Putting my hopes, dreams, fears, prayers into words often connects with God. I love words and taking letters and sentences and putting them into meaningful sentences helps me grow spiritually.Writing is a spiritual practice for many of us. I pay attention to more details when I attempt to find words to describe where I am and what I am experiencing. I hear God clearer when I write. To paraphrase the line from the movie, Chariots of Fire: “When I write, I feel His pleasure.”Writing most often takes form for me in journals, but what many of you may not know besides this blog, I write for our local newspaper, magazines, and even have been in books.My good friend and writing buddy, Johnnie Donley, asked me to participate in a blog hop originated by agent Linda Glaz and promoted by another writer friend, Karen Wingate.The purpose of this blog hop is to talk about what I’m working on at the moment as a writer. And heeerrreee we go!What am I working on as a writer right now? I have two more … [Read more...]
Trusting God – Lectio Divina
In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.Psalm 25: 1Lord, I read this verse today and my heart rejoiced.Years ago, a flash in Your eyes, You led me to these words as my first breath prayer.A scripture I silently, repeatedly, pray in my heart throughout the day.In You, Lord my God, I put my trust.Your voice in these words wraps its warmth around me like a thick comforter at night.This divine declaration carries me through tough times when I can’t find You or know where to turn to next.These words anchor me in the storms and rescue me from the thrashing waves of life.When I have no idea where to go, what to do, and the unknown overwhelms me, my only prayer, my only step is to put my trust in You.You are my Lord, my God.When thoughts distract me like mosquitoes and worries invade my soul, I find peace and stillness in these words.In You, only in You, Lord do I put my trust.I empty my hands of all that blocks me from You and come palms upward to my God, my Lord.I entrust my all, everything, … [Read more...]
A Prayer of Wonder – Quote of the Week
Days pass and the years vanish and we walk sightless among miracles. Lord, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing. Let there be moments when your Presence, like lightning, illumines the darkness in which we walk. Help us to see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns, unconsumed. And we, clay touched by God, will reach out for holiness and exclaim in wonder, "How filled with awe is this place and we did not know it." Jewish Prayer … [Read more...]
Advent – The Gift of Waiting
Advent is the four weeks preceding Christmas and is a time of waiting and preparation for the arrival of the Christ Child. More and more church traditions are celebrating this special time of year. The next four Thursdays I will be writing about Advent, a time of wait and anticipation. Waiting is difficult. Most of us are terrible waiters. Waiting is a time of powerlessness where the imagination runs wild with the what if’s and when will this be over. Our inability to control the unknown generates fear and anxiety when we wait. You have heard the statistics. In an average lifetime, we spend five years waiting in lines and six months waiting at traffic lights. We are now waiting for the Christ Child. At least for this time of wait we do know the end date and what will be happening. Yet like kids knowing Christmas gifts are coming, we fidget and fret as time moseys through December. We are impatient people. We fill this time with parties, to do lists, wrapping, … [Read more...]
Why a Can of Green Beans Brought Me to Tears on Thanksgiving
Ok, I am supposed to be grateful, right?Count those blessings.Make that list of 1000+ reasons to give thanks. (Thanks Ann Voskamp and your wonderful book, 1000 Gifts) Work on the spiritual disciple of gratitude.Embrace Thanksgiving as THEday to share what we are thankful for with the family - the perfect family smiling around the dinner table with halos abounding and hearts full of love. Yeah, right.My Thanksgiving expectations: Norman Rockwell.My reality: Kitchen Nightmare or Lethal Cooking.To be honest, last Thursday was not THAT bad, but by midmorning, by myself, preparing all the food, I sipped on a mug of self-pity. I wanted to make a huge Thanksgiving meal. My family insists that every year I cook for an army. So I set myself up for this annual why-me-scenario. I do it to myself!The green bean casserole broke me.You know the concoction - heavy laden with calories and memories. Green beans, those yummy eat from the can onion rings and cream of mushroom soup. I have tried lighter … [Read more...]
Hem Me In, Lord – Lectio Divina
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”Revelation 1: 8Lord you are the Alpha and the Omega.The first and the last.You surround me with Your protective armsProtecting me from myself and other dangers.You hem me in, Lord encompassed by all that is You.You are the beginning of all things.You are the final conclusion to life.You are the opening prelude and the grand finale.You are the miracle of conception and enclose us with Your presence through tender death and the surprising beyond.My eyes cannot see where You start nor can I comprehend Your closing moments.You existed before anything else and will outlast all that have breath and life.You who is, who was and who is to comeYou are the Almighty.King and Master of my soul.Lord and Savior.My Alpha and my Omega.Enfold me in Your Majesty and embrace me in Your everlasting love. … [Read more...]
Prayer – Edward Hays – Quote of the Week
Grant me daily the grace of gratitude, to be thankful for all my many gifts, and so be freed from artificial needs, that I might lead a joyful, simple life.Edward Hays … [Read more...]
Ten Inspirational Quotes to Bless Your Thanksgiving Day
It’s Thanksgiving here in the USA and I know not all of you are from this country but each day can be a day of thanks if we intentionally seek to be live gratefully. I am thankful for each of you reading this post today. May each path you travel be filled with thankfulness.Here is some inspiration for you today:If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart (one of my favorites!)Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton WilderGive thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. ~Native American SayingGratitude ... goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but … [Read more...]