One afternoon I sat in my office to create with God, a visual conversation of sorts... this is one way I pray. I set out my tools: a Sharpie, pastels, markers, acrylic paint, water, and paintbrushes.
 
I had been mulling a few things: the story of the bleeding woman reaching for Jesus' cloak with her broken body and wounded heart (Mark 5), Jesus' tears at Lazarus' tomb in the presence of the grief and pain of his loved ones (John 11), the pain of being human and the pain in my own story.
 
I do not usually step back from the immediacy of every-day life and ask myself "What hurts?" I usually ask questions like "What is right? What is true? What is needed here? Where is God in this? Did I do something wrong? Can I fix this? or How can I trust God in this?"
 
This prayer was about being with God in the pain... offering God the pain. There are events and seasons of life where pain is tangible. And in those places God is present and our tears and lament matter to God.