Lenten Prayers

So everyone's been asking the last couple of days if I'm going to give anything up for Lent this year--I guess it's sort-of like the token thing to ask the Christian in the friend group on Ash Wednesday; I dunno. Until a few minutes ago, my answer was always that I wasn't sure. But after a little bit of reflection tonight, I decided this:

For the next forty days, instead of depriving myself of something, I'm going to spend a few minutes in special prayer everyday for someone in my life, thanking God for them, and asking his blessing on them. I'm going to try to put most of these on my blog, but there might be some too personal or private that I won't put up here. I'm not sure yet.

Happy Ash Wednesday, everyone!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Lord,
Tonight, as my first night in special prayer with you over my family and friends, I want to pray for my little sister Elizabeth. I've been thinking a lot about her the last couple of days, as the rest of my family has been on spring break. This is the first family trip they've taken without me--but don't take that to mean that I feel left out. I miss them, yes, but I'm having a wonderful time here in St Andrews. I've just been listening to them talk about the different places they're visiting--Duke, UNC, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth-- and it's a little scary to think that in just a year and a half my sister's going to be leaving home too. Lord, I pray that you would be guiding her in the coming months through the whole college process craziness, and that you would help her to discern what she wants to do, where she wants to go, and to not be too pressured by others around her. And I pray that wherever she ends up two years from now, that she would be a blessing to the school and its community, both as a intellectual student as well as a kind individual.

Thank you, God, too, for the ways in which you have blessed her in the last year. Thank you for her good, sweet friends, for her opportunities in programs over the summer, and for awesome things like Rachael Ray! I know from the many grins on her face those weeks how exciting that was for her, and I thank you for giving her such a fun time away from school--sometimes I think she just needs a break, even when she doesn't think she does.

Lord, thank you that you have given me such a not only brilliant, but a hardworking, kind little sister. I know I feel defeated by her a lot of the time, but she has never given me reason to resent her talents; instead, I can't help but look up to her as if I'm the little sibling, and she's my big sister. She's possibly one of the humblest people I know, and one of the wisest. Her wisdom shocks me sometimes, because I think she honestly understands everyone in my family better than they do themselves. Thank you, God, for giving us such a wise peacekeeper to tolerate all the drama in our family, haha.

Father, I ask that you would keep my family safe as they travel home, and that you would bless her during this time when the future seems so exciting, but also sometimes scary. I pray that you would be putting her mind and heart to rest over her future, and that she would know that wherever she is in school or in life, You are always watching over her, preparing her continually for the things to come.

Lord, I thank you for Elizabeth. I pray that you would bless her and hold her tightly in your hands always.

Amen.