Thanksgiving Prayer

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...

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...

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.

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.

Paso Doble

Paso Doble Each day is a blessingof epic proportions.I give thanks forwhat might seem meager comforts:real cream in my coffee,a day without a bill in the mail,Paso Doble, the Spanish two-step.Sometimes life is a dancea woman has to do backwardspushing against the windand obstacles in the...

Self-Acceptance

Self-Acceptance I achieved Rubenesque status by eating reubens,living life fully, indulging to the hilt.  Fondly, I remember fondue.The bakery, sacred to me.I approach pie with what one can only regard as piety.Thank You for this ample frame, which allowed me...

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...

I Know You are with Me

I Know You are with Me My faults are many.My will is weak.My heart is troubled.My life estranged. Your sweet breathcomes through the windand brushes my face,and I know You are with me. My fears are controllingMy mind is numbMy spirit is dampMy soul is fading.

Dance for Menopause

Dance for Menopause By all accounts,it appears bleak.Part of me is taken away;part of me is no more.Yet I do not weep.I laugh,for You have made me a girl again,long-limbed and unconfined,my body made for dancing, swimming, double-handsprings, maybe.

Toddler's Cuddle

Toddler's Cuddle I thank You for the grinthat is more gums than teeth.A chubby hand in minethat often leaves something sticky behind.A chortle that lowers blood pressureand raises bliss.The roundest bare bellyplaying peek-a-boo.Those nubby little toesin perfect chubby rows.For the intense, gooey...

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...

Bless This Mess

Bless This Mess If cleanliness is next to godliness,this house is in another zip code.Divine presence, please bless our dirty home,for it has been lived in and loved in.Thank you for every messy inch of it. For the dust lining the...

Everyday Miracles

Everyday Miracles There are things I don't understand, but I count on them.Electricity.  A compass.  Faith.Things that light my way and take me where I need to be.Gravity.  Common sense.You. Things I count on to

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...

Granddaughter

Granddaughter I am overwhelmed with gratitude to Youfor putting this child of my childonto this earth and into my life.Her presence has brought me a joy I'd never known, an abundant joy,ever-bubbling; a transcendental bliss.I thank You for this miracles,for the chance to hold her,and to cherish her.To love...

Lessons from the Bird-Brained

Lessons from the Bird-Brained Thank You for the opportunity to observe,with wonder, every stageof this feathered familyʼsreproductive drama. Thank You for teaching Your children,through such tiny creatures,the power of parental...

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,...

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...

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.  

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.

Lesson in Roses

Lesson in Roses I was thinking,the other day,about tea roses.The splendid profusionof hybrids—two beautiful plantsbred togetherinto something startlingly newand impossibly lovely.And it occurred to methat it was something like a marriage:The two of us,starting out foreign to one another,

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...

The Right Job

The Right Job Thank You for giving me a job I love and one I can do well in.Thank You for the committed people who work beside me.Bless us with a spirit of harmony

Showing Up

Showing Up Just when I thoughtYou'd forgotten all about me,You show up out of the blue. A message, a flower, a guide.Something speaks to meand it says You. I bet You've been there all along,and since I wasn't expecting You,I missed Your appearance. Open up my sensesso that I may let You in.

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,

There is More

There is More There is a pattern to sunlightdancing soft shadowsacross the morning trees.There is an order, even to the current,flowing towards tumbling waterfalls.There is destiny based on choices,and a calling to those who search.There is more here than even a poetcan pen at dawn, and a philosophercan...

Wisdom of Our Elders

Wisdom of Our Elders Bless the Nanas of the world,the Pop-Pops, the Gramps,who show us how to knit, how to fish,how to find a good moodeven when their sciatica kicks in. Secretly holding the world together,they don't competewith whoever the Joneses might be,and teach that kindnessis love on a slow...

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...

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...

I've Missed You

I've Missed You Years ago, when I first fell in love with You,nothing could silence our connection.The warm assurances we shared were non-stop.You were Everything. Everywhere. Always. Until...Explosive heart-break. Unfair loss. Pain.It was so scalding hot,not even You could console me.I see now that's onlybecause You are gentle and patient.

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...

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.     

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...

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.

Silent Partner

Silent Partner Grace training began three years ago with the first heartfelt prayer of my life: Help me. This isn't the life I would have chosen, If I had my druthers.

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

The Reason

The Reason Prayer is a gift I give myself.I turn to You,because then I am not alone.I give You my troubles:You can bear them.I give You my thanks:You grant me all my needs.I give You my praise:You give me more to admire.I get more than I can ever give.And that is why I pray.  

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.

Day In and Day Out

Day In and Day Out Today has been kind of low key,nothing much going on.Still I see Your work all around me.In the intricaciesof tendon and muscle and nervethat enable my hands to work.In the complexityof sun and waterthat supports lifeon this complicated planet.You are truly in all.

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...

Unparalleled Gift of Community

Unparalleled Gift of Community The friends You have given mebring explosive joy.They bring laughter and hope.They hold and support methrough trials and uncertainty.They give me a sense of purposeby allowing me the opportunityto be an encouragement to them.Through my...

Syncing to Real Life

Syncing to Real Life Thank you for helping me to disconnect,if only for a short time.No television or computer.No social media or texting. Rather, fresh air and pungent smells,Pointed sounds and colorful sights,Surprising tastes and varied textures.Genuine, caring people.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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,

Thanksgiving on My Mind

Thanksgiving on My Mind I will not be spending Thanksgiving with my family this year. In fact, it's been more than 20 years since the whole lot of us got together for the holiday. Still, like most everyone, I vividly recall family Thanksgivings of old. Like most memories, it's mostly sense-based; that is, redolent of food.

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

Inspirational You

Inspirational You I pray for You to be with mein the moments I need inspirationto fulfill my life’s pathwaywith creative moments and joy.I know my journey consists ofmore than just monumental events,but is filled with day-to-day activitiesthat lead me to my greatest work.I find my joy and inspiration a...

Whatever May Come

Whatever May Come I’m getting the idea You know what the heck You’re doing.You made me funny, fickle,sometimes feral,but You know I always find my way back to center.You gave me the quirks I possess, like a penchant for...

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...

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...

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...