I Praise You For What Is Yet To Be

Wondrous Worker of Wonders,
I praise you
not alone for what has been,
or for what is,
but for what is yet to be,
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it.

I praise you
that out of the turbulence of my life
a kingdom is coming,
is being shaped even now
out of my slivers of loving
my bits of trusting
my sprigs of hoping
my tootles of laughing
my drips of crying
my smidgens of worshipping;
that out of my songs and struggles,
out of my griefs and triumphs,
I am gathered up and saved,
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it.

I praise you
that you turn me loose
to go with you to the edge of the now and maybe,
to welcome the new,
to see my possibilities,
to accept my limits,
and yet begin living to the limit
of passion and compassion
until,
released by joy,
I uncurl to other people
and to your kingdom coming,
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it.
- Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace

self-conscious

Today I started taking photos for the next Unravelling assignment. For some odd reason I took photos of myself after I had gotten out of the shower. Wet hair. Fresh-faced. I'm having a hard time taking myself seriously because I'm really just feeling self-conscious. My inner critic is yelling loud and clear. Too dopey, too droopy, too boring. This may just be the most difficult week of all. On top of it all, I'm just flat-out tired. My little lady keeps throwing me curve balls. Sleeping through the night. Not sleeping through the night. Sleeping through the night. Waking up twice in one night and then again at 6 am. I hope to be writing about more exciting things in the near future besides how tired I am. Stay tuned folks.