The Serenity prayer

God grant me the serenity,
To accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as you did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that you will make all things right
If I surrender to your will;
That I may be reasonably happy with in this life,
And supremely happy with you
Forever in the next.

Why all the Cheer?

God is there as well as here,
We need never feel alone,
He is always with his own;
And his star shines brightest when
'Tis darkest on the paths of Men
Therefore journey without fear,
Greet the unseen with a cheer.
Robert Browning

Our Desire - your Path!

O lord, This is our Desire
to walk along the path of life you have appointed us
In steadfastness of faith,
in lowliness of heart,
In gentleness of love.
Let not the cares of this world press on us too heavily,
But lighten our burdens,
that we may follow your way in quietness,
filled with thankfulness for your mercy,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Maria Hare (1798 - 8170)

Begone unbelief.

Begone unbelief; my Saviour is near,
And for my relief will surely appear;
By prayer let me wrestle, and he will perform;
With Christ in the vessel, I'm safe in the storm.

Though dark be the way, since he is my guide,
'Tis mine to obey, 'tis his to provide;
Though cisterns be broken and creatures all fail,
The word he has spoken shall surely prevail.

His love in time past forbids me to think
He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink;
Each Ebenezer I have in review,
Confirms his good pleasure to help me quite through.

How bitter that cup, no heart can conceive,
Which he drank right up that sinners can live;
His way was much rougher and darker than mine;
Did Jesus thus suffer, and shall I repine?

Since all that I meet shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet, the medicine is food;
Though painful at present, 'twill cease before long;
And then, O how pleasent the conqueror's song!
* John Newton (1725 -80)

Faith

When you come to the edge of all light you have known
And are about to step off into darkness,
Faith, is knowing there will be something to stand on,
Or you will be taught how to fly.
Faith is not a leap into the dark but a step into the light
A snap of my sister Tripti and me on the morning of my wedding (6 Sept 2003)

MY CANDLE!

( A Poinsetia flower from our garden)
I read this from the Missions India - "Revival & Missions" newsletter Nov/Dec 2005.

I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded wih light" John keith Falconer. Scottish missionary

Thats real food for thought. This was taken from an article about the great work Missions India does in Rajesthan. It really depends on where we decide our candle of life needs to be placed!

(another of our garden flowers)

My strength

"As thy day thy strength shall be!"
This should be enough for thee;
He who knows thy frame will spare
burdens more than thou canst bear. - Havergal
This was from this mornings Daily bread reading

(Picture of " TOAD HILL", from the campus)