Every experience God gives us.

 every person He puts in our lives,

Is the perfect preparation for the future

that only He can see.

Carrie tan Boon

Love

Today I choose

to live with gratitude

for the LOVE that fills

my heart, the PEACE

that rests within my spirit,

and the voice of HOPE that says…

all things are

possible.

LOVE

LOVE  ONE  ANOTHER

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

May seem so very impossible to do

But if you will try to trust and believe,

There are many great joys that you will receive,

For love makes us patient, understanding and kind,

And we judge with our hearts and not with our mind.

For as soon as love enters the heart’s  open door,

The faults we once saw are not there anymore.

And the things that seemed wrong begin to look right,

When viewed in the softness of love’s gentle light.

For love works in ways that are wondrous and strange,

And there is nothing in life that love cannot change.

And all that God promised will someday come true,

When you love one another, the way  He loves you.

MAY GOD ....

May the beauty of God

be reflected in your eyes,

the love of God

be reflected in your hands,

the wisdom of God...

be reflected in your words,

and the knowledge of God

flow from your heart.

.

©John Birch

www.faithandworship.com

Grounding ourselves in God through prayer holds us accountable for our actions and keeps us connected to God’s promise for the world and to God’s desire for our role in creating that world.  Our intimate relationship with God reminds us to pray with courageous spirits, clear minds, and merciful hearts.

Jane E. Vennard,  Embracing the World, Praying for Justice and Peace

HAPPY NEW YEAR

God of tomorrows, we thank you for the gift of a new year. Morning by morning new mercies we see. We bring our joy and anticipation. We also bring our still-fresh pain as we remember the ones we lost in the past year. We bring the sting of disappointment as we ponder over the relationships that have been broken in the year past. We bring the burden of sadness as we struggle to recover from losing jobs. And we bring our hope that you will help us. Free us, right now, from being identified only by the events of our life. May the God Event in our life mark our life, so that we might worship you this day in the beauty of your holiness. Amen.

–B. Kevin Smalls,

JESUS, CHILD OF GOD

     Jesus, Child of God, we welcome you now. Long have we waited for you. Our cluttered minds and our fettered hearts yearn for the freedom you bring.

    Jesus, Child of God, release us from the barriers that keep us from hearing your voice in our world today. Slow down our frantic, busy minds and activities so that we can “find our rest in you.”

    Jesus, Child of God, you are our strength, our hope, our comfort, and our consolation.  You are, indeed, the hope of the world. Send your strength and healing to every broken place, every despondent heart.

    Jesus, Child of God, you are our desire, our joy, our hunger, our longing.  Even nations desire you. We desire your peace and your presence in our hungering world and our longing hearts.

    Jesus, Child of God, let us welcome you with holy hospitality.  May we prepare a place within our hearts and our lives for your loving presence. Amen.

–Beth Richardson,
Child of the Light