Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Cracks of Life

Lord,

When I feel like curling up, going back to bed, and being lazy, remind me that there is work that you have for me to do.  Not just going to my job, but your work.


Help keep me focused and pointed toward what I can do for others rather than always looking inward toward my own wants.


When I fall, help me get back onto my feet.


When I feel that life is taking a bite out of me,


help me to remember that it is in your embrace by your passion, death, and resurrection that I am made whole.


For you show me everywhere that You are with me.


I need not look in far away places.


For You are at my side, ever helping me to rise out of the cracks of life.   Please help me to remember it. 



Monday, August 29, 2011

False Weariness

Lord,

Please help my body to be calm, even as there is movement all around me.  And, if it be Your will that my body not be calm and continue jerking, them give me the patience, focus, and mental and physical stamina to function.


Let me see your Light, especially when I am tempted to see only the darkness around me.



Help me to have steady hands when the time is right for steady hands.


Lord,

Help me to stay awake today and to do your work.  Help me to see You all around me so that I am not tempted to focus on myself when I should be focused on doing your work for others.



Help me to look for You even when I don't immediately see You.


Help me to be your humble servant, Lord, for I am always so very tempted to be my own servant.  Sometimes I feel battered when I serve You.  Help me to see that this is nothing more than a temptation to turn from you and not true weariness.  It is an illusion that I must see for what it is.


Thank you for this day, my Lord and my God, lover of my soul.

Amen

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Gray

Lord,

Help me to see through the shades of gray to always see You in others.


Help me to look past people's poor choices, behaviors, habits, appearance, etc., so that I can act in a way that is pleasing to You.

Lord,

Help me to read people.  Read what they say but also what they don't say, what they do but also what they don't do.

Amen

Monday, August 22, 2011

Caffeine

Lord,

Help me to see both the positive and negative sides to things so that I might rejoice in the positive and plan for the plans B, C, and D that are sometimes needed when things don't go as planned.


Help me to stay awake and see You today since this is the first business day that I have to abstain from caffeine yet be on an increased dose of medication that makes me tired.


Help me to also notice those things and people who need an answered prayer.  Help me discern those things I am able to do to help others yet still enable me to take some time for myself. 


Help me to not over-extend myself or become anxious over life.  Help me to trust in You.


Amen

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Anxiety

Lord,

Thank you for helping to ease some of my anxiety by having my EEG show no seizures.


Help me now to focus on You, on my work, and on the people around me.  I will still work to find out the causes of these jerking spells, but I know that everything will be ok.


Everything will be ok because You are with me and looking after me.  


Keep your fire burning brightly within me.  I will remember You are always with me. 


I will take your presence withinme and around me to help calm my anxiety. 


Amen

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Open Eyes

Lord,

Help me keep my eyes open today.


Help me keep them open so that I can work.  Open so I can drive.  Open so I can enjoy the company of a friend.  Most importantly, though, open so I can see You.

Oh yes, open so that I can prepare for my sleep-deprived EEG tomorrow too!

Amen!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Focus

Dear Lord,

Since I'll have my head down and working for longer than normal today, please give me colors.


For when I see colors, I see You.  Who else can make such colors?


Lord, let me be awed by your creation.  When I am awed, I forget about my muscle spasms.  :-)


When I am awed, I must think about how the work I do is valuable because just as You made colors, You made me.



Just as You made colors, You made those around me.  All those around me.  Not just the people I like.


You made everyone beautiful, even when I don't see the beauty.  I must still treat everyone as beautiful.


I must always remember that You died on the cross for the sake of everyone's salvation, so I mustn't ever judge myself more worthy than another.  We all make choices and then make more choices and then make more choices.


Lord,

Help me to stay focused today.  Focused on my work.  Focused on my driving.  Focused on staying awake.  Most importantly, focused on seeing You in others.


Lord,

Hold my hand today.  I am in need of a Companion today, especially as these jerks/spasms continue to get worse every day.  Hold my hand and let me focus on You rather than the electricity everywhere in my body.


Amen.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Reflection on Inconvenience

I was driving today and reflecting about what I wanted to put into today's blog post.  The words came to me without prompting:

"Christianity is not a religion of convenience."

Jesus constantly told parables and instructed his followers to do very difficult things.

"Pick up your cross and follow me."  Remember, in those days, the cross was an instrument of torture and death.  It was not a nice, shiny thing to wear around one's neck as jewelry.  It was a nasty, horrible, gruesome way to die.

There is a song that has the refrain, "They'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  They'll know we are Christians by our love."

My reflection today is about love.

No one would  take a second glance at a family member who loves another family member.  This is the natural order of things and is not specific to Christianity.  No one would take a second glance at a friend who does something in love for a friend.  This is the natural order of things and is not specific to Christianity.

What does it mean to love a stranger?  Love, not common courtesy.  Love, not mutual respect.  Love, not tolerance.

If we strive to act in a way that makes passersby say, "Wow, what makes that chick tick?  Why on earth would she do XYZ to a total stranger?"  or "Why would that chick do XYZ to somebody who obviously doesn't like her?"

What an extraordinary concept.  What an extraordinary effort such a life requires.  What an extraordinary Companion, Friend, and Spirit we need to act in such a way.

Preaching religion until we are blue in the face, even if we use the best oratorical skills imaginable doesn't change hearts in the way that simple acts of extraordinary kindness can.  Christ's love shines for the recipient of these simple acts of kindness.

Do we allow Christ's light to shine there in us when it is inconvenient?

I am struck in particular about when Jesus told the disciples to go out two by two with no extra clothes, no extra money, etc., and preach the Good News.

In my mind, I hear Peter's wife saying, "You're going to do what?  I don't think so.  What is your family supposed to eat?  Fish don't find their way to our table without the fisherman, ya know?"

Ok, so Peter's wife didn't have the Midwestern, "ya know," in her dialect, but I had to throw it in there.

Jesus' request was very simple, yet very inconvenient.

My prayer is that I act with love toward strangers and those in need of love even when I have my own problems, even when I have my own struggles, even when I feel insecure and need reassurance about myself. It's not all about me.  Acts of love always keep me grounded.

Dear Jesus,

May I do as You instructed, commanded, and modeled by your life, death, and resurrection.

Amen

Doctor

Lord,

Help me to find rest.  Help me to stay in a state of rest before I must work.


Help me to sway in the wind but not to jerk so much that I hurt to the point of not being able to sleep or work.


Help me to find a doctor who understands the problem I'm having.  Let us work together to battle this thing...


And if it be your will that I continue to face this challenge, then help me to shine vibrantly for You in the midst of constant distraction.



For no struggle is greater than the gifts You give, even if the journey seems dark and dreary.


Amen.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Distraction

Dear Lord,

Please help me to sleep even though I still see your colors everywhere.  I'm seeing your colors to the point of distraction.


Help me to see what I am supposed to see and then reflect upon seeing You in others.


Lord, 

Help me to always point to You, even when my knee-jerk reaction is to think that You are stripping me bare. 



Sometimes life seems like it doesn't make sense, but I need You to remind me that I must always point to You.


Amen

Friday, August 12, 2011

Needs

Lord,

Help me to remember that there are many shades of emotion in people.


Help me to remember that even when people think they know their own emotions, sometimes, there are more shades of that emotion inside than they might not even know are there.  Just like my emotions evolve and can spark or halt progress, so too do I need to remember to give people time and space to figure out their own feelings. 

Lord, 

Help me to be more prepared for what people need.  Help me to think ahead and anticipate what needs to be done before it needs to be done.  

Amen

Thursday, August 11, 2011

When...

Lord,

When I am busy and running all over the place to get things done, remind me that your work is not the world's work.

When I am zapped of all energy from electric shocks and involuntary jerks in my body, remind me that I am weak and broken and must turn to You.

When I wake and want to do nothing more than turn over and go back to sleep, remind me that your work awaits.

When my hands and feet shake, remind me that steadiness and steadfastness in my spirit outweigh being able to type or write or hold anything in my hands.

When my head is forced forward or to the side in a burst of energy, remind me that if I look to You and to nothing and no one else that I will be ok.



When I grunt with these jolts of electricity and people look at me sideways, remind me that words and song and sound are not always meant for what people think is important.

When I feel all the warning signs that the jolts are going to start: prickling, itching, twitching, etc., help my anxiety to ease, for I have nothing to be anxious about if I walk with You, see You in others, and then treat them the way that I should since You are in them.

Amen

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Storm

Lord,

When I can see the storm coming and I need to remaining full of trust, hold my hand.


Help me to be like the other apostles who stayed in the boat and simply waited for you as you walked on the water toward them.  Yes, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward You, but You were walking toward the boat anyway.  Keep my faith steady, for the waters will calm and the storm will subside as You approach. 



I know that You blow the clouds away when it is your will, and you leave the storm where it is when it is your will. I needn't know why or when or how but only that You draw near.


Help me, Lord, to always seek your Light.  You are there, ready to walk across the waters toward me, ready to embrace me.

Help me to keep my eyes fixed on You and not the storm.  I am a sky gazer, and I need help keeping my eyes fixed where they should be fixed!

Amen

Monday, August 8, 2011

Pointing, Always Pointing

Lord,

Let me always point to You.  Let me do so in a way that is subtle, so that I do not ever come across as preachy or arrogant or rude.  Let me point to you in all that I do, that I might see You in others, and let others see You in me.


Amen

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Let Me Rest in You

Lord,

Let me rest in You!


Hold me close to your heart, Lord, for I don't always understand your ways.  Catch me when I fall, and hold me close.  

Amen