Judy’s Reflections from being part of MomsHooPray for 11 years!
I became involved with MomsHooPray the first year it started in 2010 as our
daughter Marisa entered UVA as a 1st year along with Will Burleson (the son of
MomsHooPray founder Kathy Burleson). The group met at McLean Presbyterian
Church (MPC) and my role that inaugural year was as the “contact person” for
MPC and my job was to make sure these praying ladies didn’t go wild on site!
We shared our prayer requests, which included praises and struggles and tears and
laughter for that year and then 3 more years.
After Marisa and Will graduated, Kathy asked me if I would be willing
to lead the group when our 2nd daughter, Julia, entered UVA
in 2014. I thought “me, a leader? Wow!” I thought of a couple of others who would
do such a great and better job as leader. While I try to have consistent quiet
times, I didn’t think that I was a good enough prayer warrior to lead. But then I
thought that maybe God could use me in spite of my inadequacy. Isn’t that where
God can really use us? When we need Him! One of my most cherished verses is
God’s promise in Philippians 4:13 that says ”I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.”
Here are a few things the Lord, in his goodness, has taught me in
these 11 amazing years. (By the way, our youngest son Davis entered UVA in 2017
so MomsHooPray couldn’t get rid of me!)
First of all, there is strength and comfort and power in praying together! Matthew
18:20 states “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I
am I in the midst of them.” It was unbelievable how many of our prayers were
answered the way that we prayed. Of course, there were/are unanswered prayers
too, but as believers we can encourage each other with the truth that God loves
our “kids” even more that we do! He is sovereign and good and can be trusted in
our children’s faith journey! I know that we would like to be the Holy Spirit and
change their hearts ourselves, but God works through prayer!
In being the facilitator, it made me want to be more of a praying person as we
would pray through our list of prayer requests in between meetings. It motivated me
to be faithful to the LORD and my MomsHoo friends! I would think “the best
thing that I can do for my friends and show my love is to pray for them.”
God knows best!
Close friendships are a precious gift and a real bonus that has come from
MomsHooPray. There is just something that knits us together when we pray. I
have 3 very close friends who I can text and ask them to pray and I know they will;
and they also know they can text or call me to pray for them – what a beautiful
thing that is!
In the past year the idea of our group time together being a worship time too
has been at the forefront. Yes, we need to petition God, but our worship needs
to be right there too.
Have I grown in my prayer life? Absolutely! Am I where I want to be? Not yet!
Some practical “prayer habits” that I have incorporated into my life are:
* I’ve come up with a weekly schedule to pray for my growing family.
* If someone asks me to pray, I try and pray right then and there or within the day
(so that I don’t forget).
* I try to pray short prayers throughout the day.
* I have started to say “Lord, how should I pray about this” when I’m not sure how.
* The bottom line is to “just pray” with a humble and thankful heart!
I’d like to close by saying a heartfelt thank you to Kathy Burleson for having faith
in me to lead and for being such a lovely example of a praying friend.
Also, I have co-lead with Heidi Veldman for 4 years and she has been fantastic to
work with. I would have given her a big promotion and pay raise if I could have!
Heidi is a faithful and inspirational leader and friend!
Finally, thank you to all you beautiful moms who attended MomsHooPray over
the years! You taught me about prayer and personally encouraged me in my faith
walk.
While I have now “retired” from MomsHooPray, I know that the group will thrive
under the leadership of Wendy Vendt and Jenna Mead this fall. Lord willing I will
be resurrecting the Grad Moms, so I can continue to pray for Marisa (and Kenny
her husband, also a UVA grad), Julia, and Davis now that they have all graduated
and are in the next exciting stage of life. Praises!!!
Majoring In Prayer For Our Hoos 
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