This is my prayer for you

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Friends

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2008 has been such a relational year so far for me. I set up a Facebook account and from there discovered high school and college friends and even kids I used to baby-sit who now have growing families of their own. It’s been a time of reconnecting to people I never knew I’d have contact with again and it’s been interesting to see how we are the same people today that we were twenty years ago; only a little more worn out from use! When I was a child, I remember hearing in a sermon that in your life you will be lucky if you can count the number of true friends you have on one hand. That was preposterous to me! One hand? Five friends? I had way more than five friends! Of course I didn’t have the perspective at twelve that I do now. Now I understand. My definition of friend has matured with my years and I am so blessed by those “friends” who have matured along with my definition. Is there any thing in this world as amazing as a friend? One with whom you can open your soul and know they are...
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Smudges on our souls

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My whole world has titled off its axis just a bit since yesterday. Why, you might ask? It’s because I washed all my windows. In Chicago we've had some unusually mild weather so, before the blizzards blow, I took advantage of the warm days and cleaned all the windows inside and out. A clarity has been added. Gone are the smudges, the built up dirt that distorted the view as I looked outside. The light in my house is now brighter, clearer and it changes what I see and how I feel. Life is messy. We get smudges on our souls and the dirt of discontent builds up on our spirits; but then God provides agents to wash it away. It may be a song, a sermon, a conference, a comment, a catastrophe, or a circumstance and suddenly we see life more clearly and it changes everything. Matthew West sings in My Own Little World about his small safe world with "population: me” until he sees a homeless widow and now his world consists of two. What would we see if our eyes were opened? ...
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Safe

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My daughter came stumbling into our room at 4 a.m. “I had a bad dream”, she said as she crawled into bed. Did she want to talk about it? An immediate, adamant “No!” Ten minutes she was sound asleep safe in her dad’s arms. Safe When she experienced this bad thing she went to where she would feel safe. Later in the morning she told me about her bad dream and it wasn’t as scary to her in the 7 am brightness as it had been in the dark. Could we have explained that it wasn’t that bad and just a dream to her in the middle of the night? Not a chance, at that point she just needed to feel surrounded and protected. When trouble comes, overwhelming troubles like the constant crashing of waves on the seashore, where do you go to be safe? I wrap myself in scripture and claim the promises that God is… a refuge and help in time of need (Psalms 46) the Shepherd who supplies my needs and walks with me through the valleys (Psalms 23) the God who knows the way that I am taking (Job 23) who delights in e...
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