Articles Catching My Attention

Emily Stauffer's Faith Remembered

And CBC presents "On This Day"... I don't think I'll ever forget sitting in a social studies classroom, with the memorial for Pierre Elliot Trudeau playing quietly as we studied. I won't forget the moment when his son, Justin Trudeau stepped to the microphone to deliver a eulogy to his father, and I'll forget the moment etched in my memory, as he ended his eulogy with a simple and poignant "je'taime papa."

This is the day (the prayers of my heart)

As I was opening the blinds in my bedroom this morning, I glanced out the window and saw the faintest beginnings of the sunrise, and slowly, like a mantra, these words began repeating themselves across my heart.

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and give thanks in it.

I am not, by nature an easily optimistic or joyful person. And yet, this morning, my heart is seeking to find joy, to speak with my Abba, in the midst of many things. I am being drawn unwittingly into deep places, and am so thankful for a dear friend who has often reminded me that a heart can pray with or without words.

As I drove to work this morning, and watched the sunrise, and then, the spattering of raindrops across my windshield, my heart was drawn deeper and began to pray.

Today (among other things) I am praying for:

• a friend who recently visited our home from New Zealand, and is currently undiagnosed and not responding to treatment, in an induced coma in a New Zealand hospital.
• two precious little girls
• dear friends interconnected, and scattered across four provinces
• some people I love who are grieving
• the family and friends who will gather today in Edson to both mourn and celebrate the life of a young woman who was killed late last week
• other friends scattered across the globe - in Europe and Asia, and other parts abroad
• deep and difficult lessons being learned by a friend who finds herself quite isolated in a foreign part of the world, filling roles that are foreign and less than satisfying
• the healing and restoration of some I love deeply
• two friends recently engaged, and two more enjoying the first days of married life
• restoration of relationships that have borne much strain
• airplane flights scheduled

And so, as I turn my attention to the days' work, I will let my heart continue to pray. I am seeking to rest, to give thanks, to live in a space occupied by peace and joy.

This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and give thanks in it.