Sleeping Soundly

To Discern

The Gift of Life

Teach Me Lord to Pray
So, something strange happened to me today.  And I wish it wasn’t strange…but it was.  I actually wish it was a really normal occurence for me. I’m praying this morning…and I usually have a card of specific people that need prayers.  But today, I couldn’t find my card.  Well…that’s ok.  I figuired I’d just pray through without it…no big deal.  About halfway through my prayer, an image of a friend (who I know wasn’t on the list) was burned in my mind.  So I prayed for that person.  Then, came the image of Marshall (read We Are Marshall

(Un)Focused
I sat last night in a bible study…but there were several times my mind went somewhere else. I sat this morning in prayer…but again, my mind went elsewhere. Turn my thoughts to you, O God, grant me the peace of mind to remain focused on you.

Original
We are a fallen people.  And we live in a fallen world.  I hear so much about “original sin.”  The sin that Adam and Eve committed when they listened to the lies of the enemy.  That was the original sin.  That is what changed everything for us.  Before that sin – Eden, Paradise, Heaven.  After that sin – a broken, fallen, world. I hear so much about that.  I hear so much about how I shouldn’t sin.  How sinning is bad.  And it is, don’t get me wrong, but I wonder if there is a different message to hear. What about our original Glory?  We were made in the image of a perfect God.  That is how glorious we are.  That is

Passions For Life
“Restore me in the image of your love this day, that my passions for life may be full.”                                         - J. Phillip Newell, Celtic Benediction   I been asking God alot recently about how He wants me to pray.  Every so often in my life something changes in how I feel I’m supposed to pray.  Sometimes it’s through journaling, sometimes it’s through reading, most recently it’s been through working out.  My hope is that someday I will be able to incorporate all those things into a “super prayer”…and th

Little Miss Sunshine (The Function of Dysfunction)
This post was originally a post on an old blog of mine, before the whole “this side of eden” name struck me.  I tried to vow to always come up with new things to write…which meant that all the other stuff got scrapped.  So…anyway, I’m reposting this, originally titled “The Function of Dysfunction,” because I just finished watching Little Miss Sunshine again…and the movie always seems to strike a chord.  Pardon the duplex, for those that have read this before on the other blog.   I just finished watching “Little Miss Sunshine.” I’m not sure why I bought it off the pay per view…but, I decided too. I guess