“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name. Bless the Lord, o my soul and do not forget all his benefits.” (Psalm 103:1-2)
Last August a friend shared a new way of praying called “sticky note prayers.” Basically you read a Bible passage that morning, notice what word, phrase, or thought seems to jump out at you, pray with it, and write that down on a sticky note. Then put it on your computer monitor, refrigerator, or wherever you would see it at different times of the day.
I tried it. One day after reading a passage in the Psalms, I wrote on the sticky note, “God provides.”
The very next morning as I drove down our street, I spotted a dismantled white baby bed. My neighbor put it out on the curb for trash pick-up. The owner, Mitzi, was in the front of her home weeding. I wheeled into her driveway. “Mitzi,” I exclaimed, “can I get your baby bed? We’ve been searching for one these past three weeks. We need it for a nine month old foster child.
Mitzi smiled. “Kate, I’m so glad someone can use it. I felt bad about putting it out for trash, but I needed to get rid of it. I just brought it out ten minutes ago. It’s hardly been used – just for my grandkids when they’d come to visit. Say, let me get the mattress and the bedding that goes with it.”
As I loaded up these “trash heap treasures,” Mitzi grinned. She exclaimed, “God provides!” I drove away in awed wonder at God’s timing and unexpected blessings. Yes, as the Psalmist declared long ago, God provides...and we are reminded to “forget not all God’s benefits.”
Prayer: God of surprises, thank you for providing what is needed when I’m at the end of my rope. Thank you for providing Jesus Christ who embodied your love and whose Spirit so often shines in caring faces. Amen.
Kate Thoresen
No comments:
Post a Comment