March 27, 2012: The Gift of Redemption

3 gifts redeemed:

• a routine day at work.  Redeemed by contagious joy.  One of my coworkers brought his young daughter in today and behind the closed door of my office, I could hear him playing with her in the hall, she shrieking with delight as her daddy chased her.  
• creation.  Redeemed by the long months of winter.  Liberated by the warmth of spring to new life.
• me.  Most of all me.  Redeemed by the very life of my Lord and Savior. Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us. Luke 1:68-69b

January 8, 2012: Living in the Light of Grace

Light that caught you, a reflection that surprised you, a shadow that fell lovely:

•  A light that caught me was a beautiful farewell service for the founding pastor of my church, who God has called elsewhere.  David Crowder led our worship this morning and it was indeed a gift.  So many emotions that I was caught up in: adoration for my Jesus, sadness at the farewell, excitement at where God will take our church next, joy to be a part of what God is doing in this world to renew and redeem. 
• A reflection that surprised me occurred just after midnight actually.  I counted the gift of my daughter stopping over last night as one of my graces for yesterday.  The reflection was the reflection of love that I've been blessed to pour into her.  She has been struggling for a few years and every time I call out to God in prayer for her, His answer to me is to just love her. It's not always easy, and I have failed often, but I have attempted to be faithtul.  Last night after she left, I texted her to see if she had arrived home safely and told her I love her.  She texted me back to say that she loves me too.  God's love reflected to me, to her, and then back to me again.  
• A shadow that fell lovely is the bedroom that we just finished painting.  It's somewhat bittersweet because it is my daughter's former bedroom.  We are sad to not have her living here, but made plans to turn her room into a guest room.  The paint color (gray) turned out to look just lovely.  I was afraid it might be cold, but it's not and I really like it.