Grandmother’s Prayer for June 22nd

Father, Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Genesis 32:24. The brothers had gone over. The family had gone over. The flocks had gone over. He was left alone, and right then, he was not alone. I have known some of the same. The alone times are not the empty times. They are often the times You are most directly present. The night I sat in the kitchen after the funeral, the room felt empty. The morning after, the children all left for college. None of those was actually empty. You were there, even in Your quieter way. The wrestling now is slow and steady, learning what You are doing in me. Let me not be afraid of the alone times. Let me expect You in them. Jacob's name was changed by morning. My name has been changed, too, over the years of these encounters. The change keeps happening when no one else is around to see. Amen.