Megan's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Crazy Times"

I'm a big fan of keeping track of my "accomplishments" in life. Whether it is how many days in a row I have showered, or how many Core team meetings in a row I have attended, or how many days have I gone without biting my fingernails, I find joy in counting up these days and saying to myself "Wow! Good job!"

But all of these streaks eventually come to an end, and require me to start back over at the beginning. I'm not a big fan of starting over, it seems like I've failed cause I wasn't able to keep that streak alive.

One of the most important "accomplishments" that I'm tracking right now is my ability to remain positive about my schoolwork and relationship, focus on the good instead of bad, and not allow myself to be overwhelmed with stress. I was doing really well - had hit a streak of a few weeks - until today.

I went to bed last night frustrated with my lack of motivation, and that continued into today. During classes, I began to feel completely overwhelmed, and not sure how it was all going to get done before the semester is over. Even my relationships seemed to suffer today - I couldn't see the good, and instead focused on the bad.

I'm just left here, sitting in bed, exhausted, wondering what tomorrow will bring. My streak of three weeks came to an end, and I'm not handling that well.

Seems sometime ago you said
This wouldn't last
And now you sit here crying
Beside your bed.

I pray that tomorrow is better. I pray that the streak that starts tomorrow is unending.

Jen's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Crazy Times"

Beside your bed
You kneel in the dark...
It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right

A lot of times I whine and complain to God. I say, "I hate how this is..." or "Why can't you fix this..." Yet I can cry all I want out to him, but it takes an effort on my part too. At the end of this song, when the person actually kneels down to pray, things can become right. My random outbursts to God aren't the same as kneeling before God, humbling myself before Him and asking Him how he wants things. He would love to help me out, but I have to make an effort, too. I need to be open to His ways and obey what He wants.

Katie's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Crazy Times"

It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right

I'll admit it, I'm a big crier. Sometimes, just a little cry makes everything seem so much better! Almost every time I go to Adoration, I cry. If I'm not crying, then I'm actually not attending Adoration, at least not mentally, my mind is somewhere else besides talking to God. I really don't know why I have this compulsive crying issue, but like a good chick flick, it makes me feel so much better. Unlike a good chick flick, Adoration does seem to solve the stress and sometimes even gives me answers to my problems. But like the song states, everything isn't going to be magically better because I cried during Adoration. After I leave, I have to work on those things God put on my heart. The problem is that it doesn't always happen. I had things placed on my heart many many many times, but I've only done anything about them during Adoration through conversing with God. I haven't changed outside that small chapel where I cried.

Chris' prayer: Jars of Clay's "Crazy Times"

I lose things more than I care to admit. I don't mean lose as in "forever" lose, although I do that quite a bit. I mean "temporarily misplace." I'm constantly having to look for my keys, my book, my phone, my mail, and whatever else I might need to find before I was supposed to leave 5 minutes ago.

I always seem to wind up looking for these things in places where I know they could not possibly be. Why would my keys be in the bathroom? Why would my book be in the closet? Why would that one shirt be in the kitchen cabinets? I'm not sure why, but that's the way it happens, with me eventually finding my stuff right where it was supposed to be, much like the subject of today's song, who spends two verses, two refrains, and a bridge trying to dig herself out of a hole before realizing where she was supposed to be all along:

Beside your bed
You kneel in the dark

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Catie's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Crazy Times"

To make things right

I need to make things right. There are some things I need to figure out with God's help, but I've been avoiding it. I'm not ready to face God, not ready to see what God wants me to do in the situations I put myself into. I'm scared of what he might expect of me and scared that I won't have the courage to do what he wants me to do. So I avoid him. I talk and talk and talk in prayer, but don't give time to listen in fear of what he might tell me to do in the silence of my heart. However, I can't go on like this. I need to make things right.