Prayer of Examen

One helpful tool for reflective prayer is the Daily Examen developed by St. Ignatious of Loyola. Here is a simplified version to try during this advent season.

1. Become aware of God's presence.
2. Review the day with gratitude.
3. Pay attention to your emotions.
4. Look toward tomorrow.

During this advent season, may I adopt a rhythm of watchfulness and prayer, attention and reflection.
Come, Lord Jesus, come.

The reason

A story --
A newlywed husband watched his wife fix pot roast for Sunday dinner. Week after week, she would cut off each end of the roast and toss the ends away before she cooked it. Finally, curiosity got the better of him and he asked why she did that.
"Well, that's the way my mama fixed pot roast," she said. "I don't know why she did it, but her pot roasts were the best."
"Maybe we should ask your mama her recipe," he hesitantly suggested.
So, next time the new bride talked to her mama she said, "Mama, what's the reason for throwing away the ends of the pot roast?"
Mama said, "Well, I don't know why you do it. I did it to make the roast fit in my pan."

Reminder: Always find the reason behind the action to see if it makes sense. No blind following, even if the leader is trustworthy.

A good girl doesn't.......

1. Smoke
2. Drink
3. Swear
4. Bleach her hair
5. Ride motorcycles
6. Have a tattoo
7. Skip school
8. Skip church
9. Have a hicky
10. Attend auto races
11. Go to fortune tellers at carnivals
12. Question authority
13. Have a baby before she's married

This was how I defined being a good girl when I was growing up in the 60's. These are some of the things that I could not do if I wanted to be a good girl. Some of these seem silly to me now. Most are things I still wouldn't do, but don't define goodness or badness to me. I wonder how the youth of today would finish the sentence. "A good girl doesn't........."

A prayer for today

"Faithful Spirit of truth, how many times have you left messages on the doorstep of my life and I failed to notice? Increase my awareness of your powerful presence and open each package you bring to me. Amen."

On vacation

I'm taking a vacation from work. This is sabbath for me. It is a time for me to change the pace of moving, change my location, change my thinking so that perhaps I can see things from God's point of view.

This doesn't mean that I'm just sitting around doing nothing, but it means that I'm doing things I don't normally do on days when I go to the office. I'm spending more time reading and listening to the wind in the trees. I'm taking care of little errands that I've postponed for too long. Yesterday, the cats got shaved at the vet. (They look funny now!) Today I made a jello salad for tonight's supper and then I cleaned out a drawer and found old pictures. It gives me time to reflect on events of the past. I usually don't see where God has been at work in my life until I look back at what has been. Tomorrow the heating and a/c service person is coming. Friday the basement guy comes.

None of this is very exciting stuff unless I do it intentionally waiting for God to direct my actions. Did God tell me to make jello with pears in it? Well, no..... God doesn't get involved in the minutiae, but God directs me to love and give to others. If I decide to follow that command by making jello salad for the folks at Wednesday night church, well so be it.

So, I wonder what else God has in mind for me today............

Wednesday night church

"I think this is kind of a funny story about last night's church.

As soon as I entered the fellowship hall, Dennis came running over to me. 'Nancy, you've GOT to pray!' he said. So, I said ok and waited to hear what the emergency was all about. He went on to say, 'Pastor Jann isn't here, so you've got to say the prayer before we eat.' I said ok, but went to check with others to see what the plan was. Justina and David said they thought that was a fine plan. David would quiet the crowd, but I should pray since it was requested. I went to the kitchen to pray with those folks first. Then, I asked for prayer requests from the folks and hands shot up to pray for Shirley, for Roger, for a van that transports some of the folks. We prayed for Bill and for Garry. We prayed for travel mercies for Rev Jann, too.

I reminded folks to wash their tables. Dennis seemed a little put out that I asked folks to do that because he thinks that's his job. But I told him the floor also needed vaccuuming and the trash taken out, so he allowed it. After I finished my tray, I got a bucket to wash my table. Dennis was right there telling me he'd wash the table and he didn't want me to fall. He told me my job was to preach and his job was to wash tables. I told him I wasn't a preacher, but he could wash the table. He said, 'To us, you're a preacher.'

So, that was my evening. Just a reminder that God works thru even the most cracked pots!"

Doctors, Hospitals, Manure and Ponies

Rand had surgery April 9 after about 6 weeks of all sorts of other treatments. We spent many hours in waiting rooms and hospitals, watching bad TV and drinking stale coffee. In the midst of that, we did find blessings in the oddest places.

I'm reminded of a story (and I told this in church recently when we had a Holy Humor Sunday.)
Little Johnnie was annoyingly cheerful and optimistic. If the family had plans for a picnic, but it stormed, he was cheerful. If he received an ugly sweater for a Christmas present, he gushed over it. If he was served lima beans for supper, he gobbled them up with a relish and asked for seconds. His family had enough of Johnnie's cheerfulness. His birthday was coming soon and so the family decided that they'd fix him once and for all. They had the back yard filled to the brim with manure. Nasty, smelly, yucky. There was no way he could be happy about that birthday present they figured.Yet, on Johnnie's birthday, when they took him out to show him this "present", he was soooo very excited. His eyes just danced and he jumped right into the middle of the manure and started digging around. His family was confused and finally asked how he could be so happy about a yard full of manure.Johnnie replied, "With all this manure, I just know there's got to be a pony around here somewhere close!"

And so, I've been looking for ponies. I've had enough manure in the last two months to hold me for a lifetime...... and it keeps coming. My manure includes Rand's illness and surgery, his mother's illness, his mother's move to Council Bluffs (that's still in the planning phases,) my son's alcoholism and all the havoc that reeks in his marriage and spills over to us. But in the midst of all this, I'm finding ponies here and there. Cards, calls, emails, visits, facebook posts, prayers, prayers, prayers, understanding coworkers who cover for me when I can't seem to go on, meals with compassionate friends, church family that holds and embraces me and points me the way to God and to hope. God's blessings are sometimes hidden, but they are always there. This is my hope and my prayer.