Prayer, Pause, and Peace: Ritual and Personal Space Installation

Every morning at around 7 AM (more or less), Airy and I met at the Westmont garden to pray.

We were able to pray in the prayer labyrinth, read the Bible together, walk on nearby trails, and confide in each other. 

As I walked in the prayer labyrinth, I stacked a rock on top of another rock each time I passed by a certain corner.

Most mornings, we also surprised each other with a little gift. My favorite gift from Airy was her homemade matcha :)

Essential Oil and a cool spiky ball

We also wrote and sketched in a journal that the garden kept. Each night, we tried our best to reflect on and document the impact that prayer had on our days in a Google doc. 

Waking up every morning earlier than I normally do to pray was difficult but so worth it. There was something so heaven-like about waking up early in the morning and seeing the morning fog and the sun's rays starting to beam through. Having an accountability partner to make sure I woke up was so helpful, and it was so encouraging to start a habit of prayer with a friend equally invested in this journey. After the mornings, I felt lovingly reminded by God during the rest of the day of His peace and protection of me through additional prayer, further reflecting on verses I thought about earlier that morning, and walking outside more. This incredible assignment to pray for five days out of the week makes me want to continue with this for as long as I can this year!