Seeing What I Should Be Seeing

Lord,

Help me discern what I should be seeing for how You want me to take action.  Are you calling me to take action in this way or that way?  Am I seeing a damaged tree or a survivor tree?

Should I be seeing the flower or the cars?

Should I be seeing the windows or the cross?

For what I think You're calling me to do is such a large decision that affects not only me but others around me.  Am I seeing within my heart my own will or Your will?  Please help me to know what I should do.

Amen

Forgiveness

Lord,

Heal me.  When sin tears a hole in my heart as it so often does, whisper in my ear to remind me that I all need to do is seek your forgiveness.

Make me whole again so that I can shine vibrantly for You to others.

The stain of sin still marks me as I walk this earth but your forgiveness makes me whole in the way possible while still here.  Help me to remember to continually seek forgiveness and to realize that I am so many times at fault.  But, through your mercy, I can get up again to sing your praises. 

I see your breath everywhere. 

For it surrounds me. 

When You move my heart I cannot help but see you in every glance.

Your whisper is so subtle yet so pronounced that I must always listen for it. 

Speak to my heart, oh my Lord and God, for You are marvelous indeed. 

Reach down and touch me with your forgiveness. 

And help me to take that forgiveness and extend it to those around me who hurt me.

Help me Lord Jesus to always see that you are near, even in my day to day endeavors.

Amen

Reaching for You

Lord,

Help me to be steady today.  I ask for even handedness as I work and drive and speak (and take pictures).

Breathe on me, that I might let kindness flow through my hands and words and spirit.

Let me steal from St. Francis and ask that you make me an instrument of your peace.

For where there is peace, there is mercy.  Your mercy.

Let me see You, Lord.  I know You listen and hear.  Let me listen and hear what others say and not just what I think they are saying.  In listening to others, let me reach for you.  Let me reach for understanding.

Amen

Good Things

Lord,

Help me to see You in all good things.

Help me to see that green is not to remind me always of envy or money, but of your creation.

Lord,

Help me to remember that white is not only the color of purity, but of your blossoms.

Purple is not only the color of Kings but of your fragrance.

Lord,

Help me to remember that the setting and rising of the sun and moon are for many reasons, but also to remind me of your presence.

Lord,

Help me to see you in even the smallest of things, in the things others overlook.

Lord,

Keep my mind on how you provide for me, on the clothes of the lilies of the field.  Take my anxiety away on things like what tomorrow will hold, clothing, food, shelter, my JOB.

For not even Solomon, in all of his splendor was dressed as one of these...

Or these...

Or these...

Lord,

Point me to your forgiveness.

And to your mercy.

Keep me upright in your eyes.

Lord,

Thank you for showing me your colors today.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to capture some of them with my camera (cell phone).  Thank you for giving me a steady hand as I snapped pictures.  Thank you for not allowing my muscle spasms to interfere with my pictures.

Thank you again, my Lord, for a steady hand during these moments of my day.

Thank you, my God, for steady hands for most of the day while I worked at my job.

Thank you, Lord, for guiding my mind to seek You and to want to know You.  Give me the will to do so all the days of my life.

Lord, teach me your ways.  Guide me as I practice, and practice, and practice.

Amen.

Colors

Lord,

Let me see your colors.  You named me with a name that would forever cause me to look for your colors.  I came into this world named Jennifer Reding.  Lord, thank you for showing me your colors today.

Thank you for warming me up to see your colors.

Again, thank you for warming me up to see your colors.

Thank you for making me nearly giddy for your colors, for I knew You would bring them to me if I was patient enough to wait today.

Yes, Lord!  How magnificent you paint the sky!  How much more beauty is there for the eye to see?  How much more beautiful must You be!

Thank you, Lord, for your colors.  Thank you, Lord, for your life-breath.  Thank you, Lord, for your insistence that we all be made differently from one another.  No two living creatures are quite the same.  Even the trees have their own shape, personality, and touch.

Amen.