Little Graces

Did you know that the Greek word for "grace" in the New Testament also means "thanks"? I love that. I learned it a long time ago and, unfortunately, I am quick to forget it. Isn't that just the most fascinating and convicting thing ever? Something to think about this Thanksgiving and Christmas season...

What are some of the little graces you are thankful for this holiday season?

Me? I am thankful for my husband, my family, my friends, and a whole lot of lesser things like spiced tea, a good book, and a nice, long walk. I am thankful for my heritage. Growing up in a strong, Christian home is a gift that is not lost on me. I am thankful for the many people who have shaped my life thus-far and the countless others who will, no doubt, shape it in the years to come. I am thankful for all of the experiences and opportunities that have shaped me over these first few decades of my life. I am thankful for hazelnut coffee at Panera Bread and any of a number of diet drinks (with the exception of Diet Pepsi...ew). I am thankful for inspiring movies like Julie &Julia and even Surf's Up (which I saw the other day...cute and encouraging). I am thankful for moments of silliness with my husband. I am thankful for friends who will come together in prayer at a moment's notice. I consider myself blessed to live in an age where there are not one, but TWO dance shows on TV. :) I am thankful for a lot of little, unimportant things that bring a little slice of joy to my life. I am also thankful for the communion of saints, a good quote, and a heartfelt prayer.

Most of all, I am thankful to be a child of the King. I may not always show my gratitude to Him for all He has done, but I am constantly aware of my need for Him. He is the Author of all hope, the Giver of all good things, and a Constant in this ever-changing world. My cup overflows in thanks for all that He has done and is doing in my life. I pray for the grace to be more and more thankful with each new day, regardless of my circumstances.

"And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." - John 1:16

Wonderful Article(s) Link

A lot of what I've been thinking/feeling lately can be found in the two articles found here. The articles are Inconvenient Thanks and The Real Joy Secret (just in case you read this after they've changed the front page articles). I love the website {in}courage and would encourage you to add it as a link on your blog. There is always something worth reading on this site. These two posts were especially inspiring to me. I hope they do the same for you.

Listening to Life

I think I was a little spoiled in Kentucky this time of year. The colors during the Fall are indescribably beautiful. While I love it here in Alabama with the decidedly warmer weather and extra sunshine, I do so miss the Fall season in Kentucky. I love the colors, the breezes, and the overall way God speaks to you in the changing seasons. His voice, His creation speaks so clearly and audibly to me in those times.

Here in Alabama, the seasons change almost abruptly. There is no real progression of things, you just wake up one morning and it is cold. The same is true with most seasons here. I miss the in-between-ness that is Fall in Kentucky. It stretched out a little and, certainly, the leaves were majestic. {The only place I've been where it was even more exceptional was Asheville, NC. The Billy Graham Retreat Center offered some of the most beautiful trees and leaves I have ever seen. Largely because they built the retreat center amidst the trees instead of clearing them all.}

I am thinking of all of this today because I took a quick walk through Chewacla, a State Park that is just minutes from our home, this afternoon. I love it there. It is peaceful and wonderful and filled with creatures and creation that never fails to make me smile. Just today a chipmunk quickly crossed my path on my journey. Those little guys make me laugh! But one thing was missing on my journey: the bright colors of a Kentucky Fall. I saw one - just one - tree with leaves that had changed colors to a bright yellow. It was gorgeous, radiant. And yet it made me kind of sad and nostalgic, too. I'll say it again - I miss those Kentucky trees!

But then a thought occurred to me. So, the colors and trees and the obvious signs of the season aren't as bold and bright as they are in Kentucky. What if that is part of God's message to me in this season of my life? I believe His word to me today was that sometimes we must look for the blessing, for signs of God's love, for the radiance of His light. God so often speaks to us subtly in that "still small voice" rather than the loud voice we long for. I needed that message today and God gave it to me in my longing. I love that He works so creatively...

{The first two pictures were taken by my outstanding husband and the last by the incomparable photographer Rob Baird. All are pretty exquisite, don't you think?}

On Love

I just wanted to share this beautiful piece that was read at the wedding of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law a couple of months ago. I always feeling like I'm talking with a friend when I hear/read the words of those of the communion of saints. Thomas à Kempis has always spoken straight to my heart. I especially love this reading because it connects earthly love with the divine love of God. For none of the attributes of love described here are possible apart from a relationship with God alone. It is only through Him that we are able to even attempt to love our spouses, families, friends, and foes at all.

On Love
Thomas à Kempis

Love is a mighty power,
a great and complete good.
Love alone lightens every burden, and makes rough places smooth.
It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and renders
all bitterness sweet and acceptable.

Nothing is sweeter than love,
Nothing stronger,
Nothing higher,
Nothing wider,
Nothing more pleasant,
Nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth;
for love is born of God.

Love flies, runs and leaps for joy.
It is free and unrestrained.
Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds.
Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil,
attempts things beyond its strength.

Love sees nothing as impossible,
for it feels able to achieve all things.
It is strange and effective,
while those who lack love faint and fail.

Love is not fickle and sentimental,
nor is it intent on vanities.
Like a living flame and a burning torch,
it surges upward and surely surmounts every obstacle.

Love without getting tired...

“Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is love without getting tired…be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” - Mother Teresa

I borrowed this quote from my friend's blog. It is the "theme" of her blog/life. For her, to love without getting tired means giving of herself to her four children each day. She has energy that is unmatched in that department. She doesn't simply do what must be done to get by. She constantly goes above and beyond, finding creative ways to help them grow and learn. It must be exhausting sometimes, but she does it with joy in her heart and a smile on her face. She loves without getting tired...

I love this quote because this is really the stuff of life. The people I am most drawn to in this life are ones who embody this quote. They are only human, so I know that they do grow tired of it sometimes. But love means pressing on and loving through the weariness. God gives us strength for that and will not let us grow weary if we will give ourselves to Him first. This is who we are called to be: A people who love without getting tired - nothing more, nothing less. This was Mother Teresa's legacy and it can be ours, too. She did extraordinary things because she began with the ordinary and her faithfulness grew from there.

The same can be said of us.

If we can be faithful in the everyday things we'll find our strength for everything else. Love really is in the small stuff that we encounter daily. We gain a little strength and confidence with every faithful step we take. And it is that quiet strength that will sustain us when life is hard.

I am...

Loving me some Sophie Kinsella these days. Everything I've read by her is so delightful and fun!
Trusting God for His provision and guidance.
Enjoying the Fall weather on The Plains. Living moments away from Chewacla State Park helps, too!
Missing my sisters and family in AR and WI...
Thankful for my incredible husband everyday.
Wishing I worked for Hallmark Cards. They need some fresh, new designs! :)
Hoping for a fantastic job to come my way...
Excited about the holidays that are just around the corner.
Praying for my dear friend Lisa...
Believing God...

"Life works better when we know how to glance at things, but gaze at God. Seeing Him clearly will enable us to see all other things clearly." - Selwyn Hughes

Surprised by...Hope

It is one of the great mysteries to me that God can continue to surprise us with His mercy and grace. You would think that we would anticipate it given His history of generosity and perfect timing. I find myself wishing I wasn't so daft as to always only recognize His mercy after-the-fact. It seems a lack of faith somehow.

Crazy, I know.

Then I start thinking. Perhaps the surprise is part of the grace. Maybe God allows us to be surprised at the depths of his mercy because it makes the experience of it sweeter. The surprise of it all is a grace in itself. God is just that creative.

I had one of these moments at church one recent Sunday. I was sitting in our usual church service just listening to the choir sing when it happened. They began a beautiful song that seemed vaguely familiar to me. I checked the bulletin and saw it was a song by Chris Tomlin. The arrangement was so different that I almost didn't recognize it at all. As they sang it seemed I was really hearing the song for the very first time.

The song was Jesus Messiah. A beautiful song no matter how you arrange it. But this morning was different. I heard something new, something I needed to hear. One little phrase, "All our hope is in you..." really resonated with me as I sat there. Immediately I thought to myself, "No it isn't. My hope is not in You right now, God." My hope has been...well, absent and most certainly not in God lately. As a result, I have found myself discouraged, defeated, and frustrated.

This little surprise encounter with the Almighty (I know, we should always expect to encounter Him...especially in church!) did wonders for my heart, mind, and soul. God spoke to me through a song I've heard a thousand times and surprised me with a personal message. My hope had been misplaced...maybe almost non-existent. I knew it then, but really admitted it to myself that morning in the pew.

I really believe that the great sin is not any of the countless issues we hear Christians talk about in the public forum. No, the real sin is unbelief. Abandoning hope. Refusing to trust God. Forgetting our history and who God is. That is the real sin.

And it is just like our amazing God to convict us of it in such a tender way as through a song or a passage of Scripture. "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him" that is really all He asks of us. All He wants is for us to remember that He has proved steadfast and sure and to place our trust, our hope in Him.

So, my surprise wasn't really a surprise really. But, then, holy surprises never really are. They are more like moments of truth, of remembrance, that somehow refresh our perspective. They remind us Who God is and how much He loves us. God is good like that.

{Jesus Messiah is on Chris Tomlin's album Hello Love. You real should buy it or download it or whatever it is you do. Or maybe ask for it for Christmas? :)}

Breakfast Panini Plug

I must share that I believe the new Lean Cuisine Breakfast Panini is a REVELATION! Scrambled egg whites, sausage, cheddar, and reduced fat mozzarella cheeses and sweet maple sauce on cinnamon-flavored multigrain bread. Can you say, YUM!"? I just had one for lunch and it was delish! Plus it has 5 grams of fiber and some iron in it, two things we women often need. And if you're a Weight Watcher, it is only 5 points! And as a bonus, it has made my whole kitchen smell like French Toast! They've got a Denver Style one I am going to buy and try next. I'll let you know if it is just as tasty!

Small Town America

A cocktail napkin I found at my in-law's house that says it all. I've learned this through recent experiences (in wee-little-Wilmore and other places along the way). I dare you to disagree!

{The pic is from Mary Phillips Designs, LLC. Lots of fun and sassy products!}

Book Recommendations

Lest any of you think I am a complete nerd and only read educational books and autobiographies (two things I freely admit that I love), I have a couple of random book recommendations for you. These are just your average, everyday juicy books. I have some issues with the language in one of them, but they are both delicious fun. Let this post also serve as my shameless plug to support your local library. They have just about everything you'd ever want to read - in print (which I'd recommend) or on CD.

Sophie Kinsella is delightful. She writes such a fun story with this one. I have yet to read any of the "Shopaholic" series, but I imagine I will eventually. This particular one is pure fun for any woman. Emma shares the insecurities and secrets of us all...and maybe a few (ok, several) I do not share at all. While my reality and my "secrets" are nothing like Emma's, I found the entire story relatable and fun. It is a fantastic book, the kind that you miss when you're finished with it. I hear it might become a movie starring Kate Hudson, who I also find delightful. This is just rumor, but I hope it is true! Next on my list by Sophie Kinsella is Remember Me?.

The other book I literally just finished is The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer. What a wonderful book! Nola is an endearing main character from the start. She, too, has raging insecurities that she shares with the reader and a couple of her closest friends. From start to finish this was one of the best fun-fiction books I have read in a while. I also found it to be encouraging and inspiring. You'll just have to read it to find out why. Sarah Strohmeyer brilliantly unfolds a story that most women can truly relate to, even if they do not share Nola's same insecurities and frustrations.

{Can I just say...three posts in three days?! I'm a bloggin' fool!}

Content Today

Because my life often has a general theme to it, I ran across these words the other day. It is funny how something is always right there for us to look at and we always seem to find it just when we need it most. These words were in a book my husband keeps at his bedside always. I randomly flipped to this selection and, because my life is just like that, it was on the subject of contentment.

The selection is from The Savior's Touch by Charles Stanley, a great man of faith. These words flow out of his understanding of the following verse, "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought onthing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that" (1 Timothy 6:6-8). I'll confess that, while I have always been drawn to these verses, I have long struggled with contentment. For Stanley, the foundation for contentment is simply making Jesus Christ our "chief delight." As we do this we are able to put the peripheral into perspective. All this time I think contentment is something I must try to be when really it is an overflow of simply knowing Jesus. I already know Him, now I just need to get to relying on Him...today.

"We must learn to live on a daily basis. Jesus told us to pray for our 'daily bread' - the sufficient provision for today's necessities. Contentment most often is lost when we worry about the future. God is in control of that, and we must leave tomorrow's problems with Him. Today I can bring my needs to Christ. Today His grace is sufficient. Jesus 'daily bears our burdens'(Ps. 68:19).

Above all, the key to contentment is learning that I can do everything God wants me to do through His enablement...We can be content knowing that he empowers us to deal with all the ups and downs of life as we wholeheartedly depend on Him.

Contentment is a daily battle. It is something we learn by sticking to the basics - nurturing a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, living one day at a time, and knowing that Christ in us strengthens us for every challenge. This is great gain and gives great peace." (p. 114)

Cultivating Contentment

So, I am currently reading this book with a couple of friends here in Auburn. My little sister has been trying to get me to read it ever since she did in her own small group. I think life and ministry kept me so busy that I just never did. Also, there's that whole "God's perfect timing" thing going on here, too. See, the book is about finding contentment and purpose wherever life finds you. Suffice it to say that there are more than a few things lingering out there for me right now that pull me more to discontentment than contentment. This book is forcing me to take a long heard look at my heart. This is both good and bad. Well, it is only really bad because I am realizing how prone to wander I really am.

The book is also teaching me that contentment, just like faith and all things related to God, is a choice. When the things of life seem overwhelming and discouraging, I can choose not to dwell on them. These are things I already knew, really...this book is just reminding me of it at a time when I really need reminding.

If you're a woman of faith, you really ought to read this book. It will force you to be honest with yourself. It will challenge you in a thousand ways. It will change your relationship with God and those you love in your life...for the better. The great thing about this book is that it carefully recalls The Book and offers biblical principles for fighting worry in your life. I think I like it because the author shares real stories and offers practical insight into why we worry and how to release it. It doesn't paint some idealistic picture of how knowing God makes us into instant saints. It acknowledges the struggle that we fight on the journey, specifically as women. It is a great book for Christian women in a genre that is otherwise (in my opinion) saturated with the idealistic and unrealistic.

Also, any book that quotes the likes of Elisabeth Elliot (a picture of authenticity herself), A.W. Tozer, Oswald Chambers and others gets my vote. I have often found that checking the endnotes in a book is telling of the depth of any given book. This one is no exception.

Article Link

I thought I'd share what I would consider an excellent "Top Ten List: Top Devotional Books" from a great professor at Asbury Theological Seminary. Dr. Kinghorn is a professor at Asbury and, most importantly, a man after God's own heart. He is an honest, earnest man with a love for God that is evident in his teaching and his life.

I have used and will certainly return to some of the resources on his list. The others are on my mental list of ones to use in the future. Off the top of my head, my own personal list would also include:
Reflections for Ragamuffins by Brennan Manning
Bread for the Journey by Henri Nouwen
A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly
This Day with the Master by Dennis Kinlaw

Enjoy Dr. Kinghorn's list. I hope it helps in your own search for a meaningful, encouraging, and challenging devotional. Feel free to share your own favorites through my blog comments!

The Fruit of the Spirit is Patience...

I am the Quote Queen, so I thought I'd share a couple of nuggets from a book I've read a couple of times. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking meaning and purpose and wrestling with the things of God and life in general. It is called An Incomplete Guide to the Rest of Your Life by Stan Gaede. I am pretty sure I've mentioned it before on my blog. Enjoy these nuggets on patience and trusting God.

"God is God...and we are not. And there is absolutely nothing in Scripture - from beginning to end - to suggest that God intends to operate on our timetable. Quite the reverse. God does almost nothing according to our calendar, and he tells us nothing - not a thing- about how he has numbered our days. What he gives us in abundance are evidences of his faithfulness to those who love him. That we know for sure. But he rarely tells us what's in store for us just around the corner." (p.43)


"...God does not do what we expect him to do precisely because is infinitely more gracious and merciful than we would ever be in a million years. God is inscrutable precisely because he is unbelievably longsuffering and infinitely loving.

Unbelievably. That's why patience is a fruit of the spirit, by the way. Because it doesn't come naturally to us. But it does come naturally to God. Which is why we don't always understand him. And why others will not always understand us when we are patient and longsuffering because of the Spirit's work in our lives." (p.45-46)

And so we trust, hope, believe, and hold on, remembering that God has a history of steadfast love and redemption. His plans have not changed simply because our circumstances are not ideal at the moment. In his infinitely love he will make all things new and bring it all together for good. Always has, always will...

The Naked Truth

"Jesus, it seems to me, would teach...that it is always a privilege to help anybody, because all men are of the same caste, the very highest caste. They are all sons of God. They are men in which God dwells. And, indeed, I think it is not poetic fancy merely, but the naked truth. That by coming to men with nothing but a loving desire to help them you do actually come near to God Himself; perhaps nearer than when you kneel before the altar."

This is yet another quote from the remarkable book I've been talking about in the last few posts, Leslie Weatherhead's The Transforming Friendship. I love this one because it speaks to the deepest part of me. It just sums it all up for me. It warms me to read something like this. It also convicts me to the core.

How many sermons have we heard on "The Naked Truth" that dealt more with what we should or should not do as Christians than on living a life of love? We are so busy trying to fix everyone and make them more like us when the image of God Himself resides in them somewhere already. We need to find a way to see that and call that forth in each other rather than trying to fix or change people because they make us uncomfortable.

I read once , "To love another person is to see the image of God in them. That unique spark entrusted only to them..." (I read this in the fanstastic book Becoming Friends: Worship, Justice, and the Practice of Christian Friendship by Paul J. Waddell). I am always so grateful when others see past my obvious imperfections and look instead for Jesus in me. I want to do this more often with others I encounter, in friends and in those that frustrate me. I know that doing so would make me a much more patient, gracious person. It would soften my spirit and make me more like Jesus. Most importantly of all, it would bring me closer to God Himself. And nothing but good can come of that connection!

Weatherhead has really done nothing more in this book than remind us of what Jesus instructed us to do throughout His earthly ministry: love God and love people. So simple and yet so complex. Really it is only complex because we make it that way. If we would stop and seek to see God in each person we encounter (and I would argue most especially ourselves first, as this enables us to see it in others) we would find ourselves more content and more at peace...with ourselves and others.

I know some people who are already seasoned veterans at this and I envy them a little. I long to be more like that myself. I'm done talking about it. I think I'm going to go for it! Want to join me?

"Them" or Him?

The real glorious thing about The Transforming Friendship is that Weatherhead's idea that Christianity is essentially the acceptance of the friendship of Jesus is anything but fluffy. So often we hear it said or read somewhere that Jesus is our "Friend." But what follows is a soft description of friendship that doesn't at all add up to the Jesus of the gospels and what He asks of us.

Weatherhead warns against this kind of interpretation over and over again. He even strongly suggests, "Religion has become a soft and flabby and aesthetic thing...We are all attracted by Christ, but we are held back by a thousand things." For some, this might simply be the appearance of things. We know that communion with God would afford us the freedom and peace we so desire. But we find ourselves so consumed with worry about what other people think "until in the end we care more for what they all think than what the eternal Christ thinks.

And who are "they"? I ask myself this question all the time. When someone tells me, "They say" this-or-that or I find myself worried about what people will think if I do this-or-that, I am faced with this question. Who are "they" and why do I care about what "they" think. I know who Jesus is...and what He thinks counts more than the opinions of "them," whoever "they" are.

I think deep down inside of us we know why we listen to "them" instead of Him. We have this fear that God might ask of us and do more than we could ever imagine. So, we listen to "them," limit ourselves, and settle for far less than our potential. All in the name of fitting in to the status quo.

But friendship with Jesus - the real, transformative kind - offers us so much more. It demands all...and gives all. Accepting the friendship of Jesus will make you more yourself than you will ever be listening to "them" instead of Him.

"A Friend Alive Forevermore..."

I am still soaking everything in that I read in The Transforming Friendship by Leslie D. Weatherhead. I have been thinking a lot about the points he raised in this incredible book. Mostly, the concept of God in Jesus as Friend. This is a huge concept. It is one we speak of often, but scarcely understand. We call Jesus our friend, but we have no real idea what that entails. For many, the concept of friend in general is all but antiseptic. To call Jesus a friend is to really call him an "acquaintance" or someone we sometimes spend time with or speak to from time-to-time. This is not the kind of friendship God offers to us in Jesus. It is so much more...

Weatherhead talks a lot in the beginning of the book about the friendship between Jesus and his disciples, most especially between the Resurrection and the Ascension. He speaks of the "strange appearings" of Jesus after the resurrection.

"What do these strange appearings and disappearings mean? They are His perfect way of making [the Disciples] feel that He is never far away. He does not seem to be there. Then He breaks in upon them, always knows what has happened, always takes charge of the situation, until they never know when they may become aware of Him...The experience becomes richer. They feel that He is never absent. Communion now will mean as much as it did when they could Hear His voice, see His face, and touch Him."

What did this do for them? Everything. These indescribable experiences of true community with Christ gave them the strength, power and confidence to spread hope to the world. These moments were life-changing enough to those who experienced them that they were willing to die for the chance just to tell others about it. That is the kind of friendship Jesus offered while He was on earth and, perhaps all the more between his Resurrection and Ascension.

To truly walk through life with the Friendship of Jesus is to be transformed like the Disciples in those final days between the Resurrection and Ascension. For, "Christianity is meaningless unless this friendship can do as much for us. What Jesus once was, He is eternally." What a beautiful, blessed thought! Isn't this what we all long for in this life? And it is available to us...now.

I know this post is heavy in quotes, but Weatherhead says it all so well! Let me leave you with one more for the road. Let this one sink in...

"I want to say to all who are worshiping a picture of Jesus in a frame called History - to people who are beaten in their lonely toilsome effort to be like the Hero of that picture - that there is a richer experience than they have yet known. If they will sit down quietly He will come out of the picture into their life. A little faith - that kind of effortless prayer which is the leaving of the heart's door upon the latch - and the Guest will come as often as you want Him, and you will be carried further than a whole year of fussy striving would take you; for He is not a ghost of the dead past, but a friend alive forevermore."

A "Transforming" Book

"[W]e may try to alter our lives by good resolutions and intentions, but imitations and effort, but how fruitless it all is until we open our lives to His friendship and are transformed...not from without, but from within...

God may not want to make us poets or painters or pianists, but He does want to make us saints. So He offers to all this gift - the gift of a new life. You can use your willpower, and that will take you part of the way. You can use your brains, and they will take you a little way. You can imitate, and that may take you a little way. But all these things together in music and art and poetry, and in life, will never take you as far as a gift will take you." - Leslie D. Weatherhead

Of late I have been reading a real gem of a book called The Transforming Friendship by Leslie D. Weatherhead. The above quote is from that remarkable book. The subtitle itself is inviting: "A Book About Jesus and Ourselves." Such a simple description from a book that is beautifully simple itself. This was one of those books I have had on my shelf for ages and just never took the time to read. I picked it up to thumb through it a few weeks ago and feel in love with it. It was an incredible, insightful read(just 120 pages!). One of those books you are a slightly sad to finish because you just want more.

The book gets to the heart of what it means to enter into a friendship with God. Not the fluffy, life-is-perfect-and-so-am-I kind of friendship, but the real kind. The kind where we bring our real selves to Jesus and just receive the gift of His friendship. No ceaseless striving, no dancing for men's eyes (or God's, for that matter...), no false-selves. Just us and Jesus.

I cannot begin to do this book justice in a blog. However, I would like to share/reflect on some of the great things Weatherhead had to say in the next couple of blogs. It is all just too good not to share. If you can find a copy of it somewhere, grab it. I think it may be out-of-print, but there are copies out there being sold and given away and this book is invaluable! I am pretty sure I obtained mine because my mom grabbed it when the library at my home church was closing. I am so glad she did. I feel sure it is a book I will return to again and again.

I promise to share more excerpts and thoughts in the next few blogs...

A Few More Thoughts on Prayer

Here are a few more prayers that I love...

"Lord, send me anywhere, Only go with me;
Lay any burden on me, Only sustain me.
Sever any tie, Save the tie that binds me to Thy heart—
Lord Jesus, my King, I consecrate my life, Lord, to Thee." - David Livingstone

"Lord, Thou knowest what I want if it be Thy will that I should have it. If it be not Thy will, do not be displeased. For I want nothing which Thou doest not want for me." - Julian of Norwich

"Take my lips and speak through them, take my mind and think through it..." - Francis Havergal (He is also the man who wrote "Take My Life and Let It Be"...also a good prayer in and of itself!)

And some thoughts on prayer that have informed my own...

“Everybody prays whether [you think] of it as praying or not. The odd silence you fall into when something very beautiful is happening or something very good or very bad. The 'Ah-h-h-h!' that sometimes floats up out of you as out of a Fourth of July crowd when the sky-rocket bursts over the water. The stammer of pain at somebody else's pain. The stammer of joy at somebody else's joy. Whatever words or sounds you use for sighing with over your own life. These are all prayers in their way. These are all spoken not just to yourself but to God.” - Buechner

"Prayer is first of all listening to God. It's openness. God is always speaking; he's always doing something. Prayer is to enter into that activity. ... Convert your thoughts into prayer. As we are involved in unceasing thinking, so we are called to unceasing prayer. The difference is not that prayer is thinking about other things, but that prayer is thinking in dialogue... a conversation with God." - Henri Nouwen

"To pray is to let Jesus into our lives." - O Hallesby

I long for constant conversation with God on the things of life. I long to learn the "unforced rhythms of grace" (Matthew 11:28-30, "The Message"). This is the stuff of life, where true transformation and beauty begins. I am sure of it. Days when I and my thoughts are in connection with God, all goes better. I feel free...beautiful...content. These days are not without their glitches and problems, they are just checkered with grace and mercies ever new. I want a life where everyday is like that. And on those that aren't, I want to release it to God and move on. Want to join me?