Together, We Raise

Good morning or good day to all. I say that because the proper salutation depends upon the time of day that you get to read this blog of mine. As you may or may not know (depending upon the length of time that you have been reading my blog), I do things that may be a bit unorthodox from time to time. But, that's okay because my intent is heartfelt and genuine. "Uh oh," is what you are probably thinking;"What is she up to now?" I thought that I would let you participate as I begin my day with prayer, thereby Beginning YDWP. If you are reading this and it is not the beginning of your day, not to worry, we have covered that contingency, as well.  Here we go...

Good morning, Jesus. It's me, Alma. I humbly come before your throne in thankfulness and in supplication, but I did not come alone. I bring several of my blog readers from countries around the world with me. And while they might not address you as Jesus as I do, according to their various languages, we come as individuals, and we come with a united purpose. We come to say, "Thank You" and we come in supplication.

 We thank you for every nuance of the plan that you made for our lives and for Your bringing us to this moment in that plan. We thank you for every direction that the wind did blow us as we realize that the various gales that we have encountered have brought us closer to you and to this moment of individual and collective thanks. We thank you that every wind that we encountered was not a gale, but sometimes gentle breezes of, "Rest now, child; I still have My hands on you." For Your lovingkindness, we say, "Thank You, Lord!" 

 Lord, I have come a long way from that starry eyed little girl that you allowed to flourish in a Memphis ghetto. And though life has tossed me to and fro, You have kept, coddled, nurtured and yes, even chastised me into being the woman that I am today. I open my heart in the presence of my blog readers to acknowledge, praise and thank You. This is one of the ways that I am and will shout out my love, adoration and thankfulness to You, before all mankind. And, am I ashamed? Nope, not in the least! It is proud I am to say, "He is my God and Lord of all!" My blog readers join me in this sentiment.

 You gave me, W.O.W. created w.o.w. And for that I thank You. In the supplication portion of my prayer, I ask that You accept this prayer of mine, even if the form may not be as exact as it should be. Please bless each individual (no matter the time) reading this with a purpose united with us, with the blessing(s) that we each stand in need of as you bless the sale of and acceptance of this book. May this book bring praise to You and bless people of all cultures to continue to embrace You and those that don't embrace You, to get to know and to love You. May this book help to unite us all under the roof of Your love, as we are all Your creation. May the love for You that I have tried to encapsulate in this book, touch hearts and nurture the spirits of mankind the world over. And thank You, Lord, that you allowed some of the stars in my eyes to remain and the lost stars to be replaced by shimmering beams of hope. It is in Jesus' name that I pray, Amen.

Doing What I Can, While I Can,
Alma Jones

Aside - You will be able to tell by the pictures and the back cover of this book that I tried to keep the same tenor of feeling that I attempt to inject into my blog, that of a warm fireside chat. I hope I was successful. If I have offended anyone by this prayer, I  apologize for offending you, but never for the prayer, for it is who, I am...

For Pondering:
1. Why is this piece entitled, "Together We Raise?"