My Simple Prayer
Thank you Lord for
Accepting me today,
Inspiring me today,
Providing for me today,
Guiding me today,
Protecting me today,
Delivering me today,
Keeping me today,
Forgiving me today,
Loving me today.
Category: Motivational
An Open Love Letter…to you
Dear xxxxxx,
On this symbolic day of love I am writing this letter to say thank you for all that you do. I know that many times your efforts seem to go unnoticed but I want to assure you that they are not. Many of us notice and highly value what you do on a regular basis and it would be a great loss if you were not involved in the ways that you are.
One thing I love about you is how you continue to do what you do even though the odds seem stacked against you. If one were to focus on the outward appearances, the environment for success appears dismal. All around you are the voices of negativity, dissension, distrust and anger and yet, you stay positive and encouraging through it all. Your smiles and warmth seem to offset the frowns and worries of those you encounter. I love your kindness.
Do-Over
Looking back on childhood games, I can remember sometimes being at the end of a game of competition and the words “do-over” would be uttered. There was no explanation needed; both sides understood that the contest would be replayed with the requestor hoping for a different result.
The good thing about a do-over is that there was the real possibility that the outcome would change in your favor. If you were successful in the do-over the previous results no longer mattered. The do-over would serve as the final authoritative account.
Chasing the Wrong Dream
It has been popular over the last few years to talk about chasing our dreams. Countless books have been written, seminars given and sermons preached about pursuing and achieving your dreams. It is a subject that all of us can relate to. Through the power of imagination we can see ourselves enjoying whatever it is that we dream about.
It’s a common refrain that we hear repeated to our children and our youth: “you can be anything that you want to be”. We want to encourage our children to think big thoughts and not to settle for mediocrity in life. We know that the higher the aspirations the less likely our youth will be sucked into the miasma of poverty, crime and other undesirable outcomes.
But what if we are chasing the wrong dream?
Haiti – What Can You Do?
The more we see about the earthquake in Haiti, the more we realize that this tragedy is bigger and more horrific than we first imagined. Words like “surreal” and “unbelievable” help summarize the reports we see and hear from the eye witnesses on the ground. For those who died in Haiti, the world did come to an end.
Christmas Time!
Holidays, and especially the Christmas season have always been special to me. My earliest memories of Christmas still bring a warm sensation as I relive those happy times as a child. The excitement and anticipation of unknown gifts was almost too much to bear.
The months leading up to Christmas would often find me, my brother and sister paging through the huge gift catalogs that found their way into our home. We would search item after item to find those things that would represent the ultimate gift for us.
A Glimmer in the Dark
Have you ever been in a really dark room where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face? As children (and many adults), being in a dark room is an uneasy experience. It is not that the darkness changed anything physically about our surroundings. What was under the bed when the lights were on was the same thing under the bed when the lights went off.
But there is something palpable about the fear and uncertainty that grips us when we find ourselves in complete darkness. What we were confident about in the light we are now unsure about in the dark. Our ability to move freely and without much forethought has now been reduced to clumsiness and timidity. Life changes in the dark.
Go Outside and Play!
I cannot count the many times I heard those words from my mother. They were usually spoken with a slightly elevated voice that indicated this was a command and not a suggestion.
My siblings and I must have gotten those words of instruction at the same time our neighborhood friends were hearing them from their moms. Once outside, we found all of our friends making their exits from home as well. All of us kids knew we had to make the most of our free time and not venture back inside until either seriously injured, downright exhausted or if it was time to eat.
Expand My Territory…Really?
I do like the sound of that – Expand My Territory. I can see myself now on top of the world. It has been a long time in coming and now is just as good a time as any. I can imagine myself with success in all avenues of my life; social, financial, personal and spiritual. I like the thought of me living the life of my dreams and making impact wherever I go. Yes, expand my territory sounds really good about now.
There is one little, teensy weensy problem though.
Don’t Quit Now
The crowd must have been massive. To have someone in your town, walking through your streets, who was the subject of interest for many generations, was special. Not only was He walking through town with His executive team, He was changing lives in the process. In a moment of time people were realizing miracles in their lives. The crowd must have been massive.
Jesus was on his way to assist a family with their dying daughter. A father in deep distress had come and begged Jesus for his help. As Jesus was complying and slowly making His way to this man’s house of desperation, the crowds gathered and pressed about Him. Shouting and talking and pushing about Him, this was a scene for the ages.
There we find a nameless woman. Her life for many years had been one of disappointment after disappointment. Her health was failing and her resources for survival had been exhausted by her repeated attempts to bring healing to her terminal health condition. Her only chance…her last chance was in asking Jesus for a miracle similar to ones she had heard repeated about him. But the crowd was massive and she was weak and small.
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