Why Bother with Little Things?

In Casey, IL, a town near us, there's a purple house I love to drive by. It makes me smile.

In Holland, Michigan, I decided to peek into a public greenhouse while my husband browsed some shops, the sight of these red flowers made joy bubble up.

When my fat cat, Wally, smushed himself into this wee basket, I laughed out loud.

What little thing made your day today?

When Your Loved One Is in Prison or Jail

In my book, Touchable God, I include a prayer for When a Loved One is in Prison or Jail:

Lord, you see every silent tear not loosed from a heart dry with pain, and You capture every tear set free from a mother’s hurting soul. Give my friend release today, healing, soothing God. Set her wounded spirit free to trust You, even as her son lives behind bars of steel.

No metal forged by men’s hands can keep Your power and love away. Send a divine measure of each to her child today. Assure Him that You are with him, and don’t intend to leave.

Give him a patch of beauty to gaze upon in a gray world, a way to see You care, a note of music in the silent anger. Strengthen his heart against blaming others for his wrongs or condemning himself for mistakes. Soften his heart to hear Your voice of kindness. Help him believe You offer a million new chances to go his way and sin no more.

Protect him from the evil one and his minions who whisper lies in the dark and the day. Keep him from wicked schemes and plots to harm him. Fill his mind with wisdom to choose rightly, from companions to games to reading material. Offer him hope that his future can be as bright as his past and present are dim.

Give my friend surprises of grace along her path strewn with thorns. Lift her feet from the
way of sorrow. Pillow her thoughts on You. May her heart sing with joy in Your embrace, in spite of the tears. Rescue her from every “what if,” proving that shame is not of You.

Send Your Spirit to renew their limp dreams and wounded aspirations. Breathe Your wind on fires of hope, to burn away despair. Release them both into the light of Your presence, a presence filled with hallelujahs for sins forgiven and joys restored. 

References: Psalm 56:8; Hebrews 13:5; Ephesians 3:16; John 17:15; Jeremiah 29:11

If you love someone who's incarcerated, I hope this prayer gives you encouragement and hope! If you know someone who'd like to know God better, please refer them here.