One for All, All with the One

21 Days of Prayer and Fasting

I can see the finish line...hehehe Tomorrow is the last day for this prayer and fasting season. In the devotional I'm doing, there are a few days that will follow this season. That's due to some review chapters in the book. So, technically, it is a 24 chapter book. With those remaining few being review chapters, I still feel it aligns well with tomorrow being the last day for the focused prayers. And it will give me some time to reflect on what this year's season has meant for me.

The prayer focus for today concludes Jesus' longest prayer. It comes from John 17:20-26. There is some overlap from yesterday's focus about praying for future believers. With that, and the following verses, Jesus is asking that the Father unite us all as one as He and the Father are One. And that by doing so, we will know God's love.

If we are united as one with the One, and we are Loved by the One, we too should love one another. In fact, Jesus says to love one another and that the world would know we are His disciples by our love for one another (John 13:34-35). So, that will be my prayer focus for today. That we will know God's Love, that we will be united in the One and His Love, and that we would love one another through that unity.

Father, thank You for loving me. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit living in me that I can be one with You. Help me to know You love me and to know You more. Help me to be united with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Help me to love them as You Love them.

LORD, thank You for loving the church. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit living in Your church today that we can be one with You. Help us to know You love us and to know You more. Help us to be united with each other and with You. Help us to love one another as You Love us.

God, thank You for loving the pastors. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit living in them that they can be one with You. Help them to know You love them and for them to know You more. Help them to be united with their brothers and sisters in Christ. Help them to love us all as You Love us all.

Let us be a people who are one for all and all with the One. Fill us with Your Love so we can pour out Your Love into the world. In Jesus' Name, AMEN!

My Day

I didn't wake when my white noise app ended today. I woke up about 20 minutes later. I don't even recall that app slowly fading and ending. I must have either been in a deep sleep or dreaming something that couldn't be interrupted...LOL This rarely happens. I usually hear the white noise end...hehehe

I feel well rested today. Not just physically. But also mentally and spiritually. I fell asleep praying. I remember waking in the middle of the night still praying. I envisioned little bubbles with our prayers in them floating to heaven and popping right next to God's ears. When they popped, He could hear our prayers. It was a beautiful vision ❤️

Speaking of beautiful visions, the sun is back! It has been a few days since I've seen it...hehehe It's far too cold to be outside this morning. But I imagine I'll be able to get outside a few times today. That's going to be really nice. I miss the warmth of the sun on my face.

As I'll allude to later, I did get outside a couple of times briefly. The sun was not warm on my face today...LOL It was so cold. This weekend is going to be even colder. We have another one of those weather advisories telling us how dangerously cold it is going to be. I may try to get outside a few times this weekend for a few brief moments.

I had a pleasant day with work for my last day this week. Testing continues. There have been some issue popping up each day. But I tackle them one at a time. Not stressing over any of it. All will get done exactly when it is supposed to.

I did have something come up at work that required me to tap into that changed heart of mine. I can't really go into it. But I had to use some mercy and grace about something. I wanted to be my old self for a moment and almost failed to show mercy and grace. I previously prayed that God would show me how to have those. I had an opportunity with that situation today...LOL

I had been dealing with some constipation and bowel issues lately. I'm not sure why. I speculated if it was my lack of coffee for the last 24 days...LOL But I'm happy to say that this week saw some healthy movement in that area of my body.

I used to deal with that all the time. There were even times when I would go for a week without relief. That was painful, as you can imagine. Then about 15 years ago, I heard about probiotics and overall gut health. That opened some doors for me. Things also improved over the last couple of years with my change in diet and exercise. So, I was surprised that I've had issues these past few weeks. Hopefully it was temporary and I'm back to being regular.

When I go back to drinking coffee soon, I'm going to ease into it. But I'm definitely looking forward to having it again. I really miss the smell and taste. I'm glad I've been able to enjoy my mug collection by drinking hot water. I'll continue drinking hot water for the time being. I'll just be adding coffee back in as well.

I'll be finishing up my January simplify task this weekend...woohoo! It's actually better described as decluttering...LOL But the idea is to simplify and be more minimalistic in my home. That will branch off into other areas. But for now, I'm focused on my living spaces. This month was all about my desks and workspace. I've already decluttered it all. The final task is to take the unused desks and equipment out to storage. I'll deal with whether or not I'll get rid of those things later. I'm not actually throwing out or giving things away yet; with a very few exceptions. The main goal this year is to strip things down to what is necessary. If I need to bring anything back, it'll be right there in storage...hehehe

February's focus will be in my living room. I'm not sure if I'll get rid of the couch in February. But if I can, I will. It will be going away eventually regardless. That isn't going to storage. I've never liked my couch and regretted getting it. It was free and I thought I needed it at the time. It has been used quite a bit. But it has got to goooooo! LOL

Photo of the Day

Well, I was out for a little today...LOL I only did 2 laps around the pond all day in two attempts...LOL It's too cold. But I hear it will warm up to above normal next week. Weather is weird...LOL Anyway, today's photo is from outside!

This is a wood stork. It is a large bird compared to some of the others I see around here. The only other birds I've seen that are large are the bald eagle and the great blue heron. And then there was that one time I think I saw a golden eagle.

This poor guy was resting when I came upon him. I grabbed my camera just in time to capture this moment of him taking off. I don't like to disturb the wildlife. But when they are that close to you, just being there is a disruption. So, I couldn't avoid it.

It had a beautiful flight as it left my sight today. I'm so blessed to live in a place that has so many species of birds. And they're here all year. We even get those migratory birds that come down from the north during the winters here.

Wrapping Up

I had a really good day. It flowed well, the food was good, work was good, all of my prayer and Bible time was good...good good good...hehehe

I'll probably do a little more work on this new website tomorrow. I'd like to migrate some of my photos for this year over to the photo section. I'd like to get the Bible section added. I may add the art and writing sections too. I'll do what I can while still relaxing. I don't want to do too much tomorrow. I need some rest from thinking...LOL But adding those sections and beginning to populate them shouldn't take much thought. The groundwork has already been laid.

There's about 93% of the year remaining. I'm hopeful for this year. I'm grateful for what will happen. Not everything is going great now. But that's how it was a year ago. Most things don't go great in general...LOL It's what God is doing in my heart that makes me hopeful and grateful. Events and circumstances aren't what makes or breaks my life anymore. I'm not alone in the struggle. None of us actually are. We just need to pay attention and never lose sight of God, and the ones who care about us.