prayer

the objective of prayer is three-fold: to know God, to learn God's will, and to align yourself to it.

i can't say that i always do well at it (okay, honestly, i can't say i do well at it even occasionally). most of the time, my prayers are prayers of wishes, a laundry list of how to make my life better.

Lord, help me seek you, all of you, in everything i do. amen.

"For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them." ~Saint Augustine of Hippo

one word

i finally (finally!) finished reading 'eat, pray, love' and while it was well-written, it was not my cup of tea. however, i did find the concept of 'one word' very interesting. one word to describe myself, my life, my interests? or one word to focus my (future) energy on? i think most people probably do this without realizing it.

when i changed the name of this blog to 'one word at a time', it was because i was struggling to find anything worthwhile to say - i thought if i just used one word at a time, eventually words would flow again (kind of like continuing to put one foot in front of the other and eventually you have run a marathon). :)

the word of 2010 was struggle. i struggled to find me; i struggled with my kids and being a good mom; i struggled to be a good daughter; i struggled with my grief; i struggled in my marriage; i struggled in my habits. it was hard. it was painful.

struggle produces gratitude, strength, joy, purpose, grace and wisdom. one word to sum it up is growth. i think my word for 2011 is going to be growth.