A Prayer to Regain Perspective

This is straight out of my prayer journal this morning...

Dear God, I have so many things going on with my emotions and my faith and my job and my body! As my counsellor puts it, I have a lot of things on my plate; I pointed out, that "plate" feels like a huge Thanksgiving serving platter! Help me see it all in the context of who You are--Your power and might and love and strength; Your majesty and surpassing glory.

I praise You and thank You for giving me the fruit of the Spirit that is self-control with Weight Watchers, that I have lost 14 pounds and that my blood pressure has gone down enough to be able to get off my bp meds. I am SO delighted and grateful that You have given me that gift of discipline that I just don't have on my own strength. You are gracious, O Lover of my soul!

I praise You and thank You for giving me the opportunity to get a cochlear implant. Thank You for preparing my body with lower bp to better manage the surgery. Thank you for Dr. Micco and Pam Fiebig and their professional staff that have trained and become skilled to do this surgery. Thank You for the nameless thousands who have gone before me, contributing in their own many little ways to my success with a cochlear implant.

I praise You and thank You for giving me this beautiful home, that is physically warm when it is so bitterly cold outside. I pray that You will help me, that You will give me the fruit of the Spirit that is patience, endurance, self control - to be able to do the cleaning up and decluttering and organizing and discarding that are important to the emotional and psychological warmth of my home. I thank You and praise You - deeply and profoundly - that You have graciously helped us maintain our sense of love and unity as a family, even with David and John's struggles to figure out who they are and what they believe and how it relates to the reality of their lives. Thank You that they have chosen to keep the lines of communication open, and that You have opened their hearts and minds to know and believe that we love them and will never reject them. And I pray for that all to grow and deepen in all of us.

I praise You and thank You for David and John's incredible minds and hearts. Their tender heart of compassion for those who are in need touches my soul. Their ability to think and reason is a wonder and delight to me. I pray, Father God, that it will begin to extend more and more into maturity and discernment as well. Help them to gain a longer perspective than the next few minutes, hours, or even days - to begin to see how their choices now will affect their lives long into the future.

Help me to keep a heart of praise, to be able to keep my struggles in perspective of Your unfailing love, power, mercy, and grace.

Thank You -- and I love You,
Amen