There was a girl on one of my teams last summer (who shall remain anonymous in this post) who gave one of the most memorable quotes of all of Quito Quest 2008. We’ll call her “C” for this post (because everyone who can decipher that already knows who you are).
We were getting on our bus to head to the jungle, and she was already in the back seat, lying down, with a bandanna over her eyes. To be honest, it was about 7 am, and despite Jerry’s snide remarks about how early I got up all summer, I would have been enjoying myself that morning if I’d taken a leaf out of her book and tried to pass out too. But I was responsible and quietly counted everyone as they got on the bus and got ready to leave.
As some of the other students got on, they started talking about various things that had happened their first couple of days in Ecuador, and someone must have said something about prayer. Out of nowhere, “C” (still with a bandanna over her eyes and laying down) says “Guys, have you noticed how people in Ecuador pray for like five minutes?” For those of you who need a little context (that is, if you aren’t Methodist) she meant “five minutes” as an infinitely long time for a prayer to continue.
I’m not even sure what I said. But since “long prayers” and “Sarah Miller” went together in my head right that minute, it probably sounded at least a little more defensive than I meant for it to come out. “C” shot up out of her seat, letting her bandanna fall to her lap the second I opened my mouth. Apparently she didn’t realize that I’d been sitting right in front of her, I guess because I hadn’t actually spoken for the few minutes up to that point that I had been on the bus. Once she had realized I was present, she immediately began apologizing profusely. Everybody around us giggled slightly nervously, but I was laughing my head off at the mere idea that she thought I (extrovert that I am) would be offended.
That would probably still be hilarious if it happened to me now, eight and a half months later. I just find it hard to be real sometimes when I have to pray out loud, so I tend to condense and get it over with. Don’t get me wrong, in certain places and groups, it’s getting me to stop that’s the trick. But apparently I had gotten comfortable enough and made enough of an impact in our two debriefs up to that point that my spoken prayers were atypically long, at least in her mind.
So why in the world is this on my blog now, in March 2009? Because of Jason.
I went to Benjamin House tonight and after chapel, singing, and prayer requests, Jason prayed for us. First off all, I don’t know how the guy remembers every single prayer request that everyone says in there. Toni and I both do decently (she better than I) if either of us is the one to offer the closing prayer, but Jason never misses anything, and still doesn’t slow down, just throwing in praises, thanksgiving, and never worrying about how long he’s been going or anything else happening in the room (which could be quite a number of things at any given time).
We marvel consistently at how he remembers everything anyone says during prayer requests, and usually knows what anyone left out. But I also marvel at how heartfelt his prayers are, from his eagerness to be the one to pray each Monday night to the fact that he both goes to God for anything and gives God the glory for everything.
I can’t say I’ve never in my life been somewhere and didn’t think “will this guy ever stop?” when someone was praying (for Billy- the “Dear Lord” guy in Tyner). But I can say that if Jason prays for “five minutes,” I don’t mind.
