Took my usual early morning walk with my daughter and her pup. We started up the street to the corner, and when we turned there it was. The moon, brilliantly silver, you could hardly look at it for the brightness! I love the moon anyhow, so this was spectacular.
We walked along, my daughter and Mattie on one side of the street, me and Sadie-bug on the other. My precious child gets jealous if Mattie is ahead of her, so that's our solution. The solitude in the early morning is my favorite thing. Everything just waiting for the creeping sun to split the dark and rise. You can occasionally hear a critter behind a bush or in a tree and they too are waking and preparing for the day.
As is my custom, I pray as I walk. I have been pondering Romans 12:12 ever since my sweet sis-in-law wrote it in my birthday card. What an excellent verse. As I prayed, with our situation as it is, knowing that nothing stays the same forever, asked the Lord for joy and abundance in the year to come. It's been a very, very long time without work, without money for anything. That said, the Lord is faithful in His care for us, always having a roof over our head and good food to eat, all absolute needs met, and sometimes more than that. But eventually you get so weary of it all, we not only long to be able to have enough, but to have enough to share.
Without rebuke, more "in addition to", I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to my heart, Joy In abundance. The Joy of the Lord is not dependent on any circumstance. He may well choose to bless us with excess, He may sovereignly choose not to, either way, His joy is within us. So yes, pray for joy in abundance too. It has understandably been lacking for a while, yet that is our bad. It is available always no matter what's going on.
It has taken me to the age of 59 to grasp that even a little bit. He is patient and faithful regardless. So that is my prayer, that we have joy in abundance for all our days. We have family that we love and love us, dear, dear friends that we also love and love us, we have had the last 6 years together and that alone has been so very sweet and cherished. Often when times get this difficult, the couple turn on each other or start to lay blame, that has never happened, again i'm sure due to His presence in our hearts. We just appreciate the time together, hoping that it ends soon, lol. So like the guys in the furnace, we hope to emerge smoke-free, a sweet aroma to our God. We know we fail at times, but are eager to hit our knees and gladly accept the forgiveness, grace and mercy He offers, setting all to right again.
So that is my addition to my prayers. Yes, Lord, give us joy in abundance and thank You for always being faithful to what You said.
Stay strong.
