Ordinary Time

Pause

Child of God, you are called to a grand adventure.

Child of God, there is peace in this journey.

Listen

You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.” The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:15-17

Think

There have been times in my life when I feel like I cannot take one more step. Getting out of bed seems a momentous task. The peace of God that I have heard about in church seems distant at best.

God does not create or send suffering to our lives. Bad things happen, because this world is not the Kingdom that God intends for us. God does not ask us to suffer so that we can prove that we are a good Christian.

Rather, God walks alongside us through the hard times. God loves us and care for us as God’s children. We are part of God’s family; God is not going to give up on us even when things are at their worst and everything seems hopeless. Morning will come, and God’s light is going to eventually win out in even the darkest circumstances.

Noelle Owen

Pray

God, I surrender the pain in my life to you. Your light will shine in the midst of the darkness. Amen.

Go

In the glow of each morning, seek adventure.

In the shade of each sunset, embrace peace.