To miss a staff meeting is no joke.
It extends the time between a smoke.
Once outside cigs are passed around:
The air is filled with smoke and happy sounds.
Too soon the session comes to an end:
To the customers’ needs they must attend.
So it’s back to the job,
Where they earn a honest bob.

Norman Stevens

Prayer For Called and Gifted

Jesus you are the savior of the world author of salvation and creator of the universe and all good things. We are so small and frail and yet in your goodness you saw it fit to give us so much and to raise us up to more than we can be. You bestowed on your people different, beautiful gifts and call us to use them for others and for you. You have called us each by name and given us unique gifts, each with an integral part to play. You have given us a purpose and a reason. You have given us a passion for life. We are called to be beacons of hope, bearers of light. As wheat only produces fruit once it dies, may we also die to the things that hold us back from experiencing the fullness of your love for us. Help us Lord to be good stewards of the gifts you give so abundantly and so freely that we would be diligent, responsible, and humble as we try to live your love out in the world. You said to your apostles: "Go forth and make disciples of all nations; proclaiming the gospel by your lives and baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit". Lord, bless the people in this room; send your Holy Spirit and let it come to rest in our souls. Guide and lead and teach us along the journey of life to use our gifts that you gave us "for the greater glory of God". Just as we pray for ourselves Lord, we also pray for all those in the church and throughout the world that you would help them realize and utilize what they have been given to make this world a little better and to further your kingdom right here and now. May we all be a "blessing for life and a blessing for Christ"! We ask this and all things in your most beautiful and precious name. AMEN.

Prayer Balloon, UP, UP,  UP!!!

Filled with the hot air of Dreams,
WE laugh together so Well, ...WE, the Universal WE!!
a smooch for the road, **and we’re Off!!

Loving the World, as only Lovers Do!!

pssst,...come here….closer.. closer still,…. even closer
until our breath is finally the sigh of  One
ahhhhhh!!
the Universal out breath……UNITY  

And what does my Heart lives for..??

The entire World!!.. I can’t take less… Thats just how I AM
Miracle Driven..
ever since that third day thing happened a few thousand years ago..
I’ve been crazy in Love with YOU,
the You, the Me, the Universal WE..
IAM, IAM, Green Eggs and HAM!!

So Now I have a Favor,
One for You
One for Me
USE ME.. YES!! USE ME NOW for some  Higher form of Service that lifts the World In JOY
Know my Gratitude beforehand. Yours is the Prayer of the KISS

Show me  the World of FRIENDSHIP that is the Ambassadors Gateway to the LIFE of PEACE
Carry me with the Crayon of Wonder if you have to, but make it so!
Lift with me the World of Learning that is the Creative Arts of Alexandria,
the Rich Diversity of  Europe in the Renaissance,
and smiles of the plant master in the mountains of Peru, India, Africa..
Recreate all the Homeless Homes of Man…that none shall be left out..
even Polar Bears can join this Trip!!!
Spiritualize my Life, that I may know Eternal JOY
And let me the same for others, that I may Know the Power of Giving,
and  stand, Witness to the NEW Humanity, Risen as the Word WE.
Love LIVES,  and LIFE GIVES..

PEACE.

I almost died when I was in the 5th grade
I struggled to lift my baby sister up
My mom couldn't even do it
We woke up cause she started crying
and I threw up, everyone kept throwing up
My father slurred his speech
said we all caught the flu
and we all slept in the living room
Till my brother came out and said
we gotta get out,  now
So thankful he slept with the door closed
He drove the minivan, 15 years old
off to grandma's house
Got a blood test done
cause even the dog was blowing chunks

Please check your

I got a letter from the government
A week back, Tuesday morning
It came in a grey envelope
It was stamped with a red warning

The envelope was tattered
And the words were inked in red
To be opened by recipient
That was all it said

I checked the name typed on there
It was mine, so I could see
John Augustus Reed
Beale Street, Unit 43

I opened it and sat right down
I had been drafted so it said
I had to report on Thursday
I heard a ringing in my head

I didn't understand it all
To me it made no sense
This plain grey mottled envelope
Sent from my government

I followed the instructions
And showed up promptly at the place
Something was asunder
I could tell from the man's face

I showed him my draft letter
Explained, I didn't understand
He looked at it and laughed a bit
This wasn't what I'd planned

He said son, is this you
Are you John Augustus Reed
I told him I'm John Junior
He said that's all the news I need

This letter is a glitch, boy
It wasn't meant for you
It was sent out to your father
Back in nineteen seventy two

Somehow it was mangled
Got lost along the way
Until somebody found it
And you got it on that day

I'm glad you chose to come here
Showed up exactly when it said
But, I think you now can go on home
I think it's best, instead

It's amazing how one letter
And you can take this to the bank
Can fill a man with honor
For that I must give thanks.

W o r k  
   S l e e p  

W o r k  
   S l e e p

ATE TOO MUCH                       DRANK TOO MUCH
Never smoke enough.                Never wake me up.

Tip me with MONEY not love.
And please, someone tell that
phone to s h u t   t h e   *******   u p .

serve em, & serve em.
Carrying plate after plate.
Waiting tables is my life -
anxious to meet the right
person see my awesome light.

put my pretty smile on tv,
my strong message on the radio,

With each laugh I create
I start servin smiles instead of plates.
each word I say,
I'll act as if I'm on S T A G E .
a new day is the day I am swept away!

The pain of my childhood
   still hurts me.
Feeling alone, unwanted, unlovable.
Knowing other's joy of me came
   from my service to them.
Desperately wanting, needing
   to be loved for myself and
   not for what I could do.
Now, the unworthiness follows,
   lurks in the darkness.
   Waiting to grab me
   in a moment of weakness.
And yet, I live in HOPE!
   I can escape those demons,
   but it is an every day job
   of Resting in God,
         and knowing LOVE.

Everywhere I look: poverty, war and sickness
The only news on T.V. is negative. What is this?!
I feel so sorry for the poor, and hungry and lame
But I must remember Jesus has called us each by name.
Heart to heart; to love one another
Hand in hand as sister and brother.
It breaks my heart to see them suffering
I help because it is a good thing.
“They need more because they have less”
And realize later that God knows best.
Because while they might be “poor” and not have much,
They are rich in love and such.
Theirs is a faith so pure, and strong, and true
How poor I really was I never had a clue.
Now I can say in all honesty:
I gained a new perspective the day that you helped me!