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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

 

Today’s Reflection

When regret begins to rise in me over a harsh word or a sharp tone I’ve used with my children, I remind myself to honor those hard moments as part of the becoming. God calls me into being—continues to create me—through them. I can let go of control, of trying to figure out who I am or what I am meant to do, and trust that in time God will reveal to me the fullness of who I’m being created to be.

—Lauren Burdette, This Life That Is Ours: Motherhood as Spiritual Practice (Upper Room Books, 2019)

Today’s Question

What regret do you need to let go of today? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
—Philippians 1:6 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

May I be a river, free of attachments, flowing lavishly and abundantly through the day, moving with your currents, and bringing life and refreshment to my children. Amen.
Lauren Burdette, This Life That Is Ours
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Something More

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Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

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4 Comments

  • robert moeller Posted May 7, 2022 5:47 am

    My difficulty relating to my son. I believe I have tried, but it has not been an easy task for me. Food shopping done. Putting the condo on the market will come after the car’s rear suspension is replaced. Window and deck cleaning are next. Preparations for Mother’s Day worship are underway. Thank You, Lord.

  • April Posted May 7, 2022 9:15 am

    I have had several lessons in my reading and listening to podcasts about do or be. I am adding the ing to each as relates to our thought for the day about regrets. So, am I doing or being, and does it cause me regret?
    Doing and being remind me of Martha and Mary and God’s preference for their actions. I find myself regretting the times I have been doing instead of being, so today, I am going to purposefully aim to be. It will involve me slowing down, pausing, being open to see the blessings of this moment (especially with another person) and praise God for the opportunity to be His hands and feet. Hopefully when I close my eyes tonight, I will have less regrets.
    The headlines are filled with bad news. When I read a good “dose” of this, I find I regret it later as I feel hopeless. Then I remember that I am powerful because I have captured my thoughts and laid them at the foot of the cross. I let God handle them, for He is in control of the outcome, and I am in control of how I respond to the news. He had shown me that I am to respond with the gifts of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control for there is no law against any of these. Lord, if there is one thing I can be today, may I be gentle, even as you are gentle with me.
    Lifting up our NEM family as we head into the weekend. May we each feel God’s hand upon our shoulder guiding us, His wisdom directing us, and His love surrounding us. May we be Easter people!!

  • Julie Posted May 7, 2022 9:30 am

    I am beginning to regret staying with h. I know it is the Christ centered thing to do. But he makes my life miserable and this morning called me vile names. I pray for patience and forebearance.
    Prayers for April and her wise words. I thank God that you share your thoughts and actions with us. Prayers for Ally and David, for health and finances to improve. Prayers for Jill and her students this morning, may her review session be well attended. Prayers for Robert’s continued preparations for a move, may God lead him through the transition.

  • Jill Posted May 7, 2022 5:50 pm

    This question gave me pause. I regret the struggles I had with mom, as I tended to defend dad, earning her ire. I should not have been argumentative with her and I regret that she feels like I sometimes spoke to her as if she were one of my students. Gratefully, the Lord changed my heart and my perspective in time for the last several years to be much better. She wasn’t going to change – I was the one who needed to change.
    I also regret not being able to forge better relationships with my year 2 students. My sister asked how I felt about the students heading in to testing. In 22 years in this program, this is the class I feel like I have the least amount of feel for – as far as how they will do on the test. I don’t know that I could have done things significantly different, being remote for the first 3/4 of last year – and then some of the students chose not to come back for the remainder of the year. Difficult to develop trust and confidence. And to that end, only 3 students showed up this morning. Both classes felt that their tests were challenging. I will get to see a copy Monday morning, while they are sitting for the second part.
    I was able to see my god son’s game this afternoon. He pitched 2 innings of relief and it was the best I had ever seen him pitch. The freshman is maturing before our eyes…not his bean pole body needs to fill out. Afterwards, I ran an errand with his mom, giving us about 1/2 hour together.
    Dad, Becky and Don arrived home late this afternoon. I was able to fertilize, trouble shoot weeds in my driveway and take a walk.
    Looking forward to improving weather daily and a really nice week ahead.
    Due to dad and my tee time tomorrow – I will not be able to attend my church – as I wouldn’t get done in time. So I am going to the early service at the church who had the cancer support group which became a victim of the pandemic.

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