Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Dear God,

When we are weary and worn, you speak to our soul  You remind us you are God and we are your children.  Rest comes from you.  Peace comes on a spirit breeze.  Mercy washes over us.

Every year you make it possible for my dear friend and me to step away for a while from the busyness and chaos of life.  We camp out in a tent in cold October.  Wearing a few layers, watching the leaves fall from the trees and sitting by the campfire reveling in life and relishing faith, I breathe new air filling my heart, mind and soul.

In January we find some rustic cabin in a woods somewhere.  This year it is Dugan Hollow.  Although we made a fire in the fireplace and within an hour smoke filled the two-story structure and the smoke alarm went off for an hour as we fanned the doors and used blankets and towels to fan the smoke outside, still the setting and the cabin clears the air and cobwebs that frequently collect in my mind.

Every year these precious days remind me of your compassion and tender love.  Through your kindness I return to myself celebrating our relationship, yours and mine and mine and Cindy's.  I realize I am blessed as I let go of yesterday and live fully in today.

Great and Gracious God,
thank you
for the
old year
and the new.
Thank you
for opportunities
to debrief
and to surrender.
Thank you
for blessings
that remind me
who you are
and whose
I am.

Love, Andrea