We Need Community

THINK

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

PRAY

Dear Jesus, Speak into my loneliness. It's not good for me to be alone. Give me the grace to seek and find community. Give me the words to connect with people who love me. Give me the courage to love well. God, please put into my life people who will bring me closer to You. Help me to recognize the gift that they are and show me how to return that gift a hundredfold. 

ACT

If you are not lonely, pray the prayer above for someone who is. No matter what, reach out today. Speak into someone else's loneliness. Give someone the words. Make the first move. Break the silence. Be the friend you want to have. 

~*~*~*~

If #morningrun blesses you, please share the image so that others can find us here?

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.

Disappointment and Better Plans

THINK

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

PRAY

It seemed like such a good plan, God. I had all the details worked out and You were in it. At least I thought you were. My plan was certainly to have you play a big part. But it's falling apart. It looked like such a good, good thing. But it's not going to come to fruition. At least not the way I envisioned it. You have a better plan. I know you do. I want to walk joyfully in your will. Remind me that your plan is better. Please remind me.

ACT

Sometimes it's a little thing, a tidy "to-do" list gone awry by the pressing needs of a child. Sometimes it's a bigger thing: a canceled trip, a broken heart, or an abrupt detour on a career trajectory. We carefully craft our plans--often in elaborate detail in our imaginations--and then, it all falls apart. Stand still in the rubble of those once beautiful plans, big or small. See God in the shattered pieces. He has something so much better for you. Better than all the imagining you've done. But first you have to relinquish your plan, the one you've been holding so tightly. Let it go. Let it shatter. Leave your hands empty so that He can fill them with something He's got especially for you.

Have you ever been so sad when your plans have been upended? Bitterly disappointed? Hurt?  I recently shared some of those times here. Tell me about your plans and tell me how God had a better plan. I know someone who could use the encouragement of your stories.

Wherever You Go

Industrial Park behind the NOVA Field House, Chantilly, 2/24/15, 6:05PM

Poland Road, South Riding, 2/23/15, 5:40 PM

THINK

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

PRAY

Dear God, Let me notice you in the sunrise and in the sunset. Remind me that you are with me wherever I go.

ACT

I'm becoming a bit obsessed with the dawn and with the dusk. Last year, when I started getting outside before the sun came up, I also quickly learned the glory in a sunrise. Day after day, the colors of the sky promised me that God is vast and rather amazing. Watching the way He opened the day made me so sure that He could handle everything that was coming far better than I could. In every sunrise, there was surrender. 

Then came the sunsets. I am captivated by the sky. Truly. This winter has been too cold most mornings for sunrise walks outside. The sidewalks aren't predictably cleared and it's not all that safe to walk or run in streets narrowed by banks of snow. I've observed a fair share of sunrises from the warmth of my house. And I've been more than a little disappointed not to be out in it. 

Sunsets are a different story. I've pursued them this week. Even though I've been driving hither and yon, I've been soaking in sunsets. (Have I told you about the soccer team that never cancels practice due to weather? Yes, I'm familiar with ever indoor facility within a twenty mile radius.) The last two days, I've literally pulled over, gotten out of the car, and stood there to inhale the sky. Yesterday, Nick was with me. He didn't bat an eye at the strange behavior of his mother and I am extremely grateful for that. 

I have noticed people noticing me noticing the sun. Sometimes, when I've stopped to take a picture, they honk. Whatever. Those people probably need to slow down in their own lives. Mostly, though, people will pass me and see that I'm looking at canvas across the sky and they will pause, too. And they will look, too. They'll most likely smile with a shared recognition of having witnessed something remarkable. The evening will be more peaceful for the looking.

Seriously, if God can do that in the heavens, what else can He do? Pretty much anything, right? And the thing about the sunset? When I get back in the car and drive to whichever soccer venue is my duty that day, the sun is setting all along the way. One view after another, one more glorious than the next. He's there. Wherever I go. By the time, the sun finally sinks over the Blue Ridge, I see how silly all the anxieties I've carried all day are in light of His vast majesty. The God of that sky? He's the Lord of my life. 

With the sunrise, let's put all the cares of the day into His strong hands. Let us be neither frightened nor dismayed. With the sunset, let's count our blessings and see all the ways He was faithful.

Nations Street South Riding 2/24/15 5:42 PM

Fuel for the day, grace for the moments

THINK

4 For the word of the Lord is upright;
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

~

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death,
    and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and shield.
21 Yea, our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let thy steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in thee.

Psalm 33

PRAY

Nourish your people, Lord, for we hunger for you word. Rescue us from the death of sin and fill us with your mercy, that we may share your presence and the joy of all the saints.

~From Morning Prayer, February 24, divineoffice.org

ACT

Don't skip breakfast. We all know that feeling of heading out into the day, fueled only by a cup of coffee. Then mid-morning hits, with a crisis or an unexpected challenge. And we are so not up for it, because by then, all the coffee does is make us grumpy and poorly equipped to make decisions. So, don't skip breakfast. And don't skip the morning filling up on the Word. Fill with mercy. Fill with Grace. Fuel up with God Himself. And then take on the inevitable crises and challenges for the day. He is enough for anything that awaits.

~*~*~*~

If #morningrun blesses you, please share the image so that others can find us here?

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.

Put your feet on the path. He'll meet you there.

THINK

Yet even now—oracle of the Lord—
    return to me with your whole heart,
    with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
 Rend your hearts, not your garments,
    and return to the Lord, your God,
For he is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
    and relenting in punishment. Joel 2:12-13

PRAY

With my whole heart. 

God, this Lent, I want to return with my whole heart. All of it. Nothing held back. I want to lay my heart bare, pull out the messes, see the sins, and return to you, knowing that you will open wide your arms. 

With my whole heart, Lord. Let me come back with everything I have and everything I am. 

ACT

The prodigal son returned because he was hungry and out of money and down on his luck. He'd squandered his inheritance and the circumstances of his life left him little choice but to return home. He was sorry because he was in a mess. The forgiving father met him in that beginning glimmer of repentance. The father didn't stay in his house and wait for the son to get there and ask him to do a thorough examination of conscience and full confession of his sins before he welcomed him home. "While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). We don't have to make a perfect confession to begin the journey home.

Instead, we can make up our minds to return with our whole hearts, trusting that our whole hearts will follow. Then, we can turn towards the Father and ask Him to take us in. He will. He will restore us to Him and He will give us the grace to be wholeheartedly in His presence. Lent is a journey. It begins with the desire to be restored to the Father. He will run out to greet us. He will walk back towards home with us. Along the path, He will reveal more and more of Himself to us and He will grant us the grace necessary to fully repent. With the forgiving father as our companion, we can, in confidence, lay our hearts bare and pull out every last mess and be fully reconciled. 

Today, put your feet on the path. Just ask to come home. He'll meet you there. 

~*~*~*~

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.