Friday, January 2, 2009

Daily Devotions - Friday, January 2

Hope For 2009?

“Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path.
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 27: 11, 14

One of the wonderful books we have in the chaplaincy library is Trina Paulus’ book, Hope for the Flowers. This engaging book talks about the life journey of caterpillars. As we begin this New Year, it feels like the word “Hope” is particularly important. In the book Yellow has decided to risk changing from a fuzzy worm to the process of becoming a butterfly. Enjoy this snippet from Yellow’s life and consider how it might apply to the living of 2009:

For courage Yellow hung right beside the other cocoon and began to spin her own. “Imagine, I didn’t even know I could do this. That’s some encouragement that I’m on the right track. If I have inside me the stuff to make cocoons—maybe the stuff of butterflies is there too.”

May today be a level path day for you. May today be a day when you, like Yellow, take courage, allowing that God-given “stuff” to spin forth from your life. If we all take that risk, 2009 will be more than we can think or imagine.

A prayer for the year 2009:
God of refreshing possibilities,
Encourage me to use the gifts I have,
Allow me to emerge with new vitality this year. Amen.

Ben Keckler
01.02.09

No comments: