X

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

LOOK AT YOUR HANDS. Instead of focusing on the wrinkles or age spots, reflect on the countless things those hands have done over the years – the meals they prepared, the miles they drove, the hands they held, the people they helped. Celebrate your hands, and think about how you can use them today to be more like Christ.

“Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him.”
–Mark 1:41 (NASB)

– Missy Buchanan
Spirit Boosters

From the reading for May 3 in Spirit Boosters for the Journey of Aging: 366 Devotions by Missy Buchanan. Copyright © 2016 by Missy Buchanan. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

How can you use your hands today be more like Christ? Share your thoughts.

Today’s Scripture

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.”

John 17:14, NRSV

This Week: pray for those who feel left out. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section.

Did You Know?

In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.

This week we remember: John of Avila (May 10).

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Sponsored by Upper Room Ministries ®. Copyright © 2018 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

8 Comments

  • Mary Ng Shwu Ling Posted May 13, 2018 6:29 am

    Grateful to God for the joy of celebrating mother’s day

    May we do what is right and pleasing to God

    Blessings

  • Jill Posted May 13, 2018 6:39 am

    I am thankful today for practically 100% functionality in my hands. And my thoughts turn to you, Julie – and I pray that with this more summer-like weather – your hands are improving. I am preparing the main course of the meal we will be taking to mom today. As I was cutting up the chicken Friday evening – I did notice some discomfort in my hands. But yesterday – it was gone. I will put the finishing touches on the meal this morning. Also – I so enjoy gardening. Last summer I wondered if I would be able to plant flowers again. I surely will, this year. And I will help dad in planting all the flowers mom has picked out.
    Grateful to get mom in and out of 2 nurseries, just before the skies opened up and the rain poured down. While it was so good to have her out doing this, I couldn’t help but notice as she walked ahead of me and the flower cart how skinny and frail she looks. I have never thought my mom looked old. But the past few months have taken their toll.
    Grateful to be with my friend’s family last evening, celebrating my god-daughter’s 15th birthday. I don’t know where the time has went. The last day of school that year – I left immediately afterwards and drove to North Carolina, where she was born. My friend’s mom and in-laws had come and gone the weeks prior and it was just me there with my friend and her husband. And – oh how my god daughter cried. I remember walking the halls with her, up and back, up and back. My friend was so exhausted. So grateful for memories throughout the years and to be included in family events.
    Again, warm Mother’s Day wishes to Julie, Betsy, Connie, Andrea and other moms here.

  • robert moeller Posted May 13, 2018 7:02 am

    Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers! Thankful that God gave us mothers. Through them we see the motherly image of God. What a blessing it is.

    Thankful both I and my children knew mothers, grandmothers. They even knew a great-grandmother.

    Thankful for a great visit with my sister yesterday and a visit to a beloved museum with a steam locomotive, steamboat, and lighthouse.

    Yes prayers for the hands of those who have difficulty with them. Julie, Jill, and Anneliese come quickly to mind, but there are countless more who have issues of some sort. All of us at one time or another have bumped, cut, scraped, or possibly broken something in our hand(s).

    Thankful too, that with the spirit in us our hands can become great helpers, messengers for God. Thank You, Lord.

    Another early morning with Pearl, but she has taken care of her various activities and is resting.

    Thankful for church on Mother’s Day. It’s a beautiful sunny day here.

    Most hopefully I catch up with the promised replies to posts this afternoon after church.

    Have a wonderful, blessed, Sunday!

  • Andrea Posted May 13, 2018 1:26 pm

    I had a very lovely afternoon with my daughter and grandson yesterday. Thank you for your prayers. I am so deeply grateful for dear UR friends and for this holy online space where we pray together and for one another.

    With gratitude and prayers for all mothers, and for all women who have been like mothers – grandmothers, aunts, teachers, mentors.

    I am grateful for all the things our hands have accomplished, from the moment of our birth, when our tiny hand clenched a parent’s little finger, to the moment of our death, when our hand is taken by God’s. Helping, comforting, cooking, eating, working, playing, creating….and on and on

    Special gratitude for the children and young people whose hands I have held, and for the hands of loved ones.

    Bless our hands as they age, lose their dexterity and strength, become stiff and achy, are afflicted by health conditions. May Your healing flow into and through our hands.

    Gracious God, may I live each day in Your Light, being Your hands to others as I am able, through Your grace.

    Blessings and prayers for UR friends.

    • robert moeller Posted May 13, 2018 3:07 pm

      Grateful for this wonderful news. Hope and pray for more of the same.
      Hope both of you have a wonderful Mother’s Day. Yes, there is power in prayer.

    • Mary Ng Shwu Ling Posted May 14, 2018 8:56 am

      Praise God for blessing you, your daughter and grandson to have a very lovely afternoon, Andrea

      Blessings

  • Marcy Posted May 13, 2018 3:21 pm

    Wishing all the Moms here in the UR Reflections family and beyond, a very blessed and Happy Mother’s Day. Praises for God’s blessings for Andrea, Jill, Julie, Lou, Mary and so many of you for joyful time spent with your children and Moms, and all who have cared for and worked with children.

    My prayers and Love to each and every one of you all. Lord, hear our prayers! Jesus, we trust in You….

    • roert moeller Posted May 13, 2018 6:02 pm

      Yes, Marcy! Absolutely. Amen and Amen.

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *