January 5, 2016 SHARE: Praying time: three minutes Response-ability is the gift from God to get up and be about my Father’s business today. Join me in celebrating the gift of this body and life! You truly are my Father, O God, for without you I would not have life. I marvel at the wonder of this body You have entrusted to my care. No galaxy above or creature of land, sea or air can match the wonder and intricacy of the life that pulses within me today, Your creative work. You truly knit me together in my mother’s womb, and I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You gave me feet, Lord, and I’m reminded by the aroma of how greatly I am in need of cleansing. I thank You for the baptismal washing my Savior earned for me on the cross. You also gave me hands, and I am called to offer the gifts of your grace to others in need of washing. I have not taken up the basin and towel as I ought.The lusts and passions of my flesh run strong within me, and I have been too ready to submit to them. I seek comfort in your gift of sexuality in impure ways. I seek comfort also in a stomach full of things I should resist. My vitality has suffered as I seek more to be served than to serve. Forgive me, Father, for thinking more of the wants of my body than the needs of others. In Your wisdom, you have allowed weakness and infirmity to come to me that are not of my doing, but are merely the way of the cross I walk in this fallen world. Grant me patience to endure, knowing that Your grace is sufficient. I thank You for the testimony of those who have gone before me as examples of purity and fitness in their bodies; for Joseph and for Daniel, for Daniel’s friends and for friends of my own who set a good example for me. Give me wisdom and passion learn from their example and to benefit from rest, exercise and proper nutrition so that others might benefit from my renewed energy and vigor for service in Your kingdom. The fruit of Your Holy Spirit is self-control, and I rejoice in the partnership I have with You for making wise choices by Your good guidance. Making these choices is beyond my own frail capacity, so fill me with the comfort of Your perfect love and the strength of Your gift of faith so that I might live and breathe and serve to Your glory. I thank You for youthful memories of play and adventure, and rejoice even in the reduced measure to which I can still recreate. Guide my feet out from under the rooftops to Your wide creation that I might rejoice in sun and sky, in tree and bird. Grant me vigor throughout the course of this day, that as You give me awareness of the needs of others around me, I would be ready and able to serve in Your name. And finally, dear Lord, if I should die before I wake, I pray You, Lord, my soul to take; but if I should wake before I die, I pray You, Lord, to show me why. Amen. Thanks for praying with me. God grant you rest, strength, and joy in ministry! dz A Congregational Wellness Weekend is designed to help create a ministry environment at your church or school where professional church workers can thrive and serve joyfully in their calling at top capacity. Let’s start the conversation today! Find more information on our website or contact Program Director Darrell Zimmerman to learn more.