Good Morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the warm day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! When I stepped outside this morning, the moon was almost hidden by clouds, but valiantly trying to shine through. The Lord has seen fit to send us rain now, and we were caught in a rip-roaring thunderstorm yesterday leaving my therapy place, which is just about six minutes from home. As I drove home, the rain diminished and nothing at all here. That's the way it is in Florida!
I noticed at the Park, that several people were busy cleaning debris out of the canal by the weir, that was washed down by the waters the night before. Everything is nice and green and fresh looking, now. God is good!
From the book Quiet Moments:
What Shape are you in?
Clay pots of all shapes and sizes were valuable tools in ancient households. They were used to store water, to eat off of, to bake and cook in, and even small terra-cotta vials held perfume. Homes were lit by clay lamps in the evening.
The potters who supplied these much-needed pots were important to the economic life of ancient villages. A modern potter described her craft like this:
Both my hands shaped this pot. And, the place where it actually forms is a place of tension between the pressure applied from the outside and the pressure of the hand on the inside. That's the way my life has been. Sadness and death and misfortune and the love of friends and all the things that happened to me that I didn't even choose. All of that influenced my life. But, there are things I believe in about myself, my faith in God and the love of some friends that worked on the insides of me. My life, like this pot, is the result of what happened on the outside and what was going on inside of me. Life, like this pot, comes to be in places of tension."
Throughout the day we may be buffeted by stress, pulled apart by responsibilities, and pressed by challenges that come at us from the outside. Without strength of spirit on the inside, those difficulties will cause us to collapse under the external pressure.
During this break, feed your spirit with Scripture. This will keep you strong, renewed, and restored within. You can respond with inner strength and creativity to what could otherwise defeat you.
Remember, your inner life gives you the strength you need to become a useful vessel in the household of God.
Renew thyself completely each day.
Do it again and again and forever again.
Confucius
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
