Prayer for light

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."   1 John 3:18

 

Time to look deeper, and shine that light on another spot in my soul.

Love one another...that's what He said. I thought I knew how to do this...but He's calling me to love others in a different way. To see their "stuff" as part of their brokenness, that all of us have and all of us need. To see my "stuff" as part of my own brokenness, that I have and need. That brokenness shows my need for the Father, and brings me less of myself and more of Him.

 

Father God, today I come to you with a heart of repentance. Forgive me for not loving others as You would have me do. Forgive me for looking so much at my own grief and my own needs, that I've hurt those close to me. Forgive me for not bringing my burdens to the cross; for only the Son can carry this bothersome emotional weight that I haul. May Your love for me resonate in and through me to those around me. Please help me to stretch further today the hand that I have timidly kept at my side. Please help me find rest and patience for the grief and loss that I feel, as well as find refreshment in your Holy Spirit. Wash me dear Lord, as I look to You as my source. Help me to focus on what is important, and only be distracted by the glimpses of You and Your vision for my life. Thank you, Father God, for your blessings in my life, and for reminding me of the things that bring Your glory. Help me to show my gratitude to those I love, by being authentically who You have created me to be.  ~ Amen

 

I look to live out my belovedness, by showing the love, not talking the love. It's so easy to talk, talk, talk...but how have I shown my love for my family this week? How do my friends know I care for and appreciate them? How do I simply live out what is implanted within...the reality of my brokenness, and my need for rest and refreshment? Lord, I leave this to you to help reveal to me. Show me the dark places that I'm ignoring, and bring them to light. Humble me, God, and help me see the ways that I can show others real love.

 

 

My lovely daughter

My daughter is 6 years old, and quite imaginitive, if I do say so myself. She's quick-witted and has a line for anything. She carries on conversations with her girlfriends on the phone like she's a teenager, and does complete makeovers (pretend) at her in-home salon with any guests we have in our home. She loves to play dress-up in her dresses she wears to church, and dresses up in her grandma's nightgowns when she's at her house. She trys on one, then another, then another until she's gone through them all. Then, she chooses her favorite one, and stays in that the rest of the time we're over there.

Just thinking of her puts a smile on my face. New top teeth are coming in, and she's getting ready for first grade to start in a few weeks. Just something I'm thinking about today. She stayed overnight at her grandma's house last night, and called me this morning. She slept in late, and was very sweet on the phone.I'm looking forward to a fun weekend as a family just to spend time loving each other and laughing together.

Lovely, just lovely.

So What's the buzz about McDonald's?

Have you seen the new Red Box? A wholly owned subsidiary of McDonald's Corporation, Redbox is a leading renter of DVDs through automated kiosks. Redbox continues to revolutionize the DVD rental industry as it expands its footprint inside grocery stores, McDonald's restaurants, and other locations.

According to the website, Minneapolis has the second largest number of Red Box locations in the country, second only to Houston, TX. Rent a DVD for $1 and return the DVD to any redbox anywhere. You swipe your credit card, and it charges you $1 per day for rental up to a specific amount of days (I think it's 25) and then if you don't return it, they charge your credit card $25, it's yours...you've purchased it. They also take your email address to send reciept of rental and return. Amazing, how each RedBox is connected to another, and can identify you by your email and credit card number. You can return the DVD to any other Redbox location. According to my friend Cathy, who is so excited about each of her family's past 6 purchases made at RedBox, she stared at the machine in amazement for at least 15 minutes before renting her first DVD from it. She said they look like first run family type films that come to Redbox before they even hit Blockbuster. How do they do that?

At lunch the other day, Jan mentioned that McD's is experimenting with the drive-thru ordering being centralized, or even taken at an off-site location across the globe (like India) so the person that you order from is not necessarily at the location you order at. It's all automated. Cathy mentioned that she heard they're trying this in California, and that's how they're able to stay open 24 hours, because they only have to staff a cashier and a cook, not a cashier a cook and an order person. I mean, really. As long as I don't have to get my fries from a vending machine, I suppose it's okay.

Then...on our way home from the lake last Saturday, we stopped in Monticello, MN to fill up with gas, and there's a McDonald's right on I-94 next to a gas station. So...as I fed our infant son, my husband and daughter stopped into McD's for some much needed soft serve. As my hubby came over with his shake, I thought he ordered strawberry, which is very much like him. I'm more the chocolate kind...but I digress. He asked if I wanted to try some...which when I sipped on the yummy and unfamiliar concoction, he said "It's mango raspberry." I gave him a quizzical look and sipped again. "What? Mango Raspberry? In rural Minnesota? At McDonald's? How cool is that?" I almost confiscated the whole thing right then. It's probably a trial kind of thing, but I definitely will check out our local McD's to see if they also carry it. Very yummy.

I suppose McD's will be coming out with other new snack-type food to take home with your DVD's. I wonder if they'll carry popcorn and Jr. Mints or just the Fruit and Walnut salad (which is really not a salad...but more like a snack.)Kudos to McD's for getting our kiddies interested in the playland, and getting us interested in coming back day after day to rent and return movies, as well as getting us to think that we're snacking somewhat healthy (not).

What else will they think of? Car wash drive thru..."Wash, wax, and hold the pickle."