A PERSONAL PRAYER Dear God, I love you. That is what you have asked of me, to love you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. And so I do. I love you. Sometimes that love is hot and fiery, full of the emotion of passionate worship. Sometimes it is a more nitty gritty kind of love, like taking out the trash is a way of loving my wife, or buying a birthday gift is a way of loving my grandson. You have shared in your scripture that the love language you hear best is our service [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER Dear God, When I was young, I was so full of passion and enthusiasm, or at least that is how I remember it. I wanted to do everything there is to do. You remember how I was, God. Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, yada yada yada. Somewhere along the way, then, I lost some of that fire in the belly. Did I just get tired? Did everyday [...]

Dear God, Thank you for the moms in my life.  Thank you for my mother, who was a working parent with significant responsibilities, but who gave herself to loving me and others. Thank you for her decision to begin a program for speech therapy at our home when I was small, so she could be with me. Thank you that she dragged me with her to camps and schools as she worked as a speech therapist, so that I might interact with all sorts of folks. Thank you for her decision to become a mother to my cousins when my [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. Dear God, Sometimes, I feel like I don’t quite fit in. I feel different from the people around me. I feel like the kid who plays alone on the playground. I realize that others may look at me and not see that sense of isolation. I know that part of it is due to decisions I have made not to show other people my true self. I also know that part of it is my desire to [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. God of mercy, I confess… I say that to you often. I confess… Do you get tired of hearing it? Do you get tired of hearing about the same old sins, over and over? Do you grow weary of my weakness, annoyed by my failures at real repentance, worn out by my words imploring you to come in and save me from myself? You know, when my kids come to me and tell me they need [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God, I am so thankful that I was blessed with parents who believe in me. They taught me that I was special, that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to, that my potential was unlimited. Thank you for that. I am so grateful. It has led me to always want to grow, to be better, to aspire to be used for a greater purpose. It has formed my perceptions of what you expect [...]