Happy Saturday! 

I did not study today!  I needed to do something toward home improvement. So I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got a small three shelf unit for the hall bathroom.  I put it together and put a box of Puff’s tissues with a cover, a sort of flat round bowl filled with beach themed potpourri on the top, coordinating towel set on the middle and a basket with the toilet paper on the bottom. I washed the shower curtain, cleaned the bathtub and found some pretty art work for the wall. It felt good to make a small home improvement.

Prayer alert:  Bruce’s brother who lives in Memphis is a competitive cyclist. Today, while cycling, he had some type of run-in with a dog. The dog won and Dale was left with a broken hip and serious road rash on his elbow. His head was x-rayed and was found to be uninjured. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow to replace Dale’s hip. The decision was made due to the probability of having to replace it in the near future anyway. Please keep Dale, Twylagayle, his wife, daughter Taryn and son Teague in your prayers.

Prayer alert:  Let us continue to keep in prayer those whose lives have been changed due to the senseless killings in Santa Monica. They are grief stricken and still pretty terrified. 

Prayer:  Holy Lord, receiver of our prayers. I have traveled through this day in the knowledge that there is no way of confining the love of God and no borders to cross between You and God’s Presence. You always have time to listen and receive whatever I have to talk to you about. Thank You for taking my tears of the night and sometimes the day and in Your time turning them into joy. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer, Amen.

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Psalm 30: 5

Tonight’s offering is not my writing. It is the writing of Pastor Phil Heinze. He is the pastor of Calvary Lutheran church in North Richland Hills. He writes a daily meditation on a lectionary text. I was so moved by his writing and insight that I wanted to share it with you.

Sometimes the joy scheduled for the morning has to wait through many nights of weeping before it can greet us with the dawn of a new day. I think it is because we often do our weeping in the silence of our inner thoughts while trying to maintain the outward appearance of prosperity. “I shall never be moved.” The face of God is not hidden all at once but fades from view the longer we isolate ourselves, relying on the limitations of our own strength. But when we finally run out of Kleenex and tire of living in the pit we have turned into a home healing begins to happen. It doesn't mean the dancing we do is pretty or polished, at least not right away. But the better we become at being honest with ourselves and others the more familiar the “mourning turned to dancing” becomes and in the freedom of sharing the joy of the morning might even last through the night.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope never disappoints. Wear your most comfortable dancing shoes. When you pray tonight offer up those in need and the two I have mentioned and get some sleep.  Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

PS I turned in my paper on Friday and I am now just three classes away from graduation!