Give Me Grace

Aug 12, 2021

Lord, Give Me the Grace for Today
Thomas à Kempis

Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God’s sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God.

—Thomas à Kempis

Lord, give me the grace for today.
Before me, the day looms with great possibilities and even greater challenges.
I put it all in your hands.
Order my day and order my life.
Help me to embrace every challenge,
to be open to all you have to give and to see all as opportunity.
One moment at a time.
One person at a time.
One gift at a time.
Help me to breathe in your Spirit and to exhale
any fear that may cause me to question and to worry.
The world causes stress. You offer peace.
I choose you!

Source: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/talking-to-god-morning-prayers

Gratitude!

Jul 22, 2021

Forward Day By Day
May 31, 2021
Author Nia McKenney

Psalm 113:1 Hallelujah! Give praise, you servants of the LORD; praise the Name of the LORD.

Amidst all of the pain and ecstasy and complexity of being a living, breathing, thinking and doing human being, I praise God. I do this, in part, through gratitude. I say thank you several times a day to people and things and God. I say thank you to store employees who clean every grocery cart. I say thank you to God for sitting with me and watching yet another summer sunset that, had I died at birth from an infection, I would never have seen. I thank my guitar after every performance, and I thank my car for working every day. I thank God for the moon, for my voice, and for my sisters. I thank my mom every time she helps me use a word I don’t know. There simply will never be enough breath in me to express how thankful I am to simply be.

Today, I thank you for wondering with me, for growing with me and for learning with me. I will continue to thank God, you, and myself for the simple pleasure that comes with being in the presence of the faithful.

MOVING FORWARD: Do you praise God with gratitude?

 

Nia McKenney is a vocalist and musician in Indianapolis. Her favorite things are music technology, her cats, and her sisters.

 

Source:
Forward Day by Day

Be Cheerful

Jul 15, 2021

The Man Who Is Cheerful
Poet Unknown

Thank God for the man who is cheerful
In spite of life’s troubles, I say;

Who sings of a bright tomorrow,
Because of the clouds of today.

His life is a beautiful sermon,
And this is the lesson to me –

Meet trials with smiles and they vanish;
Face cares with a song and they flee.