A Slower Pace

Here is a prayer from Mrs. A Slower Pace this evening:

On this day of thanks, we pray that those less fortunate than us won’t go hungry. We pray for the men and women serving our country that they come home safely. We thank you Lord for all of our many blessings; that we have each other, we have good health, a safe and warm home, and clean clothes to wear. Thank you for Dan’s job and that he can provide for us. Thank you for our friends and watch over our families — we pray for their health and happiness. Most of all, thank you that we have each other and that you send us our special angels to watch over us.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Today is the busiest travel day of the year. In my last post, I highlighted the power of prayer. I’d like for everyone reading this take a moment and say a prayer for all those traveling today. Pray for their safe arrival to their destination. Pray for their patience because they are going to need it on a day like today.

Here is something I find interesting. Every day throughout the USA there are any number of people traveling here and going there. They travel for many reasons — business, vacation, adventure, fun, etc. But today is like no other day of the year. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday most people who will be traveling today are traveling for one sole purpose — to either return home to loved ones or to go and visit loved ones. I pray, not only for their safe arrival to their destination, but that they are inwardly focused on their loved ones and all that they have to be thankful for.

If you are traveling today or have loved ones you are waiting for, I pray for a safe arrival and that your time together is precious and treasured.

…..Dan at aslowerpace

Things have been quite busy at work having to cram one week’s worth of pharmaceutical deliveries into two days. I have had some posts bouncing around in my brain but they wisp away before I’ve had time to actually sit down at a keyboard.

One church sign that I saw late last week stuck with me and I really wanted to share it. However, it too, got lost in the busy-ness. However, my brain actually retained it. I shared it with my wife last night in a deep conversation we were having. At dinner tonight she said it really impacted her — enough to make a positive change in her. It was funny because after she told me of the positive impact it had on her, I told her that I had meant it to be a post. She insisted that I post about it because she said if it had that good of an impact on her, it might also similarly impact someone else. Hence this post and below is the long, lost church sign.

“It’s funny that we use prayer as a last resort instead of our first resource.”

…..Dan at aslowerpace

Winter symbolizes death and with its impending arrival, you can see that all around. First off, all the colors of the trees I was marveling about a week or two ago are all gone. There might be one or two stragglers with some brown leaves still attached, but most deciduous trees are mere skeletons.

Today was also the day I tilled under the garden. With several frosts under out belt, the tomato plants had long died and dried up; rotten fruit hanging from it’s once lush vines now decayed to brown, crisp veins. The peppers had some dried remains still on the brown bushes. And there were a few spoiled watermelon that never matured to full glory but rather decayed on the withering vine. None of this was a match for the motorized tiller that indiscriminately tore at the ground and remaining garden vegetation and tossed it violently. Soon enough, it was a bare plot of brown earth ready for the cold winter ahead.

And finally, today was opening day for rifle deer hunting. On our way out this morning, we came across two spooked deer on the road. They were very skittish as if they knew there were camouflaged figures after them. Between them and the more frequent gunshots in the distance, it would be hard to miss opening day.

All these indicators of death are just parts of the cycle as a whole. I am thankful for my faith that gives me hope beyond just a mere cycle of nature. While God put in place these cycles, He also sacrificed His Son so that we may transcend death — what is, for most people, the end of a cycle.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

One really good habit I have recently gotten into is my nightly devotions. I have a quarterly devotional alongside my Bible on the nightstand. It has been a good tool to wind down the day and to mentally prepare me for the following day. Sometimes, rather than disturb my wife with the reading light if she is already asleep, I will read some devotional material on my PalmPilot (thanks to AvantGo). I came across this one tonight and I was moved enough to pre-post it for tomorrow’s post. I wanted to make sure it didn’t get updated and overwritten when I sync at work tomorrow.

The Penny

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words “In God We Trust” and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message. It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And God is patient.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Heard a great sermon today at church. Pastor Paul went into an analogy of stones — how they can be used for evil (as in throwing at people like they did in the old days when they stoned someone to death) or good (as in building structures and foundations). We all have a stone but it is what we do with it that matters. Are we going to build something with it? Or throw it in anger? Pastor also mentioned that when you throw it in anger, you are still left with your anger and bitterness. However, when you build something with it, you end up with a whole that is greater than the original stone. It is a very nice parallel to our lives. The gospel referred to us as “living stones”. It all depends on what we do with our stone.

He also went on to describe a term I hadn’t heard before — “consumerism Christianity”. It is defined as that safe belief of not getting involved and taking from the church, from the service and from relationships but never giving. It becomes isolationism and benefits no one. Your faith, religion and spirituality need to be exercised regularly. By giving, by participating, by involving yourself. You end up being a stone in a greater group of stones built for good that has a value greater than the sum of it’s parts.

What are you doing with your stone?

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net