This morning I woke up early, thanks be to God.

I woke up thinking about the serenity prayer again.

"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."

God, grant me - this starts by admitting that God is the power that restores me to sanity.

the serenity - serenity is control of the the self, the quieting of the storm within.

to accept - acceptance is something that comes with serenity and is a gift of grace from God.

the things I cannot change - There are things that I cannot change in the world, only God can.

courage to change - It takes courage to let go and let God decide what is to be changed. I can only find this courage from God.

the things I can - I don't place my dependence on changes of the outside world but changes within.

The wisdom - This is intuition that only comes from conscious contact with God. This can come progressively.

to know the difference - I can know the difference by applying the process of personal inventory. In time this can become an intuitive part of my conscience.

In the solitude of the morning I started my devotional routine and realized that I had not done this for 5 days because of the holiday clamor. In looking at the reflections on step 12 I was astonished to see that they corresponded to the insights that I received.

This morning I heard a word about perseverance from Fr. Corapi. He said that God does not just need our ability, He needs us in our vulnerability.

This morning I was mildly resentful that my wife slept late.
This afternoon I got to shop for a new pair of pants.
This evening my parents came and brought us my mom's beef soup. We got to spend time talking and laughing with each other. Most of it was real light hearted good times but the conversation turned to my sister who is dying. The conversation led us to talk about matters of faith. Afterward I was worried that I came on too strong. But then I was grateful for the opportunity.

Thanks be to God.