Before Tech Support

Here’s the back story leading up to my prayer encounter during my chat with email software tech support. I awoke that morning to the peace of a beautiful winter day. I was soon interrupted by anxiety when the realization of a very challenging financial situation crossed my computer screen as I opened up my online banking site. We all have fear triggers and I’ll be transparent here, one of mine is financial security. Couple that with some real financial challenges and I’m doing a face plant on my bedroom floor in prayer. Now, I absolutely love my ministry work and can’t imagine my life without it, to the point that, I can get so engaged in prayer, writing, recording, teaching, client sessions and more that I have to remind myself passion doesn’t pay the bills. This morning was one of those times when the trigger hit provoking a litany of doubts, “Am I really supposed to be doing this?” “If so, how do I keep a roof over my head?” “Am I doing something wrong or missing something I should be doing?” “Creating an online presence might be necessary but it’s so confusing!”

The voiceless Voice finally managed to get my attention in the brief gap between these thoughts and I heard, “Keep moving”. So, I returned to my computer and started plowing through some administrative and technical stuff. I got stuck on something when the little ‘live chat tech support’ window popped up as if prompted by an angel. No one but me knew I was struggling in that moment, or so I thought. I opened up a conversation with ‘Zoe’ and the rest you can read about in my blog post “Even Tech Support Needs Prayer”. (Pause here and read it, if you haven’t already.) I was humbled to the point of tears to say the least and grateful my ‘in the moment’ need for encouragement was met. God has shown me over and over again throughout the years, this is my work; inviting people into a deeper connection with our Most High God, themselves and others through contemplative Christianity. Inviting people into partnering with their Beloved as He transforms their lives. Inviting people to honor their stories of transformation and freely sharing mine. Reminding everyone, of who we truly are, the beloved of The Beloved. Perhaps most importantly, sharing my love of Christ, in my little way, letting the world know He is real, He is alive and He will meet you where you are.

Even Tech Support Needs Prayer

Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not very tech savvy. So today I found myself in an online tech support chat with the email software provider I use for my ministry emails. Though I’m sometimes able to pick things up fairly quickly, I always have a lot of questions. The woman on the other end of the chat was very knowledgable, professional and oh so patient. She would not only answer my questions but would create a 30 second tutorial and send me the link. One time while helping me with a video upload, she took a little longer before responding. Then her question popped up in the window, “Is this your newsletter, are you the person on the video?” I answered, “I am.” She answered, “I just watched it and I want to thank you. I’m going through something hard right now and your prayer has helped me so much.” I was speechless. My fingers sat on the keyboard and my eyes welled up. I was truly taken aback by her openness. I immediately sent to her the links to my other videos with a prayer and a blessing. She said, “Well, you have another follower in me.”

The Spirit of our Most High God is always and in all ways healing. In that moment, I came to a clearer understanding that no matter who or where we encounter someone, they need God and everyone needs prayer whether they realize it or not. From the time I was a child, maybe because of challenging life experiences, I’ve always turned to prayer. It feels like a pure gift of the Holy Spirit. For it is God and God alone who draws all into His healing, loving Presence. The harvest is plentiful as God is calling in His workers even through live chats.