Enriched

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us.."

Psalm 67:1

We lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving today. You have been more than kind, you have been gracious to us, blessed us and favored us with abundant life!

Thank you for friendships and relationships that have enriched our lives in the past and hold back the curtain of loneliness in the present. Thank you for those whom you've sent to affirm what you have whispered to us in prayer. Thank you for those who spoke the truth to us, even truth hard to hear.

Use us today as instruments of grace and peace to those around us. Help us to be better friends to friends and a better disciple of Christ. In Jesus Name, Amen.

VMM

*Photo, by Sarah Jane

Friends

I want to thank you, Gracious Lord, for the good friends you give me; they are for me a priceless bounty. Thanks to them, friendship is neither an abstraction, nor a distant, almost impossible, dream. I owe to your providence, Lord, the possibility of counting on
 the constant help of friends. Between them and me you have formed a solid bridge that can withstand all threats of destruction. The happiness with which you have blessed us
 enables us to enrich one another.

Lord, there was something astonishing, 
almost mysterious, 
 in the way I met my friends; 
 it was always outside the expected pattern. But you alone know the reasons
 that drew us closer together. This surprise and joy are refreshing, and I experience them anew
 at every step of my life. Not all proved to be steadfast friends, but I have to thank you
 for the faithful ones.

I promise to do everything in my power
 to deserve this precious gift
 that you have reserved for me. I ask you, Gracious Lord, to keep them safe in your hands, for they are yours above all. Amen.

Ithca