Of Nightmares & Joys

It's been a dreary couple of weeks here in New England. No snow (which is a big disappointment to this here winter lover), lots of rain, and basically bleak.

Inside and outside. 

A small part of my personal life is, once again, in serious upheaval. Draining emotional issues that leave me numb and useless. It is times like these that we should turn to God. Yet my perfectly formed little human ego - makes that a huge challenge for me.

We doubt your goodness

We doubt your love

As if every promise from your word 

is not enough

Doubt. Such a human thing to do. Even as I pray ceaselessly, I doubt.

Is God listening? Does he hear my "desperate pleas"? Does he even care? 

But he is there always. And those blessings as well. They do abound no matter what else is going on around us. Yet when those other things leave us feeling disoriented - as if our very soul has fractured into a million tiny pieces - God is still there.

Even if we don't feel him, hear him, or even worse, acknowledge him.

What if trials of this life

The rain, the storms,

The hardest nights, are your mercies

in disguise.

God is there. In our nightmares, our worries, our fears, our anguish. In our joys, our laughter, our happiest moments.

God is there.

Always.

Blessing us no matter what we think or feel.

Sunday Prayer 3

Did you know that the heart is mentioned over 800 times in the King James version of the Bible? Or over 500 times in the New International version.

Something to pay close attention to. Clearly God wants us to know that he knows our hearts better than we do. And that he wants to be in our hearts 24/7/365. 

2023 is my Year of Kindness. I want to spread my own kindness outward to others - in words and deeds - in the hopes that the kind people already among us will do the same. And that the unkind may receive kindness and be transformed. 

You can't be kind if your heart isn't generous. God can grant you that generosity of spirit thru prayer and trust in him.

Sunday Prayer 2

Entry to the new year was, for me, bumpy to say the least.  Work was more challenging than expected and certain other things outside of work proved to give me more than what I thought I could handle.

Yet I'm still standing.  Prayer - can do that for a person.  Keeping it simple today...

Saturday Symphony

Another new year, a week already in the books. 

And it has been a week.  Even though it was only 4 work days it feels like 30.  The Fortune 100 can be like that.

In fact, the pace of my work has increased exponentially over the past 5 years or so.  At this time last year I said to my hubby - I don't know that I can sustain this pace all year.  

And here I am, one year later, working at a much faster pace than this time last year.  I am once again wondering how I will keep this up for 2023.

That is only my professional life. My personal life is also moving at a rapid pace. I find myself stumbling along to keep up. And it gets ahead of me to the point where I feel like I'm falling...falling downward so fast and so far.

Then I remember who is in control and I reach out to my Lord and ask for a safety net to catch me.

He is always there.

When my hopes and dreams are far from me

And I'm runnin' out of faith

I see the future I pictured slowly fade away

And when the tears of pain and heartache 

Are pouring down my face

I find my peace in Jesus' name

Sunday Prayer 1

I thought it would be nice to start the week with a prayer. I collect these wherever I find them. For the most part the original authors are unknown. 

I strive to say this one every morning; I can get to 5 out of 7 most of the time. It is a gentle start to my day and brings me new resolve each time I bow my head over it.