Always met by God's grace and mercy

"We come to God as we are: caught by sin and longing for God; and we are always met by God's grace and mercy."  Wendy Miller

How Majestic is your Name

 Acknowledging and joyfully living  the power of God has been transmitted from the psalmists to the early saints to us today.  As always, our response to God is our choice. We can read and think all we want to, but praise and thanks of our lips and obedience of heart, mind and soul is ours alone to exercise.  In this vein, I love what St Patrick wrote  around 430 AD/CE:  "I bind myself today to the power of God to hold and lead, his eye to watch, his might to stay, his ear to hearken to my need. The wisdom of my God to teach, his hand to guide, his shield to ward, the Word of God to give me speech, His heavenly host to be my guard."

We are never alone

"To walk with God is to be reassured of direction, guidance, and strength for our daily journey. What do we have to fear when we are in God's presence and care? Nothing at all! This does not mean we will be spared discouragement, disease, or death itself.  It does mean that we will never be alone. From fear to courage is the natural journey of all that walk with God"  Reuben Job

"It seems that one of God's favorite themes is 'do not be afraid.'  God is not suggesting that we will not confront fearful realities in our lives. God is simply promising not to abandon us to fearful circumstance but to go with us through the dark night of fear, danger and uncertainty." Norman Shawchuck

I leave again for Maine soon to help Greg and family in his recovery from a gall bladder surgery.  Please pray for God's strength and comfort in his life, and mine as well.

A Future with Hope

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29: 11 -- 13

Everlasting Joy

"Joy and sadness are as close to each other as the splendid colored leaves of a New England fall to the soberness of barren trees. When you touch the hand of a returning friend, you already know that he or she will have to leave again. When you are moved by the quiet vastness of a sun colored ocean, you miss the friend who cannot see the same. Joy and sadness are born at the same time, both arising from such deep places in your heart that you can't find words to capture your complex emotions.
"But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one can take away from us." Henri Nouwen

God always calls us back

"I trust in you, Lord, but keep helping me in my many moments of distrust and doubt. They are there and will be every time I turn my eyes, ears or hands away from you. Please, Lord, keep calling me back to you, by day and by night, in joy and in sadness, during moments of success and moments of failure. Never let me leave you. I know you walk with me. Help me walk with you today, tomorrow and always." Henri Nouwen