Serenity

During the time Kayla was hospitalized, I looked up the Serenity Prayer that we are all familiar with.  You know, the one usually associated with AA and other recovery groups.  I was surprised to see there is more to the prayer than just that first verse.  The whole thing goes like this…  

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

I kept that prayer loaded on my phone as Kayla recovered and it has become almost the perfect prayer to me.  There was so much that happened that was just out of my control and I had no choice but to surrender it.  I recently used it in a talk I gave at a spiritual retreat and found myself saying the words in my head when I felt overwhelmed by the things happening that weekend.  You see I was the time keeper and was responsible for keeping everything on schedule.  Those who know me know that being prompt is just not my thing.  The prayer helped me remember that as a human I can only do so much.  There will be trials, tragedy, and things that are just beyond my realm of understanding.   God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.  Trusting Him is a lifetime struggle for a lot of us but the peace that comes with that trust is like nothing else you've ever experienced.  Try it for just one day and see how it goes.  It might be enough to make you want to try it again the next day.