A PERSONAL PRAYER God, Today, I will make lots of choices, and I need your help. In every moment, and in every opportunity, I pray that... I will choose joy over anxiety and fear. I will choose compassion over apathy and self-centeredness. I will choose positivity over cynicism. I will choose action over complacency. I will choose growth over stagnation. I am not at the mercy of my circumstances, God. I can choose how to respond to whatever comes my way. So today, God, I will let your light shine, and will not put it under a bushel. Like a candle [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER God, why have you blessed me so much? Why have you poured so much goodness into my life - great friends, more than enough food and provision, a wonderful family, a marvelous church? I hear that I am "blessed to be a blessing." Am I doing that, God? Am I accomplishing the purposes you have for me? Am I doing all that you want me to do with the life you have given me? I am comforted, God, when I read the stories of the people in the Bible. Boy, do they make mistakes. I am often embarrassed for them, even [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray and worship. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, In the movies, the soldiers get shot and killed, and the plot just moves on. And, I guess in the real world, that happens too. The world just moves on forward without those who are lost. Except, of course, for the loved ones of those who gave their lives for country or cause. Those families will never be the same. They will move [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER God of love, There is a worm that lives in my heart. Most of the time, I think he must be sleeping. But sometimes, he wakes up and begins to eat away at all the good feelings inside. The worm has a name - envy. When the worm is at work, I compare myself to others and spend my energy wishing I was as good as they seem to be. I wish I had the gifts and talents they have, the success they have achieved, the friendships they enjoy, the courage they seem to muster, the discipline they appear [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER God, I am so grateful to have lots of moms in my life - my own mom, the marvelous mom of my children, the amazing moms of my grandchildren, the spiritual moms who have shared their faith with me along my journey and who still pray for me and for my family, and the loving and caring moms in our congregation who like to "mother me." These are all people who have chosen to give themselves away, investing themselves in my life, sharing a piece of their lives with me. I am so grateful to [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER  God, I remember when I felt that full fire in my belly, and I charged out the door every morning ready to change the world. I confess that sometimes now, God, I find myself coasting, hoping for easy rather than world-changing. I remember when I leaned forward toward the next exciting thing God had in store for me. I confess that sometimes now, God, I resist change and prefer to stay comfortable. Still, it seems that as I have grown older, my steps have become more consistent, more disciplined, more steady. I am coming to [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER God of indescribable, unfathomable, incomprehensible love, As dawn broke on Friday morning, your beloved Son was on the way to the court of the pavements between the fortress and the temple. The long prayer of agony in the garden was accomplished. The betrayal was complete. The arrest was carried out. The midnight trial was over. Peter's denial was so fresh on his mind. Still ahead was the unfaithfulness of the crowd, the treachery of the religious leaders, the weak will of Pilate, the scourge and the thorns and beatings, the long walk with a crosspiece [...]