Friday November 25, 2016

 

Joy is yours if you look upon your life as a service, living outside of yourself and your personal happiness. May you be blessed with the spirit to serve. Somehow amidst the sacrifice and hard work, joy stealthily sneaks in and you end up getting more than you give.

Hassled time, hurried time, crafted of jammed schedules, marathon cooking sessions, and shopping trips from hell. Why do I make this season harder than it must be?

All You ask of me is to live and give thanks: I save all that for one lone day, and pursue busy-ness, all the rest. Stop me.

Remind me of my treasures, the ones I did not buy in a store. Crack open my heart and let true joy pour forth.

More than turkey, better than gravy, prayer will be my holiday season.

The story is told of two old friends who bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?"

The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars."

"That’s a lot of money."

"But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear."

"Sounds like you’ve been blessed..."

"You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million."

Now he was really confused.

"Then, why do you look so glum?"

"This week... nothing!"

Please pray for my friend Daryl for his Salvation and to walk in the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit. He needs prayers to be able to make better choices, find his purpose, deal with his emotions in a good way, fight his addictive behaviors, find happiness and good friends. He needs to reconcile a lot of relationships, and to have his character faults removed. He needs help with loneliness he is feeling and he needs to build a better self-esteem. Amen.