the joy dare: day 3

3 lines you overheard that were graces

• "Komm, Herr Jesu; sei du unser Gast; und segne, was du uns bescheret hast. Amen."
  English translation: "Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest; and bless what you have bestowed upon us. Amen." This has been my dad's 'go to' meal time prayer ever since I can remember. This probably isn't what is meant by the word 'graces' for today's joy dare. But it's not only the table grace my dad always says, it's the one my Oma Janzen often said too. And when I think of Oma Janzen, I have to think of the word 'grace' because she embodied the word.
• "Yeah, outside is great, if you're dressed for it! Crisp air!" That was the response I got via text message when talking about chicken noodle soup, ice wine picking temperatures and feeling sorry for my dad and brother who were working outside for a number of hours. My dad and brother and the ice wine crew started to pick and press our ice wine grapes at 3am. The day stayed cold and temperatures didn't start to rise until the following morning and the whole ice wine crew was pretty chilled by the time they were able to take a break. The text came from a friend who is an avid skier and has spent many years in BC (not in the rainy parts, but in the cold and snowy and mountainy parts). I guess many people would enjoy this kind of weather. In fact, because it was clear and sunny, I bundled up and went for a walk to enjoy the "crisp air".
• "Dear Lord, forgive me for trying to fill the empty places of my soul with people, possessions and positions. I want to know what it means to have You, Lord, as the satisfier of the deep places meant only for You. Show me. Teach me. Lead me. And I will follow. In Jesus’ Name, Amen." This was the prayer at the end of the daily devotional that is e-mailed to me (well, the end of yesterday's devotional that I didn't read until today). This prayer is a lesson I've been learning over and over and over again. I recently told someone that looking back on 2011, I see a lot of negatives and not so many positives. It wasn't a 'bad' year, but it wasn't necessarily a 'good' year either. It is very easy to lose focus on Christ and shift the focus to me and what I need/want and to fill my life with people and things and activities - to the point where they start to crowd out my time for prayer and the time I spend with God and in His Word. As always, God forgives and I try to stay focused on Him. But God's forgiveness is the epitome of grace. (click here for the full devotional)