All of Our Lives

Good morning, Loved Ones,

Welcome to Wednesday! I have selected a passage from Henri Nouwen's Bread for the Journey to inspire us for the day.

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives--the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-- that requires hard spiritual work.
Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.
Let us not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God." - Henri Nouwen, from Bread for the Journey

Thank you, Lord, for conflict. I want to run when it happens, but I know, when you empower us to stick it out, that conflict can become a blessing.
Thank you, Lord, for the losses I experience. The losses remind me that I have more room for you, your love, your grace, your hope.
Thank you, Lord, for the pain I feel every day when I see or experience injustice. The pain is your call to get to work.
Thank you, Lord, for tears that sometimes come when I least expect them.
Thank you, Lord, for those with whom I disagree. Without them I would be more sure of who I am and less likely to change.

Let's give thanks for everything!

Shalom,
Pastor Rick