Deus Misereatur

The Codependency Recovery Plan: A 5-Step Guide to Understand, Accept, and Break Free from the Codependent Cycle by Krystal Mazzola MEd LMFT My rating: 3 of 5 stars It's a very readable book. The author shows writing skill, keeps readers' attention, and easily guides them along the path. "The Co-dependency Recovery Plan: A 5-Step Guide to Understand, Accept, and Break Free from the Codependent Cycle" is a 170 page softback made to instruct and give practice. Krystal Mazzola is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist living in Phoenix, Arizona, co-owner and practicing therapist at Dantia Wellness, who has some skin in this rugby scrum called co-dependency. The manuscript is clearly written, and obviously intended for use as homework during therapy or in self-care. Mazzola leads readers and recoverers through a very simple set of explanations and exercises. She begins the volume with data, definitions and descriptions. Also, using the family systems model, she map...

It's not original with me. But years ago, for the purpose of keeping my head on straight and focused while reading my Bible every morning, and turning the reading time into prayer and worship, I started journaling. It's very simple: Date, passages read, and reflective thoughts that lean toward prayer. All pretty simple. The picture shows three recent days (with the names covered up to protect the innocent). The following is today's prayer entry. It pulled together from my Scripture readings, the pain in my heart for several people, and the trust I have in our great liberating and loving God. Lord, mighty and strong, a refuge in the storm and a shelter in the squall - you see clearly through the fog of human confusion, the stifling smoke of worry, the crushing blanket of darkness of depression - you set captives free, open prison doors and release the entrapped, lift up the oppressed and put the oppressors down. O Lord, mighty and strong, liberating and loving: hear m...

Almighty and indestructible God, who never grows old, and never succumbs to Alzheimer’s, dementia or amnesia; you never forget your promises and never misplace your valuables; you speak and your word is solid and sure; you plan out the end from the beginning and all you have planned comes about. It is to you that we come, worshiping you in your greatness, adoring your majesty, singing your might, and offering ourselves as living, whole-person sacrifices, made holy and acceptable to you through Jesus Christ your Son, and in the power of your Holy Spirit. O Lord, hear our prayer. Turn your eyes and care onto those who are having trouble and turmoil in their marriages or with their children…; those who find that life hasn’t gone where they had dreamed and are disheartened…; and those who are in the ravenous grip of rapacious urges...; Because you have not given us a spirit of fear, but the Spirit of power, love and self-control (2 Timothy 1.7), fortify them with the righteous res...

O Lord Jesus Christ, our great God and Savior, your mercies and loving-kindnesses have been from everlasting. You became man and stooped to endure crucifixion and death for the salvation of all your people. You rose from the dead for our justification, ascended into heaven, and sit at the right hand of God the Father, from whence you shall come to judge the living and the dead; and as our great High Priest you regard the humble prayers of all who call upon you with their whole heart. Incline your ear and hear. O Lord mercifully look upon your Holy Universal Church, which you have purchased with your precious blood, this congregation, and these churches in the greater OKC area: Edmond Trinity Christian Church, First Christian of OKC and of Edmond, and Hilcrest Christian Church ; and your servants who are under persecution for your sake and for the sake of your holy gospel. Preserve your Church unconquerable by the gates of hell forever. Heal the factions, quench the fuming of ...

(This picture of the Lord's Prayer is a wall print by Jennifer Wick, accessed 3 February 2019 at Minted ) Drawn from the Heidelberg Catechism on the Lord’s Prayer Our Father Who art in heaven : we come to you trusting and rejoicing that you are our Father through Jesus Christ, and that you will answer us, as promised, with as much readiness as, and more readiness than, our earthly parents. And we trust that we may expect from your almighty power all things necessary for body and soul. Hear us, Father, as we pray. Hallowed be thy name : Enable us rightly to know, reverence, magnify, and praise you in all your works through which shine forth your power, wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and truth; and likewise to so order our whole life, in thought, word, and work, that your name may never be blasphemed but honored and praised on our account. Thy kingdom come : Preserve and increase your Church, to include this congregation and these churches in the greater OKC a...

“ Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD ” (Job 1.21). God all merciful and all wise, compassionate and caring. All our days are in your hands; you give us life, breath, love, and sustenance. We commend young Matthias Alexander Lynch into your caring embrace, and we commend his parents and siblings to your compassionate shalom . Though his days were few, we are grateful for the moments we had with him.   We loved seeing his big feet, the hair already growing on his head, and his fighting spirit. But, Lord, now you have him, and we believe that when Christ returns to raise all – some to the resurrection of everlasting life, and others to the resurrection of judgment (John 5.29), we trust to see him again, laughing, smiling, singing and running! Until then, keep count of our tossings, collect our tears in your bottle and log them in your book (Psalm 56.8): all for your love’s s...

Longitude by Dava Sobel My rating: 5 of 5 stars It was a pleasant gift out of the blue. But someone thought enough of me that when they saw a copy at the half-price bookstore, they snagged it and bequeathed it to me. And what a delightful read it was. Who would have thought that watches, discovering a sure means of finding longitude, and human drama could be so informative and fun?!?! But this little volume is all of those things, and more. The vast majority of the true tale treads water in 18th Century Europe, primarily France and England. There are a few pages with background history and after-action reporting, but the weight of the book dwells in those scientifically pregnant years in the early to mid 1700s, when much was gestating and being delivered. This tiny manuscript focuses on John Harrison, and his newfangled contraptions for finding longitude on-board ship. But other discoveries were being made around the same goal, and the author gives them their due. Dava Sobel, a form...