Flow........

My Thought for this Day.........We flow. Our words flow. Our thoughts flow. Our blood flows. We flow. Yet there are times when the flow is jagged and sharp and interrupted. ........and it is then, we realize that the everyday ebb and flow is miraculous.

Storm........

My Thought for this Day.........When you're in the Eye of the Storm and your nerves are raw, yet you know another round is nearly upon you, what do you do? This moment tells the story of you.

Choose........

My Thought for this Day.....I choose to not worry about tomorrow. I choose to live in the present that is today. I choose to release the woes and tears and fears that come with the anticipation of unsolvable problems and stress of an unknown future. I choose to know that life can be the unanticipated, the unexpected and the uninvited. Yet it is life and is to be lived in the arena of gratefulness and glory.

Mom........

My Thought for this Day........Today is my mom's birthday. She would have been well over 100 years old. She was a strong woman with such love for my brother and me. I learned much as she raised us alone after our dad died when we were young. She was committed to us. She was engulfed with us. She never once turned her back on us. She empowered us. She was our mother 100% of her day, every day. She handed us to the world well loved and well prepared. I hope we have done that for our kids, and that you do that for yours. There is nothing else in your world that matters more. Happy Birthday Mama.

Vine.........

My Thought for this a Day.......We all are fruit of a Vine that is Holy and Virtuous and Pure and Wise. We each have an inner core that can draw on this Vine daily. How tragic when we turn our heads and hearts away and become rotten rather than righteous.

Sing..........

My Thought for this Day.......There is a bird outside my window singing his morning song. He is greeting this new day in the only way he knows how......with a cheerful noise. It is his habit, his tradition, his life. I wonder at him. And I must say, I envy him. For there are days when I don't have a joyful noise to make. I don't want to greet the day....especially not trilling with an expectation of the sun rising on a beautiful spring land. Once again, I am humbled by the Nature around me. He sings because he has a song and it is his job to greet the sun with enthusiasm. So on the days when you might rather just pull those covers over your head, think of my bird. Sing and be joyful. Make it your nature......I truly believe that thankfulness will follow and instead of a covered up lump, you will be standing on your branch, welcoming your brand new day. And your song will be Joyful.

Prayer.......

I wrote this 3 years ago. Devan had just gotten out of an 8 day hospital stay after the massive DVT she had that caused a blood clot to travel from her ankle through her heart and to break into several clots that settled into both lungs. I am as humbled today from her recovery as I was then. This was and still is my challenge. My Challenge for this Day.......I am just beginning to gather my scattered thoughts after they have been jumbled around much like letters in Word Find puzzles. I think it's partly old age and partly 'scared to death' syndrome. But nonetheless I've wanted to tell you about something I have done for a long time and challenge you to do the same. Pray. Ok, you say, I've been on that band wagon for years.....or at least I hope you're saying that , and I've even blogged about the sincerity of your words, "I'll pray for you" before. This is totally different. For years and years, I have prayed for a specific someone I didn't know. I picked a room number in Hendrick Hospital in Abilene and each morning added that unknown occupant to my prayers. Random, yes, bizarre, I know, but in my heart I knew that at least one person, me, was praying for whoever was in that particular hospital bed. Last week, when our Dev was in Harris Hospital, I was aware of no fewer than five churches scattered throughout Texas that were praying for her, and countless other individuals. I wonder who was praying for the man next door who had a feeding tube, or the woman across the way who never had visitors. So, today, I challenge you to pick a hospital, and a room and pray for that unknown person. You just may be the only one who is lifting them up to our God. I'm staying with my room in Hendrick, but I'm also adding room 301 in the Harris Methodist Heart Center to my prayers. Will you accept this Challenge? Will you intercede on a stranger's behalf? This is my Challenge to you.