Mercy - Valley of Vision

Well we... are... BACK!!!! in Raleigh until the babies come. I've been grounded - but not a bad place to be stuck in my personal opinion. ;)

Vacation is over. :(  but we had a WONDERFUL time so I cannot complain. It was a glorious two weeks full of family and great memories. I'll catch you up on our adventures another day, but I wanted to share with you something that I read on vacay that has stuck with me.

I don't know if you're a reader or not, or if you're a spiritual person or not! But The Valley of Vision is an excellent book full of prayers that contain truth for the Christian life. It is a collection of prayers prayed by Puritans that were written hundreds of years ago and compiled and published in 1975. For me, this book has been a faithful companion over the years when I don't know what to pray for or even think about.

One morning the Mister and I sat out on the pier reading (separately... not creepily aloud to one another) and I came across this passage in The Valley of Vision. It is entitled "Mercy" and I'm only going to share the last half with you, not to insinuate that the first half isn't equally crucial, but when I read this last portion it really spoke to me. I identified with the author of this prayer and I just really wanted to share his words with you.

"...Thou canst not make me happy with thyself,

till thou hast made me holy like thyself.

O holy God, make me such a creature as thou canst

take pleasure in,

and such a being that I can take pleasure in thee.

May I consent to and delight in thy law

after the inner man,

never complain over the strictness of thy demands,

but mourn over my want of conformity to them;

never question thy commandments,

but esteem them to be right.

By thy Spirit within me

may my practice spring from principle, and

my dispositions be conformable with duty."

I hope these words bring encouragement to you like they did me!

Happy Friday!