Author: Smitten With Goodness

Holy Spirit,
open my heart
to understand how precious I am to you,
how loved I am by you.
Open the eyes of my soul,
to see the gifts you have put before me this day.
Give me the grace to recognize each encounter with you.
Teach me to respond in gratitude, to grow in gratitude.
Teach me to be generous, as you are generous with me,
and to collaborate with you in serving my sister and my brother
for your greater glory.

Rebecca Ruiz

Holy, you are the most holy one. Draw me towards holiness. I see, hear, and touch glimpses of you and your love as your will is fulfilled before me. You have given me this day to live.

Spirit, inspire me to rise up and live alive, choosing your will, not mine. Pulling the weeds of temptation by choosing what I want and planting seeds of your promises. Provide me the fortitude to be gentle with my aging body and tuning into its needs. I’m sorry for that many times when I have abused myself, starving it for movement and nutrition by falling into the trap of abandoning my body.  By putting myself last on the list of people to care for.  When I prioritized the comfort of work or lack of discipline rather than movement or healthy choices. I forgive myself and I’m open to your purification to cleanse me and teach me the way to do this. Help me lose the all or nothing and live in the tension and call on the Spirit of self-control. Protect my thoughts that become desires, I will bring them to you. I will use the relationship with my body to bring me closer to you.

I commit myself to you, establish my plans. This is how I will serve you today living in your power and glory. By loving the temple of my aging body. God be praised, hallelujah is my song, in gratitude.

Amen.

I’ve always been a person who accepts change despite my desire to cling to the comfort of the known. Lately I’ve been leaning into using AI to help with my work writing.  It’s a great tool, just like the calculator has been. I got curious and asked Microsoft CoPilot to scour SWG and write a poem of gratitude which follows. Despite it not being crafted directly from my heart, it did a pretty good job! 

Heavenly Father,

I come before You with a heart full of gratitude. Thank You for the countless blessings You bestow upon me each day. Your goodness surrounds me, and I am in awe of Your love and grace.

Thank You for the gift of integrity, for guiding me to live a life of honesty and virtue. Help me to walk in Your truth and to reflect Your goodness in all that I do.

I am grateful for the moments of stillness where I can feel Your presence and for the strength You provide during times of challenge. Your love sustains me, and Your wisdom guides me.

Lord, I thank You for the beauty of creation, for the people You have placed in my life, and for the opportunities to grow in faith and love. May I always be mindful of Your goodness and strive to cultivate it within myself and in the world around me.

In Your holy name, I pray.

Amen