Originally Posted by jen7009

When I was going through an incredibly awful time with a close family member's severe illness and disbelieving/unhelpful/hurtful legal system, a friend and fellow church member told me this. I know no one's situation is ever the same but I hope it can give you a measure of the comfort it gave me:

When my church family was asked to pray for our family in the "silent" prayers said in service one Sunday, my friend told us she felt as though all the prayers being said there and all the prayers that had been and would be said were gathering into a small tornado and that tornado was branching off and surrounding each member of our family and each of us who hurt, making a sort of "fierce cocoon of God's love" that not only held us tightly but also protected us, even though we could not see that protection and had many times of doubt. Every time things got so awful that the sadness/frustration/anger/pain/fatigue etc. seemed to well up, I would think of that cocoon of prayers and love that all those who cared about me (God included) had surrounded me with and how it was with me always to hold me up and be there to lean on. Sometimes the focus on the knowledge of all that love was only able to make things a tiny bit better, but it always seemed that even that tiny bit gave me the strength and hope I needed. I see all the love and prayers that your fellow members are pouring out for you and I hope that my story might help magnify and make that love last longer for you. And even though I'm new, I hope that you will accept one more prayer, offered with love and hoping you will have a chance to feel the tornado around you!