Tag: #morningprayer

Redirecting Possibility

Redirecting Possibility

Vona Wilson

“FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD” – the angel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke 1:37

It’s not just a story for Christmas. It’s not just a story about unexpected pregnancies. It is a story that reminds us clearly that God can and does do anything with people, creatures, and all of creation. (Luke 1 is the reading)

Elizabeth and Zechariah, along with Mary and Joseph are two couples having an unbelievable experience with the holy. Mysterious. Outside of cultural norms. Breaking with traditional expectations, and even physical capabilities. It is miraculous and yes…unbelievable. It just does not make sense. 

And yet, something inside Elizabeth trusts in this impossible message. Perhaps because the dream of having a child was so deeply embedded in her that the message aroused her hope. Or maybe all hope was gone, and she simply waited for the message to become realized in her body.  Something inside Mary embraced what Gabriel had to say even though she could not comprehend it all; she accepted it as real and worthy of her full embrace. And so, these two women just kept going. They kept their eyes and ears on a faithful focus and let the “impossible” unfold. 

Their husbands had a different experience and in their own time and own way, they also moved forward. Much is left unsaid about this. What is communicated is clear:  nothing hindered the work of God in Mary and Elizabeth. It was never about Mary or Elizabeth. It was – and is – about what God was doing and whomever and however God chose to engage people in that holy adventure. 

My grandfather was a farmer who often did things differently than his peers. He had a spiritual gift of faith and spent a lot of tractor time in the fields talking and listening for God. He took risks while others judged him crazy. He made decisions that others could not understand. He simply kept his eyes and heart focused on the next faithful step. The life of my grandparents, over time, yielded a miracle. A family spread all over the world with the deep unconditional love of God embedded in our DNA. Generations later, the miracle is still unfolding; it is not finished. 

I really struggle when I lose my confidence.  My work and life often require me to face difficult things. Depending on the Holy Spirit to help and trusting God to guide me is a critical part of the journey for me. Mary and Elizabeth faced a lot of obstacles and challenges. And yet, at each turn God provided a way for the miracle to persist…for birth to happen…for journeys to land in just the right place at just the right time. And here we are, thousands of years later, still marveling in awe and wonder and thanksgiving and praise for the ways God ushered forth the kingdom of heaven. 

Doubt and fear are common enemies that creep up on us. Questions enter the mind: Is it too late? Am I too old or too young? Not enough education or experience? Look too different or think outside what is considered “normal”? Did I miss a critical piece that cannot be redeemed or restored? I could have, should have, would have, ….etc.  Fill in your own blanks.  Doubt and fear are not creative, and the patterns can be detected. 

That is not how God works in our lives. Nothing is impossible with God. Trust the whispers of God in your life. Hold them in your heart and remain humble for how God walks with you.  Say “yes” if you are given an invitation by God! Embrace the gift if God presents one into your life. However God comes to you…let it unfold one moment at a time as you simply do the next faithful step. Including sitting still when silence and stillness is the posture you’re invited to take. 

With God all things are possible. THAT is the message that persists as we see God at work in the world fulfilling all that is promised. Trust it. Embrace it. Put your hope in it. 

Prayer

Lord, we struggle with so many things. You see it. You know our deepest doubts and fears. You also know what we are capable of when you are the one acting in our lives. Please help us to hear you in whatever way you reveal yourself to us. Guide our steps and make straight on our paths.  Remind us, Lord, that nothing will hinder your work from being fulfilled.  Redirect our ponderings to that which you have planted deep within us. Thank you for restoring our confidence and hope in YOU. Thank you for all the generations that keep sharing the story of your faithfulness.  We have so much joy in your presence! Amen. 

Trust in God – Elevation Worship

Morning Prayer in August

Morning Prayer in August

Vona Wilson

So many beginnings!
Walking into new classrooms
Establishing “home” wherever we’re landing
Sometimes for a while
Sometimes for what may seem
as if it could be 
forever
Like a plant that grows in the forest 
revealing more beauty with each passing
season.
God is watching over us.

When the tears of grief arrive
inconveniently where no one 
knows your loss
Or
The memory of love brings 
an unexpected smile that 
cannot be concealed
And
When dreams persist and insist 
on not being forgotten
even when you tuck them
away or send them 
down the river with peace…
God is watching over you. 

While setting up a new office
Learning how to navigate a road 
you didn’t know you would need to take
Accepting a diagnosis that asks
your routine to adjust;
doesn’t that seem rude?
Discovering what we didn’t know about 
each other, and now we can’t forget.
Grace stands near, ready to assist.
More deep breaths
We will all be OK. 
Creator, God, is here. Pause and receive. 

Lord, thank you for creating us 
with capacity to experience the 
fullness of this life. 
For endings and beginnings
For sorrow and deep joy
For love in its many forms
Bringing forth beauty and blessing
As if you knew all along, we’d be
turning around to ask for help. 
Thank you. 
Help us to be aware of your presence
among us today. 
Amen. 

8/20/2024

Super Blue Moon in August
Morning Prayer in June

Morning Prayer in June

Vona Wilson

God of Peace and Mercy
God of Wisdom and Grace
We acknowledge you who hold all things and are in all things.
Thank you for the ways you reveal your glory to us and around us.
The stillness of the summer air in June
The watchful eye of a hawk in the morning
The love in households where people are preparing for
the day;
The silence in places where nature is the companion.

Rush in, Holy Spirit.
Rush in Great Redeemer.
Rush in to change the conversations among families and friends,
work teams and leaders,
strangers on the street and whomever is in our path.
We welcome you, Holy God, to turn our attentions where
they need to be
so that we can see your mighty hand at work.
We know and trust, Holy God, that you are indeed present and acting
right
now.
Mold us into what we do not know
Transform us bit by bit or all at once;
we need you.
We trust you completely so we yield
all of ourselves…
to you.
Thank you, Lord, for your steady faithfulness
and for not giving up on any of us.

We love you. Amen.

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter til the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.
– Proverbs 4:18-19

June sunrise
Reflection
Reflection

Presence

Presence

Vona Wilson

I live in this holy sacred space
Silence our shared language
Mystery of the morning hours
Returning at night
when dreams make sleep move
over to the other side
Leaving me with scenes
to ponder.

Prayer comes breath
by breath
grounding me somewhere you
Ask me to be.
I don’t always know where 
you’re taking me. 

Your presence is 
Always enough. 
Like the sound of the voice of
Someone I love
You almost need to do 
nothing except make 
me aware
of your
Presence. 

“…in your presence there is
fullness of joy
and life everlasting.” 

Psalm 16:11 
Ash Wednesday, 2024
Vona Rose Wilson  2/14

Morning Prayer in Winter

Morning Prayer in Winter

Vona Wilson

Creator of All, you are the Light of morning
you are the comfort in the dark. 
Thank you for the way you greet us today. 
We are in awe of your mighty hand – 
painting the sky and forests for us 
sending the river across the rocks  
hurling through the bends of current running…
refusing to be stopped, living fully. 
We are in awe, Lord, of your strength and mercy 
your covenant and forgiveness 
your certainty and freedom. 
Thank you for loving us 
even as we try to make you into 
the image that we can comprehend.

We misunderstand your greatness. 
Please keep surprising us 
with your mighty hand making 
all things new. 
New in our hearts and minds
New in our communities and in your world.
We love you. We trust you completely. 
We yield the day, the week, 
our lives…into your hands. 
Amen. 

A cold winter day in January with lingering snow on the ground is a good invitation for prayer. After a week of pause in yielding to nature’s course, the days may hold too much. It doesn’t all have to be crammed into Monday, or even Tuesday. Faithfulness to a day’s work is enough. The past week is not “lost”, it was provided. Playing in the snow or reading a good book, even dealing with busted pipes, it all “counts” as fullness in living. 

Take the day and live it. Fully. With tears when grief is present. With laughter and all out joy if that gift is offered. With strength and mercy, compassion, and wisdom. Carefully. Fully. Humbly. As one deeply loved, even when you don’t know it. 

Tennessee sunrise
Sunrise reflection
Georgia sunrise

Just a Touch

Just a Touch

Vona Wilson

We were sitting in the Chapel of my hometown church in Princeton, Kentucky. The casket of a community legend focused our attentions. She was a teacher in a small town. There is not a life here that is left untouched by her 90+ years.  Fall flowers offered beauty and praise. And we visited. Old friends. Our stories and memories colliding in the wrinkles of our faces. Laughter. Gratitude. Surprise. Collectively we have lived many years. We hold so much from this small town. 

The drive there and back is blessed by the trees of Tennessee and Kentucky. We get it all! Every color. The depth of changes. Some green lingers to remind us change is around the corner, or just a few hours down the road. A few bare limbs make clear the winter ahead.  Stories shared along the way full of new life springing up from old. Mom tells the story of the first time Dick attended church with her when they were dating. We listen a little deeper. 

My reading this morning includes the fifth and sixth chapter of Mark. I am struck by the power that is experienced with just a touch of Jesus.  The desire and seeking of many people just to get close enough to touch him, with the hope of being healed. 

55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. (Mark 6:55-16 NIV)

The halls of my hometown church hold their own memories. I ran and walked those halls with all the love and comfort a community of faith offers. Every adult, both young and old, knew my name and watched for me as part of that love.  Someone was always paying attention. We were loved and we knew it, even though we didn’t know what we were experiencing.

I suppose we were like the people who ran from wherever they were to see if they could touch Jesus. Or that Jesus might see them and reach out with a touch. A touch that holds love. And healing. And hope.  

It is raining this morning and the leaves will drop at the arrival of wind and colder temps. The beautiful colors will soon be replaced by the stark strength of bare limbs standing strong, clearly prepared for the coming winter. This week is a change, marked not by dates on the calendar but by the surrounding voice in creation showing us; the time has come. 

I suspect there are many of us who are running towards something right now to see if we might experience just a touch of healing. My faith tells me that there are also many of us who carry the love, hope, and grace of Christ to share.  Maybe our collective prayer today is simply that our paths allow us to connect, for healing to come, and for the love of Jesus to touch us again.

Lord, thank you for the many ways you offer us your love and healing touch. However we need to experience that today, help us to receive it. And if there is any way you have equipped us to share your healing with someone else, we trust you will allow our paths to connect just as it needs to be. Thank you for the grace we see in your creation’s beauty; thank you for the grace we experience in our ordinary lives.

Phil Wickham: Creator (an opportunity to praise)

 

The Morning Greeting

The Morning Greeting

Vona Wilson
October sunrise, 2023

Sing to the Lord a new song!
    Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord! Bless his name!
    Share the news of his saving work every single day!
Declare God’s glory among the nations;
    declare his wondrous works among all people
  because the Lord is great and so worthy of praise.
He is awesome beyond all other gods
    because all the gods of the nations are just idols,
        but it is the Lord who created heaven!
Greatness and grandeur are in front of him;
    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. – Psalm 96:1-6

Does singing really matter? My grandfather had a habit of singing while he drove his old truck down country roads. Occasionally I had the unexpected pleasure of riding with him. I remember a song he made up and sang often:
I know a little song
Not too long
Tulip! Tulip!
That’s all gone!

He also talked about time with God while he was on the tractor, which was hours upon hours of his life. I suspect there were many songs that came from his lungs and mouth in that time.

The song we sing in faith is not about the quality of our voices or the melody that flows. It is what happens to our bodies and spirits when we lift out of our situations and circumstances and just sing. Try it. Make it up if you need to. If you were going to sing a song of God’s glory today, what would it be? What melody or words are within you of praise for God’s greatness right now?

God, I thank you for your peace that moves through our lives in all seasons. I praise you for the many ways you show us your creativity that is new every moment of the day and throughout the long night. I sing “Holy! Holy!” when no other words can say what you are stirring within me. We shout “Thank you! Hallelujah!” for your grace and mercy that is beyond our comprehension. We offer our praise and adoration today for your love that never stops reaching out and revealing itself among us. Help us to sing a new song today. Move into our moments of grief, celebration, play and work. Help us to sing of you! Amen.

When you need a little help getting that song going, God has blessed people with incredible gifts to assist. Enjoy!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MFqLddbl9Y0%3Fsi%3DUv_fthDCW3LHhzej

Silence Redeemed

Silence Redeemed

Vona Wilson

Silence.
Illusive. Revealing. Vulnerable. Real.
I remember the silence in the house after my brothers death many years ago. It was deafening. We shuffled across the floor one moment at a time trying to figure out how to live. Just through the next hour. I was young. Life hurt. And it was so silent.

Recently at a Jesuit retreat house I enjoyed 48 hours of a silent retreat. The birds and scurrying of animals unseen offered sound. The wind blew through the trees and sang a melody every morning and again late at night. Occasionally I noticed the sound of my breath when I encountered something of beauty unexpected. It was restoring and offered much peace.

Surprisingly what lingers is the sound of dishes and silverware in the communal dining room. Sounds I have come to love. Signs of my neighbors (and mine) presence. Sounds of the basic need of food. The notes of music that say, “morning has come, let’s gather and eat, embrace the day.” Sacred.

Getting up from the table in my home I hear it again. Rinsing dishes. Dropping silverware in the sink. The clanging, tinkering, loud sound of life. I remember when that sound spoke of our grief and loneliness. There were many days we could not speak, the weight was too much. Today the clanging of dishes speaks of life. I couldn’t hear it until I stepped away and the silence revealed the blessing. A grace unexpected. A gift of silence redeemed.

May the peace of God bring blessing into the silent places of life. Providing, revealing, assisting, and offering to make something ordinary brand new.

This song was a favorite of my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Tom. It was often a sound in our home – on the piano or the stereo. We never spoke about it except to know that after Uncle Tom’s death, it was a song we couldn’t play it in her presence.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4fWyzwo1xg0%3Fsi%3DU9x5V9CHihJQ6SO4
Falling Short?

Falling Short?

Vona Wilson

I appreciate a Monday holiday so much; it comes like a breath of fresh air. At the same time, it is easy for me to forget to give myself a bit of grace for the remaining days of the week.  That feeling of “falling short” comes too quickly as Tuesday morning arrives!  It happens in other moments too. Can you relate? 

We feel behind before we ever begin. 

We review our words and actions, only to find we fell far short of what we intended.

Instant communication preempted a well-timed note or call.

Interruptions prevented the intentional act of kindness.

We experience a “holiday” with no buffer of an added day to “make up” for it. 

We go on “vacation” but need time to recover from the travel.

Just stop. Take a deep breath. We are not “behind” on anything; we are simply where we are today.  In many cultures time to rest is part of living. In many cultures time spent with family and friends is more important than production. 

In the culture of the kingdom of God – there are priorities. Begin with what is most important for the day; the remaining tasks will fill in all the spaces.

Perhaps we step into this week with a pace that trusts our Creator more than we trust our desires and demands of ourselves and others.   

This morning my reading included a chapter in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. A particular verse landed on my mind and heart: 

For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. – Romans 11:32

Where we fall short, God’s mercy is abundant. This is a human condition that we all share; we all fall short (Romans 3).  We are all in need of God’s mercy and grace. How is God’s mercy being made available for you today? 

The “doxology” that comes after Romans 11:32 may be a way for us to acknowledge the wisdom and mercy of God as we walk into the remaining days of the week: 

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
    Or who has been his counselor?” 
“Who has ever given to God,
    that God should repay them?” 
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 11:33-36

Holy God, we acknowledge you and thank you for the gift of life today. For those who grieve and struggle in any way, grant your mercy in abundance. May your peace move into the pace and space of our days so that we walk more humbly wherever we go. Reveal yourself in ways that help each of us and all of us see you. Give us courage to follow you when you make yourself known. We love you, Lord, and we trust you completely. Amen.

Remembering

Remembering

Vona Wilson

Remembering is one of the most powerful practices of our faith. It lifts up our spirits when we are low. It increases our confidence that the Lord is with us. Remembering is prevention; it recenters us in our faith. Remembering reminds us where wisdom and help can be found for daily life. Forgetting leads us into some of the most difficult life situations.

 Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt,
   did not consider your wonderful works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
   but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea. 
 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
   so that he might make known his mighty power. [Psalm 106:708]

One of the gifts we experience with each new year of our lives is the collective memory. This rhythm of faithfulness is overwhelming if we pause to consider it. Psalm 106 is a long remembrance of God’s acts of faithfulness. The litany is full of humanity; our propensity to forget, rebel, and find ourselves in awful messes. Each time God’s people cry out for help, God responds. Time and time again, we see the kindness of God’s mercy.  We experience redemption and restoring. 

 Many times he delivered them,
   but they were rebellious in their purposes,
   and were brought low through their iniquity. 
 Nevertheless, he regarded their distress
   when he heard their cry. 
 For their sake he remembered his covenant,
   and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love. [Psalm 106:43-45]

Last night this Psalm came across my reading, and it gave me strength. Like the refreshment of a glass of water after a long hike, this remembering of how faithful God is changes the way we walk through life. Do you need to be reminded?  Do you find yourself leaning on some lesser source for your life situations? Or maybe you’ve forgotten how faithfully God works within our lives. Perhaps Psalm 106 can offer some assistance. 


Practices 
Start naming the ways God has been kind to you. Just a few words – a sentence that reminds you. Write them down; let it become your remembering psalm. In moments of discouragement or when you feel forgotten, pull out your psalm. Read it with amazement and gratitude. 

Read Psalm 106 and notice the rhythm of God’s provision for the people in all seasons. God allows rebellion and forgetfulness to have its course. When we recognize our errors, the Lord hears our cries and restores us to the foundations of God’s love and righteousness. When you read Psalm 106 as a holy practice, you are joining the many generations of God’s people in naming God’s faithfulness. It is powerful and it will change your days!  Read Psalm 106 here:
https://bit.ly/Practice106

Prayer
 Save us, O Lord our God,
   and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
   and glory in your praise. [Psalm 106:47]

Rescue by Lauren Daigle