PrayingWithMyFingers

Dear God,

Thank you for this beautiful morning! It is a clear, sunny day in Ft. Lauderdale – about 80 degrees now but a likely 90 degrees by this afternoon.  But God, the beauty of the morning is not just in the fair skies and warm weather.  It is in the peace I feel this morning as I sit in my daughter’s apartment.

The city breathes quietly below her downtown balcony.  Lincoln and Reagan (hello again!) lay on the black-stained concrete floor enjoying its coolness on their tiny tummies.  April is preparing breakfast for us with the shiny red Kitchen Aide mixer just received as a 2nd anniversary gift from her husband, Jared.    (Please, God, bless Jared in Texas with his Air Force duties)

As I begin my prayer to You, she has decreed that she will leave the “Master” to her work and that she will be the “master” of the scones.  Fresh blueberry scones sound like the perfect accompaniment to this serene morning.

I am sitting in the land of gratitude.  It is so easy to forget to be grateful during the hectic times of my life.  The past week has been full of things to do.  It is good to do but, sometimes God it seems like the pace of the world is so intense that it demands that I always be doing – as in accomplishing.  Even having fun and relaxing ends up on the “to do” list.  Modern technology has me so connected to the world and all its people and accomplishments that I end up feeling like I too must do and accomplish to be a “success,” or even just to feel ok.

When I was a kid, our family would make weekend visits to my grandmothers’ houses.  One granny was in Virginia and the other in North Carolina.  In North Carolina, I remember going “out back” behind my grandparents house to feed the pigs, visit the smokehouse for the latest curiosities, and then to hike up into the woods.  In Virginia, my grandmother lived in one of those old Southern houses with a full porch (and swing) all the way around.  I loved to go walking around and around the house and to swing on the porch.  In the springtime and summer, I would run straight to the outdoor spring to take a ladle-full of the cool, delicious water.  In the winter time, the wood-burning stove was an amazement to watch as Granny chucked in the wood and the flames rose high and ashes sparked.

I can see now that these visits were really mediations.  A natural and flowing way for me, as a child, to connect with Your voice inside of me.  It was in these visits to see my grandmothers that I could disconnect from the craziness of my normal world…….the world of alcoholism, abuse and mental illness embodied by my parents.

The world is still a crazy place full of people, places and things that can abuse me, if I let them.  Modern technology can consume all my time and attention and take the place of those natural outlets for peace in my life, if I let them.  That, dear God is the biggest difference today for which I am immensely grateful.  My life is not controlled by any dysfunction unless I allow it to be so.

Thank you, God.  Today, I choose You.  I choose to embody a Spirit of Love and, I choose peace on a beautiful balcony in Ft. Lauderdale with my amazing daughter and fresh blueberry scones!