pair! God never ceases to amaze me with his super powers. Beats anything I've seen from Superman, that's for sure! I read in my Bible until a specific thought or detail jumps off the page to me. When it does, I find a quick stopping place and pull out my journal.

My journal is hard-backed, lined, with heavy spiral binding. I can't remember how many I've used up, but I keep them all and just keep writing. You know about writing, don't you? You hold the pen in your hand and apply pressure to make the ink come out on the page. I do this to my journal. I write all over it. I express myself on the pages. However, the pages aren't written to Dear Ann or Dear Abby. Instead, I write my journal thoughts, questions, prayers and concerns to my dear Lord. Sometimes He answers me right then. Sometimes He guides me to more reading of His Word. Sometimes, much to my chagrin, He tells me to wait. One thing I know for sure, He always has the right answer at the right time.

The best thing of all about these meetings is something quite simplistic. The more I go to my meeting spot and spend time with my prayer partner, the more things I hear Him say and the more I know that He is real in my every day life. The Counselor isn't just with me in my meetings in the burgundy chair. He goes with me from that spot to the next and the next and the next. However, I refuel in that chair. I get filled up. I take the fuel with me to make it through the next thing on the agenda. Most of the time I don't just make it through, rather, I soar through it. I've been so filled up I just fly past most of the trouble, shed it off like water from a duck's back, and move on. If I go too long without another meeting, everything starts bothering me. Nothing is easy to rid myself of. I carry burdens that aren't even real.

Thus, I try to have meetings as often as possible. These times are a necessity to me. They are my daily lifeline. They keep me sane. They keep me full. They keep me content. They keep me focused. These times grow my faith. These times grow my patience. These times grow my love. These times are necessary. I can only thank my prayer partner for all of these things. He makes my meetings worth every second and beyond.