{"id":552,"date":"2015-02-05T21:29:58","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T02:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/?p=552"},"modified":"2015-02-05T21:29:58","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T02:29:58","slug":"thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"That&#8217;s great! I will pray for you."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/40a\u00f1os.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-554\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/40a\u00f1os-675x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"40a\u00f1os\" width=\"640\" height=\"970\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/40a\u00f1os-675x1024.jpeg 675w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/40a\u00f1os-197x300.jpeg 197w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mary Lou and Gary celebrate a 40<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary today, February 5, 2015. It was 40 years ago we sat down together in a stairwell of the North Park College Mellander Memorial Library and talked with each other for the first time. We had said \u201cHello\u201d to one another and smiled at each other in passing on the North Park campus for a few months, but had never stopped to talk. Gary finally got up the courage to ask Mary Lou if she would like to \u201ctalk and get to know each other\u201d. We couldn\u2019t talk in the library\u2014rules of silence and all\u2014and we didn\u2019t think our conversation would last as long as it did, so the stairwell suited us well. As we got to know each other for the first time that afternoon, Gary shared that when he was six years old he had responded to a call to a career as a missionary. He saw missions as a way to stay connected to the Church while being able to live far from home. Mary Lou, 40 years ago, did not sense that call to a career in missions. In fact on that February 5<sup>th<\/sup> afternoon she told Gary, \u201cThat\u2019s great! I will look you up in the Covenant Missionary Prayer Book and pray for you.\u201d At least the commitment to pray for one another was made\u2014and has continued for these 40 years!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-555\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg\" alt=\"51Awk+6lXrL\" width=\"500\" height=\"318\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg 500w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/51Awk-6lXrL-300x190.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After getting married in 1979, starting our family and moving to Kingsburg, CA, in 1983, where Gary served as Pastor to Youth, and having the occasional conversation regarding doing \u201csomething in missions\u201d, Mary Lou sensed God\u2019s call on her life to pursue missions as a career. It was after our last child, Skye was born, and after having many conversations and prayer times about going into missions, God confirmed his call and we said yes to a long term commitment in Missions. Two years later we began our missionary career and are now in our 25<sup>th<\/sup> year in Colombia.<\/p>\n<p>Through these past 40 years we have done a lot of talking with, and to, one another and we are still getting to know each other\u2014with no plans to stop that love, growth and process. We continue to be committed to pray for one another and with each other\u2014with no plans to stop that either.<\/p>\n<p>A favorite worship song that we sing in Colombia asks the question, \u201cWhere would I be without God\u2019s love and grace in my life?\u201d I, Gary, shudder to think of what my life would have been like if I hadn\u2019t acted on my desire to talk to Mary Lou that afternoon. I shudder to think of what my life would be like without Mary Lou fulfilling her promise to \u201clook me up and pray for me\u201d. I, Mary Lou, shudder to think of what my life would be like without Gary and his prayers and patience in waiting for the call to Missions to be truly mine as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere would I be without God\u2019s love and grace in my life?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander?moderation_action=report_form&object_type=post&object_id=552&width=250&height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mary Lou and Gary celebrate a 40th anniversary today, February 5, 2015. It was 40 years ago we sat down together in a stairwell of the North Park College Mellander Memorial Library and talked with each other for the first &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>That&#039;s great! I will pray for you. - Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"That&#039;s great! I will pray for you. - Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mary Lou and Gary celebrate a 40th anniversary today, February 5, 2015. It was 40 years ago we sat down together in a stairwell of the North Park College Mellander Memorial Library and talked with each other for the first &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-06T02:29:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/40a\u00f1os-675x1024.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gary-Mary Lou Sander\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gary-Mary Lou Sander\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gary-Mary Lou Sander\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/94056843f81dcec3aa0494712f400753\"},\"headline\":\"That&#8217;s great! I will pray for you.\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-06T02:29:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/48\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/\",\"name\":\"That's great! I will pray for you. - Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/48\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-06T02:29:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/94056843f81dcec3aa0494712f400753\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/48\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/48\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":318},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/05\\\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"That&#8217;s great! I will pray for you.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/\",\"name\":\"Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander\",\"description\":\"Glimpses into Life and Partnership in Colombia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/94056843f81dcec3aa0494712f400753\",\"name\":\"Gary-Mary Lou Sander\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/07977b90507e6079fe73235c9e3976e739219950551cbc3f91658210e88c7756?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/07977b90507e6079fe73235c9e3976e739219950551cbc3f91658210e88c7756?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/07977b90507e6079fe73235c9e3976e739219950551cbc3f91658210e88c7756?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gary-Mary Lou Sander\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.pactocol.org\"],\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/sander\\\/author\\\/sander\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"That's great! I will pray for you. - Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"That's great! I will pray for you. - Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander","og_description":"Mary Lou and Gary celebrate a 40th anniversary today, February 5, 2015. It was 40 years ago we sat down together in a stairwell of the North Park College Mellander Memorial Library and talked with each other for the first &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;","og_url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/","og_site_name":"Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander","article_published_time":"2015-02-06T02:29:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/40a\u00f1os-675x1024.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Gary-Mary Lou Sander","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gary-Mary Lou Sander","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/"},"author":{"name":"Gary-Mary Lou Sander","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/#\/schema\/person\/94056843f81dcec3aa0494712f400753"},"headline":"That&#8217;s great! I will pray for you.","datePublished":"2015-02-06T02:29:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/"},"wordCount":528,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/","name":"That's great! I will pray for you. - Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-06T02:29:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/#\/schema\/person\/94056843f81dcec3aa0494712f400753"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/02\/51Awk-6lXrL.jpg","width":500,"height":318},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2015\/02\/05\/thats-great-i-will-pray-for-you\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"That&#8217;s great! I will pray for you."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/","name":"Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander","description":"Glimpses into Life and Partnership in Colombia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/#\/schema\/person\/94056843f81dcec3aa0494712f400753","name":"Gary-Mary Lou Sander","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07977b90507e6079fe73235c9e3976e739219950551cbc3f91658210e88c7756?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07977b90507e6079fe73235c9e3976e739219950551cbc3f91658210e88c7756?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07977b90507e6079fe73235c9e3976e739219950551cbc3f91658210e88c7756?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gary-Mary Lou Sander"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.pactocol.org"],"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/author\/sander\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":556,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552\/revisions\/556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}