Prayer Of Gratitude For God's Love and Care Always Near To Us

 VACATION RETURN

A number of you know that I’ve just returned from a lovely couple of weeks in Ontario with my family, particularly my 99 year old mom.  My sister Ruth, who lives about an hour away from me, made the trip with me.  For both of us it was our first opportunity to travel to see family since the first pandemic lockdown hit last March. 

I come from a large family and one of our priorities was to not only gather with the larger family for a Thanksgiving celebration meal but to actually have a bit of a sit down with each of our siblings.  It had seemed like such a long time since we’d been together to be able to find out what was going on in all our lives. 

Best moments are the “hellos” and worst ones are the “good-byes” just a bit later when you’re not sure when the next time is that you’ll be able to be together. 

Underneath all of that, though, is the reality that we have this great bunch of people we are related to, that we’ve shared the ups and downs of life with, and that on days when we agree or disagree about various matters, we are still there for one another.

I won’t go on and on but the first person in that parade is my mom and as I’ve been sitting here today in that “being there/being here/being in between” set of thoughts and emotions I was reminded of how our journey with God is somewhat similar.

God loves us with a love that is beyond description.  God enjoys us and loves to spend time with at every stage of our life.  God came to earth to show us how near and powerful He is and how committed to us and relationship with us He is.  Jesus came.  Jesus lived and died for us.  Jesus returned to heaven to prepare a place for us so we could live with God forever.

As Jesus knew the time for Him to leave the disciples was near He told them: Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. John 14:1-3

Loving God, we have inklings of how good things will be with You forever in heaven when we have these wonderful times together with family whom we haven’t seen for some time.  We’re so grateful for Your unfailing love for us, Your unchanging delight in the person You’ve created us to be, and You always available offer to not accompany us but to guide us and protect us along the way.  Help us to take the time today to let Your love and care seep into our hearts and fill us with joy and tenderness that is without equal.  We love You.  We love being loved by You.  We want to love You more. Amen

Well, whether you are close to Your loved ones or a few thousand kilometers away from them as I am today, God is making the option of a wonderful day available to us.  Let’s live it.