Doubt

It is astonishing how I can doubt God's love for me even in the teeth of the most dramatic evidence. Yet he does not withdraw his gifts in anger but continues to care for me in my need.

-- Let me put my trust in You as you lead me through this day's challenges.

-- Let me hear your word of life amid teh noise fo my busy life today.

-- Let me drink from the fountain of life and not from bitter and polluted waters.

Try To Walk In God's Love

A consciousness of God's presence as One who loves you makes all life different.

The consciousness of God's love promotes the opening of your whole being to God.

It brings wonderful relief from the cares and worries of our daily lives.

Relief brings peace and peace brings contentment.

Try to walk in God's love. You will have that peace which passes all understanding and a contentment that no one can take from you.

Feel sure of God's unfailing love and care for you and for all His children.

There is freedom and serenity in those who walk in God's love, held safe in His loving care.

I pray that I may walk in God's love.

I pray that, as I go, I may feel the spring

of God's power in my steps and the joy of His love in my heart.

Let Go & Trust

Sometimes, the way is not clear.
Our minds get clouded, confused.

We aren't certain what our next step should be, what it will look like, what direction we are headed.
This is the time to stop, ask for guidance, and rest.

That is the time to let go of fear.

Wait.

Feel the confusion and chaos, and then let it go.

The path will show itself.

The next step shall be revealed.

We don't have to know now.

We will know in time.

Trust that.

Let go and trust.

When Love Beckons

When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep.-- Kahlil Gibran

There will be many opportunities to express love in the days ahead, and some may be cloaked in harsh wrappings.
Perhaps an argument will wound and then be healed by the exchange of loving words and intimate gestures.
Maybe a friend or lover will be called away for a while, and the painful loneliness will make us question our commitment to love.
Yet, in loving unconditionally, we'll find peace.
Love, though a soft word and a gentle image, doesn't always promise us soft, gentle moments.
Sometimes love offers us a pained heart and empty arms.
We know love comforts, but not always.
Love heals, but in its own time.
The desire to know love draws us together, always.

Worthy of Love by Karen Casey

Accepting Change

The winds of change blow through my life, sometimes gently, sometimes like a tropical storm.

Yes, I have resting places - time to adjust to another level of living, time to get my balance, time to enjoy the rewards.

I have time to catch our breath.

But change is inevitable, and desirable.

Sometimes, when the winds of change begin to rustle, I am not certain the change is for the better.

I may call it stress or a temporary condition, certain I'll be restored to normal.

Sometimes, I resist.

I tuck my head down and buck the wind, hoping that things will quickly calm down, get back to the way things were.

Is it possible I am being prepared for a new "normal"?

Change will sweep through my life, as needed, to take me where I am going.  I can trust that my Higher Power has a plan in mind, even when I don't know where the changes are leading.

I can trust that the change-taking place is good. The wind will take me where I need to go.

Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change.

Help me be open to the process.

Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped off will be better than the place where I was picked up.

Help me surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.

 

My Reliance On God

I wish I could keep in mind that
God can provide,
God will provide, and
God does provide.

Marie Gubbels

 

I will practice my reliance on God at every turn of events today.

I believe I will receive guidance and knowledge concerning how to proceed next.

Step Eleven

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Step Eleven of AA

 

God, help me let go of my fears about living life one day at a time.

Help me trust that when life is lived simply and in trust, a beautiful mosaic called "my life" will be woven.

I am being divinely led, guided, and cared for.

 

~~~ @@ ~~~

 

Freedom

I am free to laugh all of my laughter, 

free to trust and be trusted,

free to both give and receive help.

I am free from shame and regret, 

free to learn and grow and work.

I have left that lonely, frightening, 

painful express train through hell.

I have accepted the gift of a safer, 

happier journey through life.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 543

 

Within our wonderful new world, 

we have found freedom 

from our fatal obsession.

 

H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free.

 

Work Of Recovery

Man can live his truth,
his deepest truth,
but cannot speak it.

Archibald. MacLeish

Let me have the trust to give myself to the work of recovery and follow it where it takes me.

Preventing Worry Nests

That the birds of worry and care

fly about your head

This you cannot change

But that they build nests in your hair

This you can prevent.

Chinese Proverb

Today I replace my worry with

trust and faith in my ability

to use my resources to

face whatever life brings me.

In God We Trust

Strong is God’s love for us, faithful his care.
Let us fear no evil but put our trust in him.

#@#@#@#

Letting Go Of My Expectations

In order to arrive at possessing everything,

desire to possess nothing.

- St. John of the Cross

Expectations can cause havoc in my daily living.
I have a basic right to be treated with dignity and respect,
but that doesn't mean life will always go my way.
The twists and turns of life often carry me
up rivers of disappointment to shores I never chose to visit.
Facing life as a fully involved traveler,
without expectations about outcomes,
is perhaps the brightest way to travel.
It has been said that there is a direct proportion between
my level of expectation and the amount of stress I have in my lives.
Trusting the results to a larger plan allows
me to relax and enjoy the adventure of the journey.
I am more peaceful and confident, less frantic and controlling.
Trusting that my Higher Power will protect me,
no matter what I encounter on my journey,
helps me face the future with a calm and loving heart.

#@#@#@#

Trusting the Catcher

Trust is the basis of life.
Without trust, no human being can live.
Trapeze artists offer a beautiful image of this.
Flyers have to trust their catchers.
They can do the most spectacular doubles, triples, or quadruples, but what finally makes their performance spectacular are the catchers who are there for them at the right time in the right place.

Much of our lives is flying.
It is wonderful to fly in the air free as a bird, but when God isn't there to catch us, all our flying comes to nothing.
Let's trust in the Great Catcher.

#@#@#@#

Henri Nowen

Enough Light for the Next Step

Often we want to be able to see into the future.
We say, "How will next year be for me? Where will I be five or ten years from now?"
There are no answers to these questions.
Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step: what we have to do in the coming hour or the following day.
The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark.
When we are able to take the next step with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go.
Let's rejoice in the little light we carry and not ask for the great beam that would take all shadows away.

-- Henri Nouwen

Living The Moment To The Fullest

Patience is a hard discipline.
It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict.
Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something.
Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are.
When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are.
We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else.
Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.

-- Henri Nouwen

Take A Risk

God is always calling us beyond ourselves, asking us to take a risk.
Trust is accepting the loving embrace of God and realizing we are always standing on large shoulders.

from Joan of Arc: God’s Warrior

Turn To Yourself

We spend a lot of our lives looking for role models, mentors, teachers, and gurus to guide us on our path.
There is nothing wrong with this and, in fact, finding the right person at the right time can really help.
However, it is important to realize that in the absence of such a figure, we can very safely rely upon ourselves.
We carry within us everything we need to know to make progress on our paths to self-realization.
The outer world serves as a mirror.
Or to use another metaphor, our inner world has a magnetic force that draws to us what we need to evolve to the next level.
All we need to do to see that we already have everything we need is to let go of our belief that we need to seek in order to find.

The path of the spirit is often defined as a journey with a goal such as the fabled pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
In this metaphor, a person begins a search for something they want but do not have and then they find it, and there is a happy ending.
However, most of us know that getting what we want only makes us happy for a moment, and then the happiness passes until a new object of desire presents itself.
Joy is a permanent aspect of our inner selves and is not separate from us at any point.
We do not have to travel to find it or imagine that it resides only in the body of another.
In fact, what the best teachers will do is point out that this very precious elixir is something we already possess.

So when we find ourselves on our path, not knowing which way to turn and wishing for guidance, we can turn to ourselves.
We may not know the right answer rationally or intellectually, but if we simply ask, let go, and wait patiently, an answer will come.
The more we practice this and trust this process, the less we will look outside ourselves for teachers and guides for we will have successfully become our own.

DaillyOM

Keep The Faith

The only limits to our realization of tomorrow
will be our doubts of today.

Let us move forward with
a strong and active faith.

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt

When following the inner voice, one must deal with the experience of uncertainty.
The future is not laid out and comes down to trust - trusting that the support will be there; that the money will come; that if one path does not work out, another one will open up.

Let go of the worry, the anxiety, and the doubt.
Have faith in your connection to universal principles, for it is here that your true security lies.
The Universe will not abandon you if you maintain your connection to it.
Keep the faith, and the faith will keep you.

Centered Withing My Higher Power

We find that as we become more centered
within the Higher Power part of us,
our ego becomes less real, less threatening, less compelling.

--Jerry Hirshfield

It's a struggle at times for me to remember that my Higher Power never moves away.
God is as close as my breath, awaiting my invitation to take charge.
Frequently this strikes me as new information.
But each time a friend or a particular reading triggers my recall; I relax, because I know that God is taking over.
Once again I trust that all is well.

Courage And Patience

Courage is not grim determination, boastful arrogance, or uncontrolled aggression.
True courage comes from quiet conviction, which shows itself in self-control, calm assurance, and patient persistence.

Today, I will face life with courage.

I will respond calmly and confidently to life's challenges.

I will place my faith and trust in God and

the principles I am learning in this philosophy of living.