My prayer tent...

"Anyone who wished to consult the Lord would go to this meeting tent outside the camp."

Exodus 33:7

Whenever I read this it reminds me of my freshman year of college, at Regis College, in Denver.  It was a particularly difficult time for me--I didn't really fit in there and I struggled to find my niche, away from home.  Every night, I would walk around the practice football field behind the dorms.  I would walk for an hour or so, until it was time for the nightly mass at 10:00, which I attended faithfully (you can see why I didn't really fit in as a college freshman!) The time spent on the football field was time spent alone with God.  I felt calmed, more relaxed, more able to be myself. I poured my heart out to God during these walks and it was the only time I felt less alone.  I felt secure in God's presence on the football field.  It got so that each night as I set out for the football field (my "meeting tent"), I would say to whomever I was with, "I'm going out to pray, anyone need anything?"  People would say, "I have a test tomorrow" or "my aunt is having surgery." People gave me prayer requests I took out to the field to bring to God.  I found God so concretely there on the field and it was so comforting!  In fact, the way the lights on the field illuminated it, I always had three shadows, no matter which direction I walked and that reminded me of how un-alone I was.  Now, thankfully, I can go to the "prayer tent" in my own mind or imagination.  I can close my eyes and enter a quiet place within to encounter God, no matter where I actually am.  Do you have a "prayer tent?"  Think about it.  Love, heidi