Wednesday, July 15, 2009

YES
to tomorrow.
fresh dreams.
higher mountains.
greater impossibilities.
wider sunrises.
stouter courage.
braver risks."
YES
because Jesus is the divine YES.
because He changes everything.
He is my highest fulfillment.
He made me whole...
takes the bad and turns it to good.
He is my Song.
my Reason to live.
"for to me to live is Christ"

i stand before Christ and the world.
my heart shouts an affirmation:
Jesus, i am a lowly servant woman.
take me. all of me.
add anything. take away anything.
at any cost. with any price.
make me Yours. completely...wholly.
may i not be remembered for how
i wear my hair
or the shape of my face
or the people i know
or the crowds i've addressed.
may i be known for loving You
for carrying a dream.
for building bridges
to the hurt and broken and lost in the world.
make me what You would be if You lived
in person where i do.
may everything accomplished through my simple
life bring honor and glory to You.
for carrying a dream.
to the hurt and broken and lost.
take my human failures and flaws,
and use them to remind those who know me
that only You are God.
and i will always just be ann.
amen.
amen.

5 comments:

margaret said...

i remember this prayer from your book, yes!. i was so inspired by it that i copied it, substituting my own "achievements" and name, and posted it on my desk. that was almost 30 years ago and it's still there! thank you, ann, for your transparency then and now. And for reminding me again that with jesus, i'm out to change my world!

Lesley Cobb said...

Hi Ann,

Your writing continues to brighten my day. I read your books twenty years ago. I am now forty and a new mom with a baby with colic. I am also a recovering alcoholic and addict. I was thrilled to read about you being in recovery also. I am currently dealing with so much change in my life. I look daily to see what you might have posted. Your posts remind me that no matter what is going on that God is still on the throne. Thank you for being you and always sharing your heart. You have allowed God to use you to minister to me and so many others. May God bless you.

Lesley Cobb

Anonymous said...

Ann, my sister shared all of your books with me when I was in college. I thought of you as I ran my first marathon, as I became a single mother, as I raised two sons. Your words here are blessing me and a thousand thousand more women who need connection and encouragement. Thank you for stepping back into the light.

Marla Stuart said...

Dear Ann,
I am so thrilled to see you here, my kindred spirit! I have been altered by your writing since I was a teenager, and now I'm a single mom of 4 precious miracles through adoption. Learning to find my way on my own now has been a journey. So thankful to have you just a click away.

barb said...

YES !!!!! God's glory!