I nodded, hoping she wouldn't pick up on the fact that while I did remember praying for her, and had a vague sense that my prayers had something to do with a difficulty in her family, I couldn't remember much else.
Luckily she continued and shared her story with several other international students and American students around the table.
"I was telling Joanna about my Dad. He used a picture of my younger brother as his profile picture on his social media platform. My younger brother is much younger than me, and sometimes I feel they favor him. I didn't feel good when I saw that picture. Joanna said she'd pray for me. Later, my father changed his picture to a picture of himself."
Ah... I remembered now. One evening, as I sat surrounded by international students, watching them interact, this student had approached me. She seemed distraught, and when I asked a question regarding how she was doing, she responded by telling me she was so far away from her family and felt distanced from them, especially with her little brother still being in elementary school at home and her parents needing to care for him. I could tell she was distraught not only because she felt the lack of attention, but because she didn't want it to affect her so deeply. She seemed to wish it was less of an issue for her. I wanted to offer advice but instead paused and simply said, "I'll pray about that." Her face lit up and she thanked me. I prayed for her in my mind then, and a day or two following that night. Now, several weeks later, here was the answer to that prayer.