to Grow in Knowledge
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THINK
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. --2 Peter 3:18
PRAY
Create in me, Lord, a teachable spirit, that I might grow in grace and knowledge of you. Help me to make the time and to put forth the effort that it takes to know you in the study and prayerful contemplation of your Word.
ACT
Take time--make time-- today to sit and truly study God's Word. Hear Him in the scriptures He left for us, the very words that speak His heart to us. Sit, perhaps with pen in hand, and grow in the knowledge of the Lord.
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Motherhood can feel like the loneliest vocation in the world. Surrounded by children, who frequently bring us to our knees, both literally and figuratively, we can be overwhelmed by isolation. Mothers need community. We can be community for one another. We can encourage on another and hold each other accountable. If you like these short devotions, please share the image and send another woman here. And when you're here, please take a moment to pray with another mother who is visiting. Leave a comment and when you do, pray for the woman whose comment is just above yours. Just a moment--blessed--will begin to build community.
I like to pray when I run in the morning. Often, I listen to Divine Office and pray Morning Prayer or the Office of Readings. Then, I just take up a conversation with God. I'd love to pray for you! Please leave your prayer requests below and we can pray for each other, no matter how we spend our morning prayer time. Meet me back here tomorrow and I'll share the ponderings from my #morningrun.
A Real Hero isn't Prince Charming
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There has been a palpable shift in my household in the last year. Three boys have gone off into the world, leaving a girl as the eldest at home. Then there are two more boys, then three more girls.
We have a mostly girl house now.
And yet, I find myself thinking even more about boys--because, well, as girls grow they start thinking about boys. Suddenly, I am aware that other people’s boys are going to figure heavily into my days for the foreseeable future. My big boys text me from afar, checking in, sharing their days, telling tales, confiding secrets. All their information passes through a new filter—these are the boys in the lives of someone else’s daughter. It’s not that I never considered that before. I’ve prayed for the women who will one day marry by sons. (Sometimes, I’ve even apologized in advance.) I’ve prayed for the parents of those one-day wives as well.
But this is different somehow. As my daughter sits on the edge of my bed late into the night and we talk about those qualities that make a man a good husband, I want to call my big boys back. I want to be certain that they know. I want to ensure that they are the heroes in another girl’s story. Because it’s increasingly obvious that heroes are in short supply. I want those boys to know that a young woman, lovely in the evening light, has a precious heart. I want them to love well.
This is a harsh culture in which to become a man. Our vision of godly manhood has been distorted in the glare of screens. Conversations are hurried and stilted, limited by the 6 seconds and the 30 characters on a Snapchat screen. Those short snippets of communication make 140 character tweets look like a luxury. Did I remember to tell the boys to pull off the online highway frequently? Do they know that true friendships deepen and grow when you hear a voice, or better still, look into someone else’s eyes? The heroes? They aren’t likely to be captured inside an iPhone. They are larger than life. The heroes show up for real.
The story of the true life hero isn’t a fairytale at all. It’s a God story. A genuine hero knows that harmony and wholeness doesn’t come at the wave of a magic wand. It begins when he walks hand in hand with Jesus and then invites a girl to come along. Could she be the one to introduce him to Jesus? Sure. But sooner than later, he needs to walk the walk for himself. That path is where he learns that to be mighty means to kneel low, to serve, to give until it hurts. The boys who are real men, heroic men, want to change the culture by loving the least of these. They seek the sacrifice of the altar instead of the sound of applause.
As we talk late, the light catches her hair and is cast over the fine chisel of her cheekbones and I’m startled. Where did the round baby face go? The girl who swung from trees and kind of scoffed at the princesses in fairy tales, the one who was wedged in the middle of all those boys—she’s a young woman now. The education of a sister in the middle of all the boys has served her well. She doesn’t miss a trick. She knows a hero when she sees one.
She knows that Prince Charming doesn’t come galloping on a white horse. She knows she’s strong and capable and not in need of rescuing. She knows too, that there are real life heroes out there—young men who are bold and unafraid and virtuous and strong in all the right places. Most importantly, she knows that her hero is not perfect. We are all broken. We are all desperately in need of a savior. Even the heroes—maybe especially the heroes—are better and more equipped to answer the call when they are fortified by the encouragement and prayers of the kind and true girl.
A Little Sunshine in the Jungle
/#morningrun sets off from Colleen's place this morning. She's promising to actually run (you know, with her feet?) and she's giving away a subscription to Restore! Go visit and be blessed.
From where does joy come?
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THINK
True joy does not come from things or from possessing, no! It is born from the encounter, from the relationship with others, it is born from feeling accepted, understood and loved, and from accepting, from understanding and from loving; and this is not because of a passing fancy but because the other is a person. Joy is born from the gratuitousness of an encounter! It is hearing someone say, but not necessarily with words: “You are important to me”. This is beautiful.... And it is these very words that God makes us understand. In calling you God says to you: “You are important to me, I love you, I am counting on you”. --Pope Francis
PRAY
God, sometimes I get so distracted by things. I want my family to have opportunities and possessions and I am busy from sun up to sundown providing them. Help me to stop. Help me to breathe deeply and to know that what they really need is relationship. Don't let me be too busy for relationship. And remind me that the most important relationship they need is the one they have with you.
ACT
Ask God to tell you who needs to hear, "You are important to me" today. Make sure he or she hears it--but don't use words. Remember, you are important to God, who loves you and is counting on you. Do this.
