Category: God’s Faithfulness

Courage, Faith, Fear, God's Faithfulness, Hope

Courage

Rev Kathy

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I want to live life with courage, having the strength to greet the unexpected and the audacity to hope for better things. To be sure, courage is not always easy to come by. The assailants we face — change, aging, illness — are formidable foes. Fear is one of our life realities. But the words of Eleanor Roosevelt ring true.

Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.

Eleanor Roosevelt
You Learn By Living (1960)

I have learned that I really do have the strength to stare down difficult times. I have found courage in myself when I least expected to find it. I have stood firm and steadfast before illness, betrayal and personal crisis, and I remain standing as a testimony to the power of courage and the faithfulness of God. I am grateful for the crucible that is my life, for it has been a welcome catalyst for growth, strength, courage, and even hope!

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.

Psalm 31:24 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is the One who goes with you. God will not leave you nor forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 New King James Version (NKJV)

Dry seasons of life, God's Faithfulness, Life storms

Change and Growth

Rev Kathy

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The Chinese Tallow tree in my yard constantly changes. I have been documenting its changes for over a year, and I am amazed when it tassels and then becomes heavy with green berries. By fall those berries will have changed color from green to black and finally to white. The lifespan of Chinese tallow stems seems to be less than 100 years, although roots may live longer. Other experts report that Chinese tallow is short-lived, surviving 40 to 50 years.

The tree experiences many changes during its lifetime, much like we humans do. In that way, the tree reminds me that our lives cycle and change too, from season to season, as the years go by. We have to be comfortable with change and growth, standing firm, just as the Tallow tree does. We stand against scorching sun and rainstorms. We weather strong winds and enjoy light breezes. And all the time, we’re growing and changing.

God gives us the strength to stand tall in sunshine and shadow, through strong winds, gentle breezes, bitter cold and oppressive summer heat. It’s the way of nature, and God is faithful through it all, walking beside us as we change and grow.

Faith, God's Faithfulness, Life pathways

Pleasant Pathways

Rev Kathy

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I love it when life gives us pleasant pathways. Though some paths have been treacherous, for the most part, I have been blessed to walk pathways bathed in sunlight, surrounded with verdant greenery, marked by cooling breezes. Life has been my pleasure. I owe it all, I believe, to a loving, protecting God who walks beside me every moment.

There were times, of course, when life was difficult, times when I was very ill, in fact. But God’s presence was constant. God’s comfort was abundant, and I felt safe in loving arms. My family and friends surrounded me. The Holy Spirit filled my soul.

So many times, I have been comforted by the words of Isaiah 41:10.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

And so, with God ever near, and in spite of several roadblocks and obstacles here and there, I have been blessed to walk pleasant pathways.

Faith, God's Faithfulness

Change

Rev Kathy

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Living can be fragile, easily moved by winds of change. It is true that most humans resist change. We dread any assaults on our normalcy. We guard against changes in our routine, in our jobs, in our family. And when change comes upon us, we feel discomfort.

The problem is that life is all about change. We grow older. Our children grow up and move away. We downsize and miss our former home. Change is constant, blowing in life’s winds, challenging us and changing us.

How comforting that we worship a God who never changes. How comforting that even when change assails us, God is always the same, always near us, always gracing us with abiding presence.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”   (James 1:17)

Adventures, Africa, Faith, Freedom, God's Faithfulness, grief, healing

Remembering Uganda

Rev Kathy

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It was so many years ago, but I remember it as if it happened yesterday. The two of us, my husband Fred and I, stepped off of a plane in the Nairobi airport to begin a new life. As very young missionaries headed to Uganda, we had no idea what we would face in the days to come.

Getting to Uganda from Kenya was a long, dusty ride through the most beautiful places we had ever seen. Through bush country and savannah, through banana groves and rain forests, through tea plantations on mountainsides and the rushing waters of Bujigali Falls, we were getting acquainted with this continent. The terrain was ever-changing, and the way was marked by the majestic beauty of elephants, giraffe, cape buffalo, gazelles, flamingos and Ugandan crested cranes.

We were filled with awe and excitement. But the most moving sight of all was the people, barefoot and downtrodden, wearing rags and carrying heavy water containers. Their country had all but been destroyed by the evil dictator Idi Amin, who orchestrated the genocide of 100,000 to 500,00 Ugandans.

Churches were burned to the ground, schools pillaged and all but destroyed, roads were in shambles. Children were left orphaned in a country of widows. Their faces showed the wear of grief, their bodies the mask of mourning.

They are why we have come, sent by God to comfort a grieving people in small ways. The days ahead would find us digging water wells, distributing agricultural tools and vegetable seeds, giving out books, bibles and sewing supplies, bringing in simple medicines and vaccines.

I can never think of the Ugandan people without recalling Lamentations 5, a scripture passage that was read in a church service to describe the plight of the Ugandan people. As the reader read through her tears, the entire congregation wept, mourning so many losses. I offer the text here in its entirety:

Lamentations 5 New International Version (NIV)

Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
look, and see our disgrace.
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
We have become fatherless,
our mothers are widows.
We must buy the water we drink;
our wood can be had only at a price.
Those who pursue us are at our heels;
we are weary and find no rest.
We submitted to Egypt and Assyria
to get enough bread.
Our ancestors sinned and are no more,
and we bear their punishment.
Slaves rule over us,
and there is no one to free us from their hands.
We get our bread at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the desert.
Our skin is hot as an oven,
feverish from hunger.
Women have been violated in Zion,
and virgins in the towns of Judah.
Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders are shown no respect.
Young men toil at the millstones;
boys stagger under loads of wood.
The elders are gone from the city gate;
the young men have stopped their music.
Joy is gone from our hearts;
our dancing has turned to mourning.
The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
Because of this our hearts are faint,
because of these things our eyes grow dim
for Mount Zion, which lies desolate,
with jackals prowling over it.
You, Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures from generation to generation.
Why do you always forget us?
Why do you forsake us so long?
Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
renew our days as of old
unless you have utterly rejected us
and are angry with us beyond measure.

Idi Amin was deposed. God did restore Uganda , and those who had lost so much found life again. Their mourning turned to dancing, dancing filled with joyful gratitude to a compassionate and faithful God. Amen.

Faith, God's Faithfulness, grief, Loss

Looking for God

Rev Kathy

 

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In the darkest times of life, I look for God. Unfortunately, on good days I mostly go about business as usual, thinking perhaps that I don’t need God that much. Yet, it is in normal days that I can spend time finding God in all things and truly enriching my life. The words of Steven Charleston offer a great deal of wisdom.

I have been out looking for God again. Out in the world around me, watching for signs and clues to the presence of something holy in life. I am glad to report the evidence is abundant. A young mother comforting her child who was crying. An older couple still walking hand in hand. A garden so peaceful you could hear the flowers grow. An unseen musician practicing piano through an open window. Beauty, love, kindness: all visible manifestations of what makes life sacred. There is more of hope than loss to see for those who take a second look at what surrounds them.

It is so true that I have had my share of loss. The most important part of dealing with loss was taking that second look, taking some time to redefine what the loss really meant for me, and steeling myself to move beyond the loss.

I plan to take second looks. I plan to look around for God in new ways, watching for signs of the presence of something holy. It truly does make life sacred.

Faith, God's Faithfulness, healing, Life storms, Prayer

Glory

Rev Kathy

 

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The year was 2014, the year I survived, the year so full of hard times. It all began in February with a diagnosis of end stage kidney disease. Then I was in and out of the hospital all year with complications and deadly infections. When the occupational therapist came to my room, I could not name colored blocks. At times, I did not know my own husband. I was very weak and could not walk for a time. Fortunately, much of the time I slept, not knowing how dangerously ill I really was.

I prayed a lot that year. Vulnerability brought me closer to God, the best source of help and life I knew. My church family brought food for us. My friends literally fed me and rubbed lotion on my feet. I had the invaluable help of a home health nurse, a physical therapist, and a doctor that came to my home each month. I graduated quickly from a wheel chair to a walker, and then was able to walk unassisted. Friends and family all over the world prayed for me. I am fully confident that their prayers brought me through.

Today is a new day for me. I can barely remember the hardest days of 2014. Though I still have end stage kidney disease and am on a dialysis machine eight hours everyday, I feel healthy on most days. I can eat and sleep. I can walk, cook and bathe myself. I can enjoy visiting with people without tiring out. I can go on shopping trips and buy my own groceries. I can care for my flowers and plants.

I am grateful to be alive, in awe of the way God intervened in my life and brought me back to the world I so enjoy. That’s my story. God played the major role. My husband was a close second by doing all the cooking, cleaning, washing, and especially, all the nursing care for me. I was blessed with the kind of help and support that helped me turn the corner.

William Barclay penned these words:

“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”

I did endure. I did see my difficult year turn into glory, the glory of friendships, the glory of family, the glory of love, hope and health.

So thank you, God. Thank you, Fred. Thank you, dear friends, family, and church family for keeping vigil with Fred and me during hard times. Thank you!

Courage, Faith, God's Faithfulness, Risk

“If footmen tire you, what will horses do?”

Rev Kathy

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Many, many years ago I heard a sermon entitled, “If footmen tire you, what will horses do?” I was intrigued by the question and headed straight to the Bible to see what it was all about. I found it in Jeremiah 12:5.

If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the swelling of Jordan?

After all these years, I am still intrigued by these questions. I have asked myself similar questions many times. If I am tired out by this small task, how will I fare when the work is harder? If I complain when I have a simple illness, what will I do if a serious illness attacks me? If I am brought low by the harsh words others say about me, how will I endure a complete betrayal?

I have been through each of these life circumstances. I read and read for a word of relief. It took me all the way to Jeremiah’s 15th chapter where I found this consolation in verse 20:

Though they fight against you,
They will not prevail over you;
For I am with you to save you
And deliver you, declares the Lord.
So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.

Life has knocked me flat plenty of times. I have experienced grief, failure, betrayal, sadness. I have seen things I never wanted to see. But no matter how many times I’ve been knocked down, I always, always get up.

I learned two lessons along the way:

Don’t sweat the small stuff.
In the end, God will be with you through it all.

That’s Gospel Good News!

Faith, God's Faithfulness, Hope, Life storms

Through the Waters

Rev Kathy

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A few days ago, we were talking about the death of Muhammad Ali. Fred asked if I knew that he died of septic shock, and reminded me that I had septic shock at least three times in 2014, coming very close to death. That was a part of my journey that was filled with dangerous mile markers, some of which I was not even aware of at the time.

Fred lived it fully while I was out of it. He knows better than anyone what a danger-filled year it was. The reality is that such times are a part of live. Some of them, we survive. And that’s what happened to me in 2014. I survived the raging waters that took me near to the end of my life. I survived the fiery nights of difficulty when my temperature climbed to ominous levels.

I survived it all, and today, I feel healthy and strong on most days. For that, I am eternally grateful to God who brought me through and to Fred, who never tired on that journey. When I remember those days, this scripture always comes to mind:
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.   (Isaiah 43:2 NIV)

Courage, Dreams, God's Faithfulness

Paintings in the Sky

Rev Kathy
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Photograph by Sorina M

Sometimes nature paints the sky with brilliant color to remind us of vibrancy and energy. Often such a painting in the sky comes to us when we’re downcast. It is a gift, a grace gift sent by God to caress and comfort us. It is a thing of extraordinary beauty.

Perhaps it is a message to us to reach again for the sky and dream new dreams. It is a message that says, “Take back your energy. You are strong. You are resilient. You can get through down times.”

Life has taught me that when I fall face down in the dust, I can, and I will, get up again. I will face another day with courage and joy. I will move forward on this journey, and I will proclaim victory over whatever assails me.

I am not afraid. I am not permanently discouraged. I am simply taking the time I need to refresh myself. There are times when all of us are exhausted from acting stronger than we feel. It’s not necessary to pretend. It is healthier to own the place where we are, no matter how painful it might be at the moment.

I often recite this verse from the Bible when I need an extra burst of strength.

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

That scripture, along with occasional paintings in the sky, bring me renewed hope and strength for another day’s journey.

Contemplation, God's Faithfulness

Psst!

Rev Kathy

 

imageStout’s Point, Petitjean State Perk, Arkansas

Psst! Sometimes it seems that God is so quiet toward us that we can barely hear. Maybe he uses “psst!” To get our attention. Which means we have to be listening to hear God’s voice. In my experience, God does not shout. God simply prompts very quietly, as if he wants us to learn more about paying attention.

God can be maddeningly hard to get. Sometimes we have these encounters when God breaks into our lives with power and answers our prayers. In those times, God waters the garden of our faith, making it lush and green. And then there are seasons when an unrelenting silence descends. We cry to God in our confused anguish and God just seems silent, absent.

The holy is not loud. It is more like a still, small voice that speaks to us when we are attuned to it. And that’s the secret, I think, being attuned to the holy moments, waiting patiently for God to nudge us, listening carefully lest we hear a holy “psst!”

To be in that listening place, we must clear our lives of everyday chaos. We must be attentive to our spiritual journey. And we must spend some time in prayer and contemplation. Sounds straightforward, but it is not that easy for those of us with full schedules and multiple responsibilities.

The bottom line, though, is this: I want to hear from God. I want to be still and quiet enough to to hear God, even if God’s only utterance is a holy “psst!” If I hear that, we can go on from there to grander communication. And that’s so important!

Courage, Family, God's Faithfulness, Grace, Home, Uncategorized

The Coming of the Dawn

Rev Kathy

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It’s a brand new morning filled with possibility. It’s also the day we leave our Little Rock home to go back home to Macon. So there is emotion involved, bittersweet feelings that remind me that we are once again leaving behind our son, our grandchildren, and a host of lifelong friends. We cannot straddle two states very well. We cannot cure the sadness of distance with FaceTime or Skype. This situation simply is what it is, and we will have to navigate the emotions of having family far from us.

I have no doubt that when night falls on us tonight in Georgia, we will feel at home and content. We will nurse a little sadness, yes. We will work with melancholy feelings for a while. But we will be in our home, our safe place and our place of rest and peace. I will be glad to see my garden and marvel at how it has grown in a week. I will be very glad for my own bed. Night will find me in my place.

Once again, Bishop Steven Charleston describes my emotions in his eloquent writing.

“It is quiet now. All the cares of this long day are drifting away. There is peace in the house, and in the garden, and over the fence into the wide world beyond, a peace that passes beneath the trees and through the fences, circling the moon in a spiral of silver light, following the night air, going into places where lonely hearts hide, searching for the wounded among us, comforting the dreams of the innocent. It is quiet now, for the love of God walks this night, as every night, gently seeking, seeking those who need love the most, as they wait, wait for the coming of the dawn.”

Missing my grandchildren, I will “need love the most.” But I know that the words are real and true: “. . . the love of God walks this night, as every night, gently seeking, seeking those who need love the most, as they wait, wait for the coming of the dawn.”

Faith, God's Faithfulness, Uncategorized

Resting in God’s Love

Rev Kathy

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Where do I find God? There are times when, for whatever the reason, I feel estranged from God. There are times when, though my faith tells me that God is near, I simply do not feel God’s presence. During those times, my prayer seems empty. I cannot connect to God. I cannot sense God’s love. I feel lost and confused. I cannot make myself believe that God loves me.

Sometimes God speaks to me through the words of others. Bishop Steven Charleston writes these comforting words:

You are not lost. Not to me.
And never will be.
No matter where you may be,
no matter how far or deep or dark
or empty or alone or confusing or new
or complex or tangled
or bad or difficult,
I will find you.
I will find you and I will be with you.
I will come to you and hold you and care for you
and uplift you and protect you
and heal you and save you
and bring you home.
So you never need be afraid.
Never. For you will not be lost, not to me.
I have you. Now and forever.
Be at peace and rest in that peace.
You will never be in a place my love cannot find.
So says our God.

Without fail, I eventually return to peace. I find my way back, every time, and I find myself again resting in God’s love.

Faith, God's Faithfulness, Inspiration, Love

Love Has the Last Word

Rev Kathy

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My last blog post spoke of being unable to escape adversity. And it is true that we will not get through this life without adversity, no matter how hard we try. The path we walk is steep and winding, leading us forward through all sorts of dangers, toils and snares. The road can be frightening. It can be challenging.

We navigate in a world that is sometimes filled with terror and hate. But the best news for us comes from Bishop Steven Charleston.

The final word to our lives will not be terror or hate. Even if they seem overwhelming now, they will not define us or control us. Other forces are at work, deep forces that move silently among us, drawing us closer against the storm. Whenever human beings face disaster together, whatever that peril may be, our ancient instinct for compassion rises up to unite us in common cause. We do not shatter beneath the blows. We only grow stronger. No, fear and hate will never have the last word. Love will.

There is no better news than that!

I love the hymn Amazing Love. How Can it Be. The words of the fourth stanza give me new and fresh hope.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me?

Love has the last word.

Courage, Faith, Fear, God's Faithfulness, Grace, Uncategorized

The Heart to Conquer Pain

Rev Kathy

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No way to escape hardships! It’s inevitable that life will bring us sadness, loss, grief, fear, and all manner of trial. This is a dangerous world, and danger is a part of life. This is a world where pain sometimes strikes us, and there is no way to avoid it.

I recall a terribly dark time in my life when I felt betrayed and abandoned, as if I alone had to face the troubles that had descended upon me. I felt disheartened and despondent. I felt frightened and, most of all, I felt totally alone. It was not a good feeling. It left me bereft of comfort for weeks on end. I could not change the circumstance, and I could not shake the emotional angst.

Prayer was my companion, but I would be lying if I said that prayer worked an instant miracle. Prayer was constant and so was the pain. I was not delivered from it by a prayer or a Bible passage. I simply endured the pain until it began to ease.

Was God present with me during this time? Did God hear my cries? Did God even care that I was going through the valley’s shadow?

My experience was that God was very silent. I knew God’s presence only by faith. I knew God’s compassion only by past experience. I knew I would survive only because I had survived so many difficulties in the past.

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.

– Rabindranath Tagore

Courage, Faith, God's Faithfulness, Grace, Uncategorized

Remade!

Rev Kathy

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I am in awe of God’s presence in all things. It is not just that God is near us. God is also within us and beside us in every created thing. I have learned that, even in the most difficult times, God is within me. In fact, God is perhaps nearer in the hard times.

How narrow a pathway those hard times bring! There is nothing to be seen on the left or on the right. It is a feeling of being trapped in one’s own sadness, wondering if the narrow path will ever end, wondering if the world will ever open up again. It is as if I am being forced to look within myself because the path is too narrow to see anything else. The sunlight is hidden. The light of stars and moon doesn’t show itself. There are no mountains or forests or valleys or seashores. There is just the narrow tunneled path and the will and the courage to keep moving through it. And even there in that tight, restrictive space, I sense God’s presence.

I can rest on the promises of this quote by Jan Richardson from her book on reflection and prayer, In the Sanctuary of Women.

The mystics invite us to remember what we all too often forget: God is everywhere present in the world, suffusing creation with the being of God. Once in a while, if we keep our eyes open, if we look closely enough, something amid the familiar reveals itself, offers itself to us in a new way. What we know, what we have learned, is taken apart. Is remade. Remakes us.

So many times in this life, I have been remade. It’s by the grace of a loving, ever-present God.

Courage, Faith, God's Faithfulness, Hope, Inspiration, Life storms

On to the Land of Promise

Rev Kathy

 

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Richland Creek Wilderness

Have you ever wandered in a wilderness? I have certainly felt at times as if I was wandering in a wilderness . . . abandoned, confused, disoriented.

The Bible tells the story of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness for a very long time. We find one reference to that story in Numbers 32:13.

The LORD’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.

Certainly no wilderness wandering that I have experienced has been that long and grueling. Yet I do know about a personal wilderness journey. I know how lonely it feels, how forsaken. I know that it seems to go on forever with no end in sight. I know that such wilderness journeys can happen when one is ill, isolated, disheartened, grieving or simply feeling empty.

Numbers concludes with the Israelites coming to the end of the long, hard journey. They are now standing on the Plains of Moab, just across the river from the promised land. This is where Moses gives his final commission to the people. And in the next book, Deuteronomy, the end of the wandering in the wilderness becomes a reality.

Look, he has placed the land in front of you! Go up, take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”  – Deuteronomy 1:21

And that’s the good word we need to hear. Our wandering is over. God has walked beside us through whatever wilderness we travelled. We are free to move into our own land of promise where life is no longer filled with fear and discouragement. The magic, though, is this: coming out of the wilderness is our choice. God has the land of promise ready for us. We need only to walk into it with courage and fresh hope.

 

God's Faithfulness, Grace, Hope, Love

Healed of Sad Memory

Rev Kathy

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The anniversary of my brother’s death was in late March. I did not allow myself to emotionally mark the actual date, and that was probably a mistake. The loss has hovered over me since the day I chose to largely ignore it. And there is a cloud of sadness over my head. Pete was our baby brother, and he certainly did not leave us in the right order. He was the youngest, so he should have outlived his two older siblings. But that was the thing about Pete. He didn’t follow rules and expected practices.

I survived his death emotionally. My brother and my cousin also survived it. His young wife and his two beautiful daughters did too. But there was a special kind of love that made it possible to survive. Pete loved lavishly and graciously. It is that kind of love that still watches over us and heals us of the sad memory. It is God’s love that carries us beyond the sadness and brings us into the light of hope. The words of Steven Charleston describe it perfectly.

What gracious love is this, that watches over us without ceasing, that allows for our frailty, that lifts us up when we have stumbled, never wavering in hope for us, never despairing at our shortcomings, but believing in us, defending us, calling forth our better nature, until we are healed of sad memory, restored to live in the fullness of our life, set free from the snares of what can harm us, to be who we were made to be, long ago, by this same gracious heart, the one that formed us before the first dawn, and that will carry us safely beyond the golden light.

This blog post is for Pete, and is dedicated to Shelli, Kristen and Kaitlyn.

God's Faithfulness, Hope, Uncategorized

Hope!

Rev Kathy

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I don’t usually pay much attention to quotes printed on signs, but today I saw this one that hit me right between the eyes.

God is saying to you today, “Everything will work out. I’m in complete control. I know what the medical report says. I know what the financial situation looks like . . . I know how big your dreams are, and hear me clearly; I will not fail you.”

So to extrapolate this message for me . . . “I know what the strain of dialysis is like. I know you miss your grandchildren,. I know you endure a lot of pain. I know what the future holds for you. I know where your kidney is.”

And that works for me. The promise is in Hebrews 13:5.

” . . . for God has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support.”

What a word of hope!

God's Faithfulness, Grace

It Lights the Whole Sky

Rev Kathy

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The sunrise each morning reminds me that God loves me like the brilliance of the sunlight. In fact, God loves us in so many ways, through so many gifts — the evening sky, the starlight, a gentle rain, a cooling breeze, the brilliant sunlight. In so many ways, God says, “I love you.” And God’s miracles, large and small, enlighten our path.

The longer I live, the more grateful I am for God’s love and care. The more I marvel at God’s graces. The more I give thanks for God’s protection. Every fresh new morning gifts me with the faithfulness of God. Every sunrise fills my spirit with bright new hope. Every day, without failure, the sun rises to bring light to my day.

In the words of the poet, Hāfez, that kind of love “lights the whole sky.”

And still, after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe Me.”

Look what happens with
A love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky.

― Hāfez