welcoming twenty- fourteen
“Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in
the year.
He is rich who owns the day, and no
one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded with
fret and anxiety.
Finish every day and be done with
it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no
doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can,
tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with
too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old
nonsense.
This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the
yesterdays.”
Trust the past to God's mercy,
The present to God's love,
and the future to God's providence.
-St Augustine
The future is as bright as the
faithfulness of God. –Ann Voskamp
Isn't that what faith is?
Walking right up to the edge of our
present circumstance, closing our eyes,
seeing the bright-red sparks of
possibility dance beneath our lids, feeling the embrace of a God who wants ever
greater and greater and greater things for us, whispering as silent prayer;
then, we leap. And the heavens open.
Dear God, let me write the first
line. Make the first move. Speak the first word. Love newly,
radically. Let me leap, and let the heavens unfasten, and open.
Amen.
-Joshua Dubois ‘The
President’s Devotional’
Let's go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what
happened yesterday. -Steve Jobs
Love of animals is a universal impulse, a
common ground on which all of us may meet. By loving and understanding animals,
perhaps we humans shall come to understand each
other. --Dr Louis J.Camuti
(1893-1981)
Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until
something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the
end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience
is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us
to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to
taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get
away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow,
later and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look
for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.
–Henri Nouwen Bread for the Journey
Dear brothers and
sisters, when troubles come
your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that
when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. James 1:2-3
To Thee I run now with great expectation
To honor You with trust like a child
My hopes and desires seek a new destination
and all that You ask Your grace will provide.
-Sandra McCracken
The next morning dawned bright and sweet, like ribbon candy. -Sarah Addison Allen, Garden Spells
(Yes, there are lots of pictures this month of our beloved bunny given to us from our dear friends the Haileys... what can I say? We are smitten!)
sweet times as we run a couple days a week to get ready to run a 5K together in March
note to self...
I am so grateful for an email my sister-in-law Tracey sent me earlier this month that shared some writing that builds on the house blessing and chalkingof the door that we did for Epiphany. It offers beautiful perspective in
this new year, no matter what comes our way.
Jan Richardson writes, "At the same time that I’m thinking
of (and praying for) a physical dwelling that we will inhabit and bless, I also
find myself imagining the coming year as a house—a space in time that is
opening itself to all of us. How will we inhabit the coming year? How will we
enter it with mindfulness and with intention? How will we move through the
rooms of the coming months in a way that brings blessing to this world?
With these questions in mind, I offer this blessing for you.
The Year as a House: A Blessing
Think of the year
as a house:
door flung wide
in welcome,
threshold swept
and waiting,
a graced spaciousness
opening and offering itself
to you.
Let it be blessed
in every room.
Let it be hallowed
in every corner.
Let every nook
be a refuge
and every object
set to holy use.
Let it be here
that safety will rest.
Let it be here
that health will make its home.
Let it be here
that peace will show its face.
Let it be here
that love will find its way.
Here
let the weary come
let the aching come
let the lost come
let the sorrowing come.
Here
let them find their rest
and let them find their soothing
and let them find their place
and let them find their delight.
And may it be
in this house of a year
that the seasons will spin in beauty,
and may it be
in these turning days
that time will spiral with joy.
And may it be
that its rooms will fill
with ordinary grace
and light
spill from every window
to welcome the stranger home.
Wherever you make your home, may it be blessed, and may you
enter this coming year in peace." http://paintedprayerbook.com/2009/12/31/epiphany-blessing-the-house
a few other posts from the month to share:
