Little Boats, Big Storms

"Sometimes, the little bird's heart

finds itself

bombarded by the storm.

It seems to believe that nothing

exists but the clouds surrounding it."

~St. Therese

Share HIS Good

We have an unspoken rule in our family that dramatic sunsets and sunrises are meant to be shared. The "spotter" must come into the house with all urgency and bring every near person out to witness the glory. No one gets left behind. 

I'm thankful for the people in my life who call attention to God's good when I'm too distracted to notice on my own. 

No doubt about it! God is good—
    good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
    missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
    looking up to the people
At the top,
    envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
    not a care in the whole wide world.

~Psalm 73:1-5 (MSG)

“When we submit our lives to what we read in scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God's. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves. ” 

― Eugene H. Peterson

Christ Fills the Gap

"There is salvation in no one else,

for there is no other name under heaven given

among mortals by which

we must be saved.”

~Acts 4:12

Sighs Are Heard on High Too

What a gift of grace it is to know that when words aren't forthcoming we needn't feel inadequate. God understands and interprets our sighing prayers as tenderly as our words. 

I thought about giving a modern spin to Spurgeon's words above, written in the late 1800's, but they seemed to me too lovely to change. 

Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    give heed to my sighing.

~Psalm 5:1 (NRSV)

Once upon a time, my first thought in the morning...straight out of bed...was what cereal I was going to have that day. Nowadays, I try to pray before I get out of bed and then make a scramble for coffee and my favorite morning spot so I can read my Bible and morning devotions. I emphasize "try" because it is a daily discipline and many times I fail.

But when I do follow my morning joy, starting off with prayer, time spent reading the Bible, and asking God to keep me on his path, truly, there's no better feeling.