May Twenty Eighteen

We’re all traveling through time together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride. –last line from the movie About Time

Prayer is waking up to the presence of God no matter where I am or what I am doing. -Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World

Let the one who walks in the dark who has no light,

trust in the name of the Lord & rely on their God.” Is. 50:10

We want clarity; God wants us to come closer.

Come closer to God who’s got it:

Lean on His Love, Rely on His strength. 

Sometimes we want greater clarity

when what we need is deeper trust.

Life is always clearer when you press closer to Him

& see your life through the sheer love of God.

-Ann Voskamp 

I am my response to my child’s mismatched outfit 

and the crumpled report card at the bottom of her backpack.

I am my response to my spouse who returned from the store without toilet paper 

but remembered the tailgate snacks. 

I am my response to my anxious parent who repeats the same worries 

and insists on giving me coupons I do not need. 

I am my response to my co-worker with sad eyes and frequent absences. 

I am my response to my 15-minutes-late hairdresser with a sick child. 

I am my response to my neighbor with heart-heavy problems and little family support. 

I am my response to the irate driver who cut me off and 

made an obscene gesture in front of my children. 

I am my response to the waitress who got my order wrong. 

I am my response to myself when I forgot the one thing I most needed to do today. 

I am my response to spilled coffee, rain-soaked shoes, and middle-of-the-night throw ups...... 

My responses are not perfect … they are not always ideal … I am human after all. 

But if I strive to offer responses underlined with  

grace,

understanding, 

kindness,

empathy, 

and care,

That is something. 

That is something. 

Because my responses are more than just words. 

They represent 

who I am, 

who I want to be, 

and how I will someday be remembered.

Today I will not respond perfectly. I know. 

But if strive to communicate with hints of kindness and traces of love, 

That will be something 

That will be something

That could mean more than words. 

- Rachel Macy Stafford, Only Love Today

Jewels

When we record our days

we make them real to us.

We give them shape and form

that we might learn from them.

Hindsight is God’s beautifier

when we shine the lens we look through.

When we record our thanks

in pen, or thought, or praise

we establish what is good,

upon the pathways of our lives.

We inlay them with jewels
of many colors......

We cement the things that further us,

and cast aside what doesn’t.

When we travel back,

we trace God’s faithfulness.

In such a way,
that as we cast our line into the open waters,
we use yesterday’s harvest
to gain tomorrow’s goodness.....

Yes, when we record our days

we make them real to us.

We sift for all the wheat amongst the chaff,

mine for all the gold to further invest it.

Gratitude brings it reward,

if only to shine a light on what we couldn’t see before......

We think on what is good

and see it magnified.

We trust tomorrow

because of what we’ve made today,

out of all the good we polish, 

and then display.

-Ana Lisa de Jong

I’ve had enough of my hard edges.

I’m tired of straining my voice. 

I’d like to loosen up and laugh a little more,

be a positive rather than a negative.

I’d like to feel the upward curve of my lips.

I’d like to surrender control of things over which I have no control.

I’d like to let things unfold in their own time, in their own way. 

I’d like to participate joyfully in this fleeting life.

I’d like to be softer 

toward him, 

toward her, 

toward me.

Thus, this will be the year of my softening......

And this is my vow:

I vow to listen to opinions—I don’t always have to be right. 

I don’t always have to agree or have the last word.

I vow to hand over the hairbrush, the pile of laundry, the school project, the task before us. 

“How would you do it?” I will ask.

I vow to step aside and respect a new approach.

Success might be difficult to see at first; I vow to keep looking.

I vow to be more accepting of quirks and mannerisms.

I vow to be more accepting of tastes and styles unlike my own.

I vow to remember he is in the process of becoming; she is in the process of finding her way. 

And they are more apt to do it if I stop telling them how.

I vow to regard “weaknesses” as hidden strengths. Inner gifts can be nurtured when I stop plotting ways to alter, change, and “improve.”

I vow to greet my family and myself with a loving smile, no matter what happened yesterday. Grudge-holding only hurts us all.

I vow to pause before correcting. I shall take a moment to consider if the mistake even needs to be mentioned at all.

I vow to stop nitpicking until it bleeds.

I vow to demand less and inquire more.

I vow to listen 

to consider 

and to pause before responding.

I vow to be a voice of encouragement in a demeaning world.

I vow to be a silver lining spotter in my family’s little world.

I vow to be softer today than I was yesterday—a softer voice, a softer posture, a softer touch, a softer thought, a softer timetable.

I vow to be softer toward the imperfect human being inside me and beside me.

By being softer, I can hear more, learn more, feel more, and love more......

At last I will fully see.

I will see the colors of my loved one’s soul

And my own 

perhaps for the very first time.

The colors might take my breath away

bring me to tears

or offer long-awaited peace.

I shall soften so the human being within me and beside me can shine.

--Rachel Macy Stafford, Only Love Today