Saturday, November 12, 2011

My dearest God,

So many life lessons! You have taught me so many life lessons. I have been a hard nut to crack at times. There have been moments when I resisted with all my power, put up obstacles to your grace, and talked back as if I was equal to your living presence. Yet, you did not give up on me. Quietly, you invited me to let down my defenses, to trust you like never before, and to surrender all that kept me from you. Finally, when I was too weary to maintain the fight, to keep holding up my false faces, and insisting on my own way, you stepped across my invisible wall, took me into your waiting arms and hope was born.

Today that life lesson came to me once again, only this time it came as a reminder that trust and faith can take us into eternity's joy. It did so today as another gift of grace. I recognized that grace is not a one time event that lives for the moment and then fizzles out over time. Rather it is a living testimony to your love so lavishly given to your children.

This evening as I held my 24 year old soldier grandson in my arms, grace sang its beautiful song one more time. I acknowledged your power to recover what is lost and to make it found in the most beautiful way. I realized that hope is a sacred gift coming from your heart alone and that nothing can fully douse the fire of your love. As hope enters our soul and our spirit begins to live more fully from its power, we are to be hope bearers for others whose hopeless, worn, and drooping spirits feel the drain and sorrow of life circumstances that rob them of the delicate, yet powerful life force.

As I breathed a grandmother's grateful prayer, I gave thanks to all those who kept the hope light burning for me while I walked the dark roads of despair and I prayed that I too could do my part to keep the light burning for those whose pain often keeps the light from breaking through.

Gracious and Loving God,
restorer of
worn and weary souls,
I offer
my whole devotion
to you
for the
wonderful and magnificent gifts
of your spirit.
My heart
is full
to overflowing
and my determination
to be
an example
of your grace,
I pray,
is an
act of faith
and love
for you.

As always, Andrea