Show Me Them

7-26-13

MARK, ISN’T THE WHOLE IDEA OF DARKNESS THAT YOU CAN’T SEE?

Then show me their pain!  Show me the mourning of the people around me.  You say my salvation goes forth as a burning torch*, illuminate the dungeon around me.  Show me the hurting; give me the understanding, the empathy to mourn with them.  Take my pride, take my fear, and show me them.

Please.

NOTE: When Mark was in Nicaragua he desperately wanted to see the needs of those around him, so he was perplexed that in such a place of pain and poverty, the needs were not apparent to him.  So he prayed for God to show him.  What would happen if we prayed this for our neighbors, co-workers, and our family members...not just the people we visit for a week or two on our missions trips?  Challenging...

*Isaiah 62:1

 

Perfectly Understood

From Mark's Flickr
  
God is proving to me time and time again how good he is and how much he loves me. Little moments like the sunset catching those flowers above make me think about how God knows how much I love nature and beauty and color, and he gives it to me. I don't deserve it at all; in fact, I sometimes simply equate these moments to little coincidences in nature. But then there's that soft voice in the back of my head that says maybe if I pay a little more attention, I'll see the sunset is actually an "I love you" from a father who perfectly understands his son.

Mark's New Year Resolution for 2014

NOTE: Each person in our family wrote a note to ourselves at the close of 2013.  The note was to be reviewed at the close of 2014.  The subject was how we wanted to grow over the year. This was Mark's letter to himself.

Mark,
I hope that you can look back on this year and say that you're more intimately abandoned to God than you ever have been.  I hope that you can say you've loved Him and sought Him and found Him...
...I hope you've become skilled as a musician and that everything you create for God's glory.  I hope you worship solely to give him praise.

In 2013, you learned the importance of loving God and others.  I hope you've kept your eyes open to see the miracles that stem from that.

--Mark

Erase all Worry

1-12-13

Dear God,

You are incredible.  I feel like in January there are so many gorgeous sunsets and sunrises; honestly they’re what got me into photography.   The skies really do proclaim the work of your hands.  God, there’s a lot that I feel like I have to do today, and I confess that I’m allowing it to hinder my peacefulness.  In fact, I’ve probably been doing that a lot lately.  God, this time last year I was probably the most peaceful and joyful that I’ve ever been.  And I still have peace and joy, but truthfully I’ve allowed my awe at your blessings to somehow fade.  That awe, that joy and peace, it increases my faith and decreases my self-indulgence because I know you’re the best it gets.  So Lord, I pray that you would give me the peace to not be stressed out all day.  As I carry out the tasks I have to complete, fill me with a calm and peace that erases all worry.  Help me not to waste time, to just sit around.  I don’t want to feel like I have to fill every scarp of time I have, but I certainly don’t want to overindulge in Facebook and Instagram, which are honestly worth five minutes of my time a day.

Thank you for your Joy and Peace, Lord.

Mark