Dcn Anne Strong

Hello Sisters and Brothers,

"Into thy hands I commend my spirit” I commend all of me.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians, proclaims his calling to Christ. He signals us that throughout his preaching God is his source, the originator of faith, grace, and spiritual gifts. Paul goes on to say in 1:2 that those who believe are all saints, set apart as God’s holy people.

I am in a season where I feel there are not enough hours in the day to transfer from my heart everything I long for, worry about, and am thankful for. I confess that there have been times in my life that God was not the first place I ran, with all of my “invisible burdens.”

The Christian author Agnes Sanford experienced a vision of Jesus with arms tied behind his back. She said by not asking for the small, the grand, the miraculous, we prevent God from doing the remarkable in our lives. God wants to be in the sacred details. Nothing is too insignificant or to “over the top” to bring to God.

As saints do you run to God with all your burdens?

I Come Because Why Would I not Come!
by Agnes Sanford

Holy and loving God
I come to you because you loved me first,
I come with questions the world cannot
answer.
I come to lay before You
my disappointments, my doubts, my dreams,
my soul longings.
I come with a rosary of names and circumstances
that could use Your grace.
I come for mercy because in some conversation
I allowed my ego to speak over my soul.
I come because I don’t want to be afraid
anymore.
And you are the only one who can smooth
my edges serene.
I come to feel something exquisite, not
of this world,
but of heaven.
I come because suddenly things seem possible
when you are involved.
I come because why would I not come?
You are the source of all that is good and
miraculous,
hopeful and redemptive.
and, You love me.
Amen

With Christ’s love,
—Dcn Anne +