I love praying with others.

A friend once told me that she doesn't feel moved by communal prayer. That praying with other people doesn't make her feel close to God. Which let me say right now that that is totally fine. Everyone has a unique relationship with the Lord and different things that reach their hearts. The only reason that I even mention that friend is because that is what came to mind when I sat down to write this post about how grateful I am for the opportunities I get to pray with others, especially people I love.

God rarely feels more real to me than in the moments when I am emotionally and sometimes physically connected to another person and we are going hearts wide open to the God that we both love and so desperately need.

This isn't just something I'm realizing now. I'm sure I said it several times last year in reference to time spent praying with some of my Reformation brothers (particularly Austin and Clayton) and soccer boys. It's just becoming even more evident to me now, when I'm in a place where I've had to start all over in terms of making friends I can rely on that are physically close by.

Every week, it becomes clearer to me that the people at my church are my family in every way that truly counts. One friend in particular has spontaneously offered to pray with and over me two weeks in a row now. Another texts just to check in on me. I wouldn't be able to do what I do without love like this up close.

I keep coming back to the question of "How did I ever get so lucky?!" but really, I don't need to know. Knowing why or how isn't what drives my praise and gratitude for the what is.