When I was a young girl, my mother gave me a small note card on which she had written the Lord’s Prayer.

Using her black Flair felt-tipped pen, she had written: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…

She encouraged me to memorize this prayer and say it at church during the liturgy, which I did, and have said hundreds of times since.

But this morning, I found myself praying that phrase again, “Thy kingdom come.”

As I spoke it out, I wondered, What am I asking when I pray it?

Maybe I’m asking:

Jesus, come back soon and be our king!

Let me be a part of your kingdom work here and now today!

God, please come back and set the world right!

Maybe it means all these things.

I need a dog today.

A small one will do; one that fits comfortably in my lap. 

She could be brown and furry, or black with dark eyes, soft and sleepy.

I close my eyes and see her, feel her warmth, and find her presence reassuring. 

Recently I found a handwritten note in our home mailbox. Personal mail is quite unusual these days so I excitedly brought it inside. The return address showed me that it was from a woman who attends our church. I tore it open to find that she wanted me to know that she had prayed for me that day.

Chanting this nursery rhyme as a child, I never imagined that all these years later I would, in the middle of a cold dark morning, be blessed one more time by the God who hung that moon, keeps it on schedule, and (as a bonus) gives us unique ways to not take it for granted.