Prayer for Thanks

With Thanks

With Thanks Thank You for all that I have,all that I am, and all that I may one day become.I know this is possible becauseof the opportunities You gave me,the teachers You sent my way.Please help me give back to the world,by being the glowing examplethat You mean for me to beeach and every day.

Thanks to You

Thanks to You I give You thanks for carrying me throughthe muckiest patches of life.Emerging with scratches, yes, but they pale compared to the faith-filled ferocity of my inner power.I give You thanks for bestowing within me the determination to stand tall- not back away

Gifted

Gifted Others praise You with voices raised in song.Still others paint awe-inspiringcanvases or raise buildings into the sky.Let me praise You with the talentsYou have given me.I can reach out a handto steady my elderly neighbor,or raise my heart in prayerfor a sorrowing friend.I can stir a pot bubbling on the stoveas I wait for my hungry...

Hotline to Heaven

Hotline to Heaven You have to admit:You made me mouthy,gave me big dreamsand great expectations.I even carry a portable soapboxwith me in case I need to vent. But whatever I need to say,and however I express it,I know You hear me.I might say it in a colorful way,but always intend reverence,

You Are All

You Are All From the vastness of the universefull of darkness,stars and infinite space,to the tiny wonder of one small seedcradled in dark soil,bathed in spring rain,waiting to grow.You are in it all.It is all in You.From the ice of winter,sparkling, waiting, quiet.To the green of summer,insects...

Family Puzzle

Family Puzzle We're both divorced with children,and have made our peace with the past.What a gift you've given us, to start all over again,coming together as a blended family.Bless us as we weave our lives together,respecting former spousesand welcoming all into the fold.Make us a loving flock and remind us,that all it takes is a...

Your Get Up and Go, Got Up and Left

Your Get Up and Go, Got Up and Left It reads this way: "Blessed are you oh God, for giving me renewed energy for life." That’s my favorite morning blessing. I am exhausted at the end of each day, and occasionally even during it, but I...

All in One

All in One When I’m weak, You are my strength.When I’m afraid, You are here.When I’m sad, You are my joy.When I’m in despair, You are my hope.When I’m alone, Your presence stays.When I stumble, You catch me.When I don’t understand, You are my Teacher.When others hurt, You are my Healer.

New Life

New Life At the darkest hour, life triumphs,beating back despair with irrepressible joy.And the world rejoices because they know:One new life makes all death meaningful.Thank You for remembering what it is our hearts need,and providing it in the smallest of...

Clean and Clear

Clean and Clear Sometimes when I thinkI can’t scrub the dirt offthe kitchen floor(or my soul)I want to give up, but I get down on my knees.You’ve shown me thatpractical prayers and elbow greaseaccomplish so many things.

Forgotten Thank You's

Forgotten Thank You's Between work and family, friends and parties,I often forget to thank You for the little blessings in my life.Thank You for giving me my period last month when I was worried it wouldn't come.Thank You for helping me convince my Trig professor that I deserved to pass.Thank...

One Vision, One Plan

One Vision, One Plan Thank You for giving usthe vision to make this plan.Thank You for giving our leadersopen minds and open hearts.Please give us the strength and wisdomto communicate the vision to our team.We look for enthusiastic supportand capable hands to put our plan into action.We are...

Only Child

Only Child "Help me."I seem to say that a lot.You must be tired of my constant pleas.Yet You remain as close as my shadowas constant as breathing.You spoil me with your constancy.How good of You to favor each one of usas though we are an only child,Your ear tuned to the particular pitchof each...

Prayer for Thanksgiving

Prayer for Thanksgiving What if Thanksgiving isn't really that special after all? If you're the kind of person who wakes up every day and prays, counts your blessings and gives thanks for the bounty in your life; do you need a holiday to do what you already do? How 'bout getting together with the family? Your family has no "dys" in front of their "functional" and you all get together for...

Grateful Start

Grateful Start Thank You for this day–a fresh start,a new opportunity,a gift from You.Thank You for filling itwith the joy of friends,the wonder of what might be,an awareness that You are here–watching, waiting, loving,more awesome than anythingthat stands against me.

Sensing Grace

Sensing Grace I finally sense the gracethat is at my grasp every day.It is here.When it's frigid,when it's bleak,when I'm joyous.It is here. When health suffers,when loved ones pass,when I'm grateful.It is here.

Journey = Destination

Journey = Destination Let me ask an unusual thing:Bless the people with their cranky pants on this morning.The ones who got off on the wrong foot today.Who woke up

Playtime

Playtime Trees must be climbed,pebbles thrown and puddles stomped.Instead of calling him back,help me share in the joyof these sights, these sounds,and these experiences.Help me fight the urgeto look for the stain removeruntil after we have had our fun,run our race,and laughed out loud.With Your help,I can relearn joyin the sticky hands...

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks Every year at this time, the family comes together,traveling from afar to the old homestead.Help me plan and prepare the feast for my family.Allow us to eat our fill of these homemade delicacies and enjoy each other's company.Even with all these perfect pieces,the puzzle is incomplete without prayer.Bless us with a spirit of gratitude as we commemorate Your...

Friend in Need

Friend in Need You know, there are timeswhen I think I can’t find You.Instead of sending me helpin the form of a knight in shining armor,You give me the neighborwho was just minding their own...

Gal Pals

Gal Pals They're the ones that I can count on,sure as the beads on an abacus.It is miraculous to mehow You fit them into my life:the childhood friend,the college roommate,the confidante,the sisters by birthand by marriage.Treasures, all...a profusion much greaterthan one woman deserves.Thank You for the bondsforged by...

Walking with You

Walking with You For now, I'm in the ante-room of life, waiting,perusing month-old magazines,fully expecting You to wave that flag when the race begins.Little do I know, it's already fully underway.Motivate me to see beyond the confines of faithand to move from waiting on You to walking with You.I ask that You...

As I Dine

As I Dine As I sit down to this meal, I thank You for the gift of this day and the opportunities it brings, opportunities to live and love and grow in Your light. 

One, Big, Happy

One, Big, Happy Our driveway is a lot for rental cars,our basement a campsite:blankets on couches,air mattresses, sleeping bags.Upstairs, the cacophony of catching up:Look how the kids have grown!How was the vacation?Gee, I miss Gram.Thank You for bringing us together.Thank You for gathering us safely.Thank You...

Minute to Minute

Minute to Minute I focus on my blessingswith an attitude of gratitude.Content I have food to share;grateful my friends care;happy to have a roof over my head,even though it leaks...For I am alive!I am secure in the knowledgethat I love and that I am loved,and that I have the gift of understanding, and the...

Another Year, Another Birthday

Another Year, Another Birthday Today I reflect on another year gone by.365 days of living and loving,of rising and falling,of questioning and answering,of sharing and safeguarding,of learning and stretching,of succeeding and stumbling,of laughing and mourning,of giving and...

Spirit Mechanics

Spirit Mechanics Thank You for the miracle of movement.Thank You for the ease with which I directmy body wherever I want to go.Should I ever lose this capacity,let me not be discouraged,let me not lose hope.Help me to realize,that by Your infinite grace,I can never be truly confined.

In All I Do

In All I Do Let me sing Your praisein all that I am:nurturing mother,loving daughter,faithful wife,supportive employer,disciplined employee,or humble volunteer. Let me sing Your praisein all that I do:bearing up the disappointed,guiding the lost,lending strength to...

Generation to Generation

Generation to Generation By divine selection we are born to our parents.You have allowed me to be a recipientof my parents extraordinary love.You, have weaved the fabric of theircharacter and values into my DNA.You have made them the yardstick by whichI measure myself.

Whole

Whole Though I stomp and whine and moanfor my own idea of completion,I see that You have already made me whole.And so I praise youfor the body that sustains meand the spirit that fills me,for the friends that support meand the family that guides me,for the work that challenges meand the play that thrills me,

Thankful

Thankful We’re selling our house.  And no one is buying it. I’m not sure if you know what it feels like to deep clean your home at a moment’s notice with a screaming banshee toddler strapped to your calf, but it feels exactly like deep cleaning your home at a moment’s notice.  With a toddler strapped to your calf. I’ve...

Wipe, Wipe, Wipe

Wipe, Wipe, Wipe In the morning I wipe upthe spilled cereal milk,then I wipe off the milk mustaches.When the baby cries,it means she needs wiping.Later I'm wiping dirty hand prints off of the walls.It's raining when the kids get home from school...I'm wiping off damp headsand wiping up muddy footprints.Dinner includes...

Forbidden Fruit Makes Good Pie

Forbidden Fruit Makes Good Pie I turned 40 earlier this month, and have been celebrating every weekend... and some weeknights, too! Last weekend, a group of girlfriends whisked me away to Lisle, Illinois for a hiking day at Morton Arboretum. Morton Salt magnate, Joy Morton, founded the 1,700-acre Arboretum in 1922. It's dedicated to the planting and conservation of trees,...

The Language of Love

The Language of Love Thanks be to Youfor semi-colons,for m-dashes, ellipses, and commas.Glory be in the languages of Earth,in Morse code and Braille,in Swahili and Portuguese.You made us social beings,then gave us the gift that binds,that brings us togetherin conversation, chatter,...

Room For You

Room For You In the tiny rooms of this apartment,I praise You.Only through You do I have shelter.Only by your hand,do I have laundry to do,food to prepare, and dishes to wash.It may not be a vast palace or a mansion full of servants,but it is where I am,and I praise Youfor all You have given me.  

Cycles

Cycles Thank You for the seasonsYou've designed for Your creations;for the sweet and gentle signalsthat it's time to change,time to blossom and thrive,time to release and restore.May I be always opento unfamiliar winds,confident each new changespeaks of new life ahead.

Impossibly Alive

Impossibly Alive I was absolutely certainI was going to die.I saw the world spin around mewhile my hands gripped the wheeland my foot frantically pumped the break.I plead with You; I begged for my life.And You were beside me.Taking control because I could not.Your strong hands guided me to...

Fussing Over the Folks

Fussing Over the Folks Help me to not worrywhen the phone rings and ringsand my messages go unanswered.Let me take a deep breathand picture them;not in a ditch,but where they usually are these days—touring a winery,hiking a woodland path,or on yet another trip. The life they are living today...

Blessed Meal

Blessed Meal Thank You for this food.May I savor each bitemindful of the blessings that bought it,the work that produced it,and the hands that prepared it.May I be nourished and renewedby this gift of sustenance,eager and able to pass Your blessings on.

Sustenance

Sustenance For the love in the hands that prepared this food, I thank You.For the warmth of the meal and the warmth of the conversation, I thank You.For the laughter bubbling over the spread before us, I thank You.I praise You for the joyful spirits You sustain,for the willing hands so happy to serve,for...

One Love

One Love Gratitude to Youfor laying down the foundation of faith.Praise to Youfor building this home filled with hope.Glory to Youfor this temporary templethat houses my soul.Adoration to Youfor teaching me through trialsand abiding with me through it all.

Appoggiatura

Appoggiatura In Italian there is alingering note that precedesthe fugue of living.Appoggiatura - a sustained tonethat cuts into the timeof the next chord.Sometimes it's called a grace notealternately, a time-stealer.

Ready and Willing

Ready and Willing I fall short, but You are my help.I am no angel, but I look to You.I am not strong, but You are unshakable.I may not be perfect, but I am willing.For in my weakness, I have Your grace.For tough decisions, I have Your Spirit.For every need, I have You.

Ever-Present

Ever-Present I lost my nerve todayand You led me back to it.What would I do without Yourever-present support?Thank You for never,tiring    tiring     tiring of my repetitivepleas and failings.

Making Way for Clarity

Making Way for Clarity Thank You for clearing:my mind,my vision,my arteries,my conscience,the road ahead of me.Thank You for the clarity thatI have but to ask for.     

You Know

You Know Only You can say what I need.I think I know:  this job, that house, this person that I say I love. But only You can say what I need.  I do know what I want: to trust more in You, in the gentle and hopefulunveiling of Your promise.