Let it be.





Deo Gratias
Illustration by Julie Vivas

Thanksgiving leads us to dangerous places: generosity and joy.

Deo Gratias!!!

God write your hope into my desiring.

Deo Gratias!

I knit as I pray . . .


reflections
of














Creating Love













planted deep within me.




Deo Gratias!

Luke 13: 10-17

"The truth of faith has little value when it is not also the life of the heart." Brennan Manning

Deo Gratias

"If we
search
for
one word
to describe
the
mission
and
ministry
of
Jesus Christ,
reconciliation would not be a bad choice." Brennan Manning)

"This is the power of the Gospel in all its glory, to change everyone, bringing the possibility of reconciliation and peace for all." (See Jan's Blog, The Power of Repentance)

So, it is . . . in power and wisdom you shape me and my world . . .

Deo Gratias

"God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children." ROMANS 8:16

So, I cry Abba . . .

Deo Gratias

. . . everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation . . .

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Deo Gratias

For Talia Grace . . . praying gifts of grace and peace!

Deo Gratias!

In power

and wisdom . . .

you shape me . . .

and my world . . .

Deo Gratias

No one can mistake

that voice--

Deo Gratias!

He plays

Amazing Grace

for me!

Deo Gratias!

In His hands

I am transformed.

Deo Gratias!

God's hope . . .

in me . . .

Deo Gratias!

I am constantly being created by God.

Luke 4: 17-19
He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to
the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

For all that you are now doing in me . . . I say yes! Deo Gratias!

We know we are the beloved and all is changed. Judith Hougen

Oh, Lord my God,
You called me from the sleep of nothingness
Merely because in Your tremendous love
You want to make good and beautiful beings.
You have called me by my name in my mothers womb.
You have given me breath and light and movement
and walked with me every moment of my existence.
I am amazed, Lord God of the universe,
that You attend to me and, more, cherish me.
Create in me the faithfulness that moves You,
and I will trust You and yearn for You all my days. Amen and Amen

Deo Gratias.

I am His ...

But, now; GOD'S Message,
the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
the One who got you started, Israel:
"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
it won't be a dead end--
Because I am GOD, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.

"So don't be afraid: I'm with you.
I'll round up all your scattered children,
pull them in from east and west.
I'll send orders north and south:
'Send them back.
Return my sons from distant lands,
my daughters from faraway places.
I want them back, every last one who bears my name,
every man, woman, and child
Whom I created for my glory,
yes, personally formed and made each one.' "

Isaiah 43: 1-7

For His glory!

Deo Gratias!

Prayer of consideration: The Lilies of the Field

The lily does not choose in which field it will stand. So do I find myself on a "field".

The lily has no control over what grows around it. When it shoots up, it might have to fight for its life with thorns or clumps of crabgrass. Or it might be outshone by great sunflowers. So I have very little control over what surrounds me.

The lily of the field has no control over the weather--rain or drought, it must simply stand and endure.

The lily came up a certain kind of lily, of a certain color and shape, and its shapeliness and health depended on the spring and the summer, and whether grazing cattle let it grow.

. . . for all that has shaped and misshaped me, for all that has given me health and inflicted ill health on me--I am precious in the eyes of God. He loves me as I am, though would be glad were I to slough off my selfish sins. But they are trash compared to God's creating love in me.

How much of my life growth is my making; how much is God's?

A prayer of consideration . . . for me . . .

Deo Gratias

The House Mom and Dad Built

I spent the day with my mom . . . driving around to all of the houses we had lived in . . . beginning with the one she and dad built the first year they were married.

We took pictures . . . she talked . . . I listened.

I've heard most of these stories before . . . still . . . everytime she tells them I hear something new . . . something I haven't heard before. Today was no different . . . encouraging me . . . God is not yet finished with us.

We ended our day over a cup of tea in a local tea room. Mom . . . I asked . . . have you ever thought about how much of our life world is our making; and how much is God's?

What a conversation . . . to be continued . . . ! Deo Gratias!

Psalm 139:16 In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them yet existed.

God chose that I should come to be in a particular place and time, of particular parents, and all the rest. Today I pause to reflect on God's choices for me . . . raising my mind (heart) to God my maker . . . for he continues making me.

An Artist's Impression Anneke Kaai
The multi-coloured, round shape represents all of a person's thinking and doing. The brightness that surrounds this shape expresses the idea that "your hand rests on me." The artist is overcome by the realization that it is impossible to hide from God, to flee from him. Even if a person should mount up with the wings of the morning, or soar into the dark place of death, the light, symbol for God, is present everywhere--behind and in front, a guiding "right" hand.

Deo Gratias

Lord, teach us to pray . . .

Luke 11: 1-13

. . . if you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Deo Gratias

coming

to

Deo Gratias

come
bring your
little faith

look to heaven

Deo Gratias

Morning prayer . . .

I believe;

help my unbelief!

Deo Gratias