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New Day Prayer
Help me Father, to begin to see You at the start of each day. I pause to linger now in your Presence. Beginning my day with the knowledge that You are here with me. I have nothing to fear, for You are my God. I bask in the truth that you are goodness, holiness, righteousness and redemption. Search me God, know my heart. Shine Your light of truth on anything that hints towards self-seeking, and not looking towards You to fill me, and flow through me. Cleanse me from my sin of seeking after self-centered gain. Replace self with the joy of entering mission with You and reaching out to…
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Social Distancing: Beginning with the end in mind
Part One: As I begin week two of living in isolation and keeping appropriate social distancing, I have come to the realization that I must stop spending excessive amounts of time on social media, stop looking around every corner for chocolate, and get up and move! I am a self-proclaimed procrastinator and a self-declared list person. I go to sleep with a list and wake up to a list. Because of my ADD tendencies I like to do things in small doable check boxes. I often set my phone alarm for 15 minutes and try to accomplish the next thing on my list. Of course, the best part for me,…
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The Broken Bless
Over the past seven years I have found myself bruised, broken, torn, bewildered, lonely, facing no answer to medical concerns, blanketed with the weight of depression, laying in a hospital bed undergoing back surgery in a foreign country, bombarded with panic attacks, gaining weight despite a healthful diet plan and 2 hour work-outs at the gym, getting the news that my mother had a heart attack and I was too far away to hold her hand or be present by her hospital bed, hearing the news that my son would not be released from prison- yet again, watching my husband bear the load of watching me have seizures on…
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The Conversation Connection
As my husband and I sat in a local coffee shop, we began a conversation with a young business man. The emblem on his shirt causing us to wonder what his line of work was. Just one, simple, inquisitive question opened the door for a fascinating conversation in which we learned that he was a financial planner who loved Jesus and used his line of work to represent Christ to those in his sphere of influence. A friendly conversation took off from there as we sat on common spiritual ground. His passion rose to the surface as he expressed that he had been coming to the realization that often what…
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Compassion
Compassion God, help me to see you in this situation Help me to know you’re there. To rest upon You completely In an attitude of prayer. To speak when the Spirit prompts With holiness and truth. To listen with a heart of care May my grace exude. Fill me with your Spirit’s power As you nudge me to speak. That in this holy hour I would boldly be. The sharpness of an arrow That strikes the heart of lies. Hitting its mark of anything Against the Word of Christ. Encouragement to the wounds Compassion filled with grace. A vessel emptied of myself For Jesus took my place. Linda Jane Dingeldein:…
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A Touch of Mercy for The Oppressed
Over the past seven years I have traveled to many local places throughout Manila, Philippines. Drawn to all things cultural and Filipino, I find delight in: a simple trike ride through local streets, a walk through the center of a neighboring Barangay, a trek along steep pathways where simple clapboard homes teeter precariously along cliff edges, a ride on a crowded unairconditioned train in which I am sandwiched shoulder to shoulder with the locals whom I have grown to love, a handkerchief covering my face from the polluted black belch of a jeep-nee I am riding in, the church that meets outside whose congregants greet me warmly with smiles that…
