Week Ending November 24, 2018
{quotes}
Take your prayers beyond the walls of your home, beyond your house of worship. Walk and pray today.
Laughter is carbonated holiness.
Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.
Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.
Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
Givers have to set limits because takers rarely do.
{blessings}
Caution
It only takes a moment to destroy. Only a few sentences, a heartless broken promise, a lack of empathy, and it’s gone. May you be blessed with caution in word, deed, and intention.
When to Leave
Some people are always angry, continuously looking for conflict. Walk away. The battle they fight isn’t with you, it’s with themselves. May you be blessed to know when to leave, when to stay, when to support, when to cease supporting. Don’t be drawn into anyone’s inner struggle – you can’t win, and worse of all – they can’t win either.
Go Find It
What’s your excuse for being anything but happy today? Bad hair day. You hate work. Too much to do. Such trivial matters. May you be blessed to be happy, every single day, despite excuses and even despite good reason. There’s at least a little happy in every day – go find it.
Turkey Time
May your stuffing be tasty, and your turkey be plump, may your potatoes and gravy have nary a lump. May your yams be delicious and your pies take the prize, and may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs. Seriously…all that and this too: May God bless you on this day to be surrounded by love and filled with gratitude.
Natural Gifts
It’s not on the rack. The perfect gift to make them love you. To make them feel worthy. To make them happy. You can’t shop for it. May you be blessed to share your natural gifts with the ones who need it most. And know this…they won’t exchange it for anything else.
{prayers}
Maker of Greatness
You did not give me the gift of life to settle, to be less than, or to accomplish mediocre goals. I was born to shine, reach for the stars, and to become the very best version of myself. Help me be great. Give me wisdom to make good decisions. Fortify me with strength to follow through. Praise to You, Maker of greatness.
Wake Me
Dear God, Wake me from this nightmare. I dream of the day when I will be the powerful, beautiful, resilient person I once was. It’s so hard to remember that side of me when I feel like a shell of the person I was before. I trust You to bring me back to my true self – no longer the weak imposter who took over my will, my soul, and my body. Let me wake in light, let me live freely again. Amen
Mystery Unfolding
I embrace the tears and the not knowing. This prayerful moment is for letting down my guard and letting my emotions in. In due time my dear Lord, I will watch Your mystery unfold, find my answers, and I will understand.
We Thank You
For the expanding grandeur of Creation, worlds known and unknown, galaxies beyond galaxies, filling us with awe and challenging our imaginations; We give thanks. For this fragile planet earth, its times and tides, its sunsets and seasons; We give thanks. For the joy of human life, its wonders and surprises, its hopes and achievements; We give thanks. For human community, our common past and future hope, our oneness transcending all separation, our capacity to work for peace and justice in the midst of hostility and oppression; We give thanks. For high hopes and noble causes, for faith without fanaticism, for understanding of views not shared; We give thanks. For all who have labored and suffered for a fairer world, who have lived so that others might live in dignity and freedom; We give thanks. For human liberties and sacred rites, for opportunities to change and grow, to affirm and choose; We give thanks. We pray that we may live not by our fears but by our hopes, not by our words but by our deeds. We give thanks for these and for the bounty before us. Amen
Make Me Brave
God, make me brave. Let me straighten after pain, shining and lovely again. God, make me brave. Let me rise from sorrow with quiet eyes, Knowing Your way is right and wise. God, make me brave. Let me see what I might for out of darkness comes Your light.
{stories, video, features}
Story: Muddy Path to Heaven
Article: Church with 241 Steps
Blog: Give Up Fear
Story: Lessons from Jerry
Music Praise Video: How Can I Keep From Singing?
Story: The “What Have I Gotten Myself Into?” Thanksgiving Dinner”
Video: 80’s to Now Photo Gallery
{Bible}
Joshua 24:15
As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
Psalm 118:24
Make Today Awe-mazing This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
The Ten Commandments
for today’s sensibilities 1. I will look only to God for the source of my good. 2. I will not think my life is lacking of anything. God gives all I need. 3. I will not speak the words of lack or limitation. 4. I will let go and let God do it. 5. I will deal honorably with God and all people. God’s good is in all people and all things. 6. I will not have harmful thoughts toward anybody or anything. 7. I will use my God-given, spiritual power for good only. 8. I will not seek something for nothing. 9. I will be honest with God and myself. 10. I will not limit myself by wanting that which is another’s. With God’s help, through prayer, I will create my own.
Thanksgiving Psalms
Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with song I will magnify Him with thanksgiving. Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Psalm 95:2 Let us come before God with thanksgiving and extol Him. Psalm 75:1 We give thanks to You, Oh God. We recount Your wondrous deeds. Psalm 86:12 I give thanks to You, O Lord my God and I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 31:14
I trust You O Lord You are my God Your trust in Me is a moment by moment choice. My people have not always understood this truth. After I performed miracles in the wilderness, My chosen children trusted Me intensely – but only temporarily. Soon the grumbling began again, testing my patience to the utmost.
{affirmations}
Happy Contradictions
The more I am alone with the Alone, the more I surrender to ambivalence, to happy contradictions and seeming inconsistencies in myself and almost everything else, including God. Paradoxes don’t scare me anymore.
Lessons from Jerry
Life is all about choices. When I cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. I choose how I react to situations. I choose how people will affect your mood. I choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. It’s my choice how I live my life.
My Light
Just as the sun rises each day I too will rise and bring my light to the world.
Grateful
grateful.
Love, Peace, Hope
Today I choose to live with gratitude for the LOVE that fills my heart, the PEACE that vests within my spirit, and the voice of HOPE that says all things are possible.