Help me to be a holy, happy person, free.

Call to Worship This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118

Meditation We do not have all the answers about why we suffer, but we do know what the answer cannot be. It cannot be that God doesn’t see or care, for he sent his own Son to enter into our suffering. And it cannot be a hopeless situation, for he conquered sin and death by raising his Son from the dead.

Closing Prayer Help me to be resolute and Christ-contained. Never let me wander from the path of obedience to Thy will. Strengthen me for the battles ahead. Give me courage for all the trials, and grace for all the joys. Help me to be a holy, happy person, free from everything contrary to Thy mind. Grant me more and more of the resurrection life: may it rule me, may I walk in its power, and be strengthened through its influence.

Well, meeting with Cate with a C over a little Cartel iced coffee yesterday was heart-shifting. Certainly her clarity and joy and good sense was inspiring. And humbling, as she totally got what it means to serve our same list of kids with hard-to-pronounce names in His love, with creativity set tidily in a sturdy structure and a big, big smile on her face that was totally coming from her heart. 

What a gift today is.

And Jerry Bowen told a story at the little Potbelly sandwich store underneath the massive student housing which now lines Speedway of an old man in Guatemala with long white straggly hair who had spent a bunch of his life hunched over Greek translations and so he really couldn’t sit up straight. But he had a little jar of tiny colored stones. And once a week he thanked God for yet another week of life, and threw one of those stones out across the lawn. Just to pay attention.

And Jerry told another story of a man sitting behind him on an airplane who was sobbing so loudly at the end of a movie that Jerry could hear him, even through his earphones. And he was a guy who had not weighed life properly, and had not restored relationships and now the regret of that broke his heart.

So let me live in the truth today, that each day is a gift to be lived well, in gratitude and love. My fixed Monday prayers requests, May I exult in Your trustworthiness and help step by step throughout the day. May it be so. Exult.

For He has made it; let me rejoice and be glad in it.