2014

I gave up on New Year's resolutions years ago. Who wants to feel like a failure on January 2nd? What I do instead is make a list of prayer requests for the coming year. I begin, of course, with the prayer request that is the foundation of our prayer life: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." Here are my others as I begin a New Year in His presence:

1. May you Lord by any means necessary continue to draw me and the ones I love closer to your heart.
2. May you remind me on a daily basis that I do not have the strength necessary to do what you have called me to do. I need to rely on your strength and power--which is always enough for each day.
3. May I have the vision to see all the wonderful things--"great" and "small"--that you bring into my life on a daily basis so my heart of gratitude will be unceasingly overflowing.
4. May each student in my classes know that regardless of their academic prowess or even their desire to serve and follow you that they are unconditionally loved and that that love is only possible because you first loved me.
5. May the beauty of the Acres constantly remind me that you are the Creator and the source of all that is lovely and that you are "Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature."
6. May "the beauty of Jesus be seen in me." When this year is over, may I be more like you than I have ever been before.
7. May I pray daily for those you have chosen to put in position of authority knowing with confidence that the heart of the king is in your hands.
8. When I look into the mirror of your Word, may I not walk away unchanged.
9. When I walk through difficult days and the circumstances seem to say, "He is not here. He cannot be in this"--may I remember that your goodness permeates all things and that it is by faith in Who you are that I please you and may I soar on the eagle's wings that you provide in the winds of adversity. May I be faithful to you no matter what.
10. May I live a life of visible joy. Each day may you put a song in my heart.
11. As you lay before me needs that I can meet, may I trust in your provision and give sacrificially and as anonymously as possible to meet those needs.
12. "Even so, come Lord Jesus!"