as you journey with a broken heart
may you walk with expectation of Christ’s healing.
may you appreciate and embrace the pain and sorrow of disappointment,
trusting Christ to guide you to completeness.
may you experience fully the place you are,
not seeking to run ahead,
cheapening the priceless gift of life God has given you.
and may you wait patiently for the Lord,
weeping in your time,
but perpetually aware
that joy comes in the morning.
earlier this month, bono spoke at the national prayer breakfast. i would highly encourage you to read the transcript (available here), as there are far too many good parts to put them all here. This one in particular that stuck with me:
A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it… I have a family, please look after them… I have this crazy idea…
And this wise man said: stop.
He said, stop asking God to bless what you’re doing.
Get involved in what God is doing—because it’s already blessed.
Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.
And that is what He’s calling us to do.
I’ve changed the RSS feed of this site to include the previous 20 posts.
Just so you know.
For those of you who haven’t read Tuesdays With Morrie, buy a copy (and read it) today.
There are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don’t respect the other person, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don’t know how to compromise, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can’t talk openly about what goes on between you, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don’t have a common set of values in life, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble.
-Morrie Schwartz
this was posted on postsecret today… for some reason it struck me as interesting:
Dear Frank-
It’s 1 AM and I’m sitting here, browsing the web and feeling sorry for myself over all the things that I’ve lost…and as I’m browsing PostSecret, reading all of these postcards, I realize I’m not alone. For even in the ones seemingly entirely irrelevant to me, I see a little bit of myself.
I may not be able to turn to my family or my friends or even myself for comfort, but I at least find solace in those six little words: I am not the only one.
-Maryland
“When I am weak, then I am strong.”
“My strength comes from the Lord, my rock and my high tower.”
Don’t tell that to the rich men,
full of importance,
trusting in their wealth.Don’t tell that to the talented,
full of God’s gifts,
but trusting in their ability.Don’t tell that to me,
full of pride and stubbornness,
trusting in my own way.“We can do it!”
“We’re good enough!”
“My strength comes from the Lord…”
I think one of the most disturbing tendencies in my life is my desire to “fix” things. I want to feel like I have control of my life, like if I just do enough then everything will work out. So often I trust primarily in my strength, rather than in God’s power.
How much greater would my life be if, when faced with a problem, I spent less time worrying about it and more time focusing on things that I could do? What if I recognized that the power of the entire universe rests in the hands of God Almighty, and that my strength is insignificant?
May we each find our strength in the Lord.
Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
He tends his flock like a shepherd,
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary,
and increases the power of the weak.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my savior.
The sovreign Lord is my strength
he makes my feet like the feet of the deer
he enables me to go on the heights.
May the Lord bless you.
May he keep you.
May he make his face to shine on you,
And may he give you peace.
“But the Lord provided…”
Of course, that was only back then.
Back when God still did things.
When he talked to people
and healed the sick
and fed the hungry
and calmed the distressed
and touched the hearts of men.Long, long ago.
A time out of mind, for some.
But the Lord provides.
The Lord provides.
It’s hard to remember sometimes that God provides. It’s hard to remember that He looks down at us and knows what we need. It’s hard sometimes to think that he cares.
I take comfort in the provision of a God who not only looks down from heaven, but walks alongside my path. As I look to the past, I see the wonders the Lord has performed again and again in my life, rescuing me from myself as well as my enemies. As I look to the future, I look with hope, renewed daily by manna from the Hand of God.
