Bending Angel

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Home
  • About
    • About Jack H. Emmott
    • About Bending Angel Publications
    • About Emmottville
  • BookShop
    • Schorre Christmas Cards
    • Bending Angels
    • Prayerful Passages
    • Prayerful Passages Companion Guide Book
    • Note Cards
  • In The News
  • Weekly Prayer
  • Contact

A Christmas Prayer to Make Room in the Manger in My Heart – December 24, 2021

December 25, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Pictured here are son, John IV, and daughter, Catherine, circa Christmas 1983

Amidst the sales of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rush to get those last-minute or hard-to-find gifts for friends and family, I reflect on the most precious gift I have been given. A gift that is priceless, everlasting, and ever-giving. A gift I received without the use of a credit card, cash, or something given in exchange. That gift seated under the Christmas Tree in my heart is Christ. That gift born in a stable over 2000 years ago was born out of God’s love for me. Not a one-time gift. But, a gift for me now and forever. A gift for today. An undeserved gift for me until the day I die and every day thereafter when my days with God never end. At a place where love casts out all evil. Where Holy light extinguishes all creatures of darkness.

I have many blessed memories of Christmases’ past. Dorothy and I did our best to recreate those magic memories of Saint Nick and the bountiful love of God for our children, John and Catherine. The common thread in all of my memories was the love I received from God. The love of my mom and dad, brothers, and sister which I received before and after polio and paralysis. Love that healed me, comforted me, provided hope to me, and saved me from being crucified on the cross of despair.

I believe that, as God created me and loves me as I am, I have a duty to love others who do not look like me, think like me, are not loveable, or easy to love. Because God gave humankind His only Son out of love for me, what is my responsibility to thank God and show my praise for Him? I am God’s child. God’s love is part of my spiritual DNA. I was born to love others as God loves me.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about the importance of God’s love.

2 Timothy 1:13
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

1 John 4:8
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, as I prayed in Advent darkness, please help me to make room in the manger of my heart for the light of Christ to dwell.

God, I thank You for Your love, for Your gift to me in the birth of Your Son over 2000 years ago. Your love never gets old and never dies. Because of the birth, death, and resurrection of Your Son, Your love for me is forever.

God, please help me to be an instrument of Your love so that I may truly reflect that love in the living of the life You have gifted me.

God, You are truly the greatest gift-giver of all. May I show my thanks to You in how I love and serve others in Your Holy Name. May I generously give my time and money to Your less fortunate children who have so much more of so much less.

Last, please make room in the manger of my heart for me to carry the love and light of Your blessed Son to others so much in need of compassion, healing, and Holy hope. Amen.

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon. 

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to www.BendingAngel.com website.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, A Christmas Prayer to Make Room in the Manger in My Heart - December 24, Bending Angels, Jack Emmott

Prayer to See God Things in a Graveyard – December 12, 2021

December 18, 2021 by Ann Boland 1 Comment

To enjoy Jack’s video version of this prayer, click here.

Photo credit: southseatleemaerald.com

As you and I get older and hopefully wiser, thoughts often turn to Bucket Lists. Trips to places in America or abroad like Rome, Ireland, Greece, London, Paris. Maybe to skydive like President Bush on his 80th birthday. Go to a Broadway Show in New York City.

Then, there are Bucket List Items that involve resolving unanswered questions which have gone on far too long. Or, reconciling relationships with others before our time on Earth ends and our eternal life in Heaven begins. To close revolving doors of disappointment and disillusionment which never seem to stop spinning or to complete the circle on an unsatisfying relationship before it is too late.

Through marriage, I have a dear cousin, Meredith, in California who is beautiful, extremely intelligent, very literate, and gifted in photography. She grew up in one of the most beautiful environments in the world–the Monterey Peninsula. Her dad built a small ranch home in the 1950s at the north end of 17 Mile Drive just north of Pebble Beach. On a teacher’s salary, he purchased four lots on which to build his home. Meredith grew up hearing the surf pounding the beaches from her open bedroom window amidst the smell of Eucalyptus trees and the salty breeze.

My cousin’s mother was kind, caring, loving, and stable. She provided the kind of childhood for my cousin to achieve the most in life. However, their mother-daughter relationship left much to be desired. Meredith always wanted to be closer to her mom. Meredith wanted to know why her mom said some hurtful things; why her mom was not more accepting of her; and why her mom was too judgmental on occasion. Those lingering questions on her Bucket List were the most important ones for Meredith to check off before her Day of Rest came and her Eternal Life began.

Then, Meredith’s mom died of a chronic lung ailment. Meredith faced the harsh reality that these items could never be taken out of her Bucket List. The answers would never come. The circle of her relationship with her mom would never close. What on Earth could she do?

Meredith decided to take a walk in the Monterey Cemetery, Cementerio El Encinal, in the heart of downtown Monterey. Maybe, just maybe, amidst the quiet beauty and serenity of its gently sweeping lawns, historic monuments, and sentinel oaks, at this place she might gain some clarity, peace, and understanding. Would there be a life lesson from God while walking among the headstones of the dead?

As Meredith turned to view El Estero Lake from a clearing in the Cemetery, a ray of sunlight pierced through a canopy of sentinel oaks and illuminated a headstone in front of her. If the headstone had lips, Meredith would’ve heard a voice, a God Thing, which said, ‘Come to me, my dear child. I have written on me the words you need to hear.”

Meredith saw the inscription. Above was the name of the woman who died. Below was her date of birth and date of death. The aged headstone was worn and hard to read. More than 100 years had passed since the woman was buried. Stepping closer to the headstone Meredith read six words that spoke volumes to her. “She Did The Best She Could.”

Meredith sat down on the grass in front of the headstone. Her questions had been answered. The Bucket had been emptied. The circle of love and life with her mother had been completed. Deep in her heart, Meredith knew that her mom had done the best she could. That was enough.

God has spoken to us in Scripture on doing acts to make us more prepared to go home and be with God.

Hebrews 12:13-14
Make straight paths for your feet. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

1 Corinthians 2:9
What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, in prayer please show me the way to prepare for my eternal life with You.

God, please give me the strength to address my shortcomings in my relationships with others, especially the members of my family. That I might serve You in the way I ask for their forgiveness and understanding.

God, where possible, please inform me in Your truth as to how and why any of my relationships are broken or unharmonious–that I may one day understand what is not understood at this time.

God, please help me to die after living a life of faith–a life filled with acts of loving You.

Last, through Your mercy and grace, may I be more prepared each day to return home to You. To a place without Bucket Lists. For with You there will be nothing left for me to do except to love. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, Bending Angel, Jack Emmott, Prayer to See God Things in a Graveyard - December 12

Prayer for Patience with Children — December 5, 2021

December 11, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Photo credit: HurstTowing.com

Back in the 1900’s kids worked for their parents. Besides doing their household chores like washing and ironing clothes, cleaning and vacuuming the family car in the driveway, mowing and raking the yard, and cleaning their rooms, many children helped on family farms, dairies, and ranches. On school days my cousins milked their cows at five am before breakfast.

In the mid-1900s a child’s extracurricular activities were the responsibility of the school. The bus took the kids to and from school, games, and tournaments. Many homes had one parent at home to make sure the household ran properly. That parent often did not have employment outside the home. Now, most kids have two hardworking parents who rush to leave for work in the morning and come home emotionally and physically drained. Too often homework has taken the place of family dinner time.

Now, parents work for their kids. They hurriedly shuttle their children to and from school, deal with carpooling and spend untold hours at baseball, basketball, soccer, swim events, games, practices, and tournaments.

With all this business of being busy as parents, it is much harder to be cool, calm and collected in interacting with a child, especially on school days. Today, it is understandable that parents are often irritable and impatient. They lack Godly patience.

Children do not share their love and feelings with a mom or dad who snaps at them or who is irritable and impatient with them. Yet, Godly patience can yield moments of extraordinary lasting value on the most ordinary trying days. Here is one such moment.

When my grandson Tristan, age six, was attending School of the Woods Montessori School, I regularly dropped him off daily at school on the way to work. On many of those days, I felt the pressure of making sure that Tristan made it to school on time and had everything he needed in class. I felt the pressure of getting to the office to meet with a client on time or make it to Court before the docket call.

One morning when we arrived at the school the carpool line was unusually long. Looking ahead I could see the teachers anxiously waiving the parents to move through the line as quickly as possible. I felt relief as the teacher opened the car door. It was Tristan’s turn to get out of the van and walk to his first-grade classroom. As he got out of the van I said, “Tristan, have a nice day.”

As I did every day, I watched Tristan walk about 50 yards to the classroom door. When Tristan made it to the door, I knew I could pull out of the driveway and that Tristan would be safe in the arms of the school.

Just as I started to leave the carpool line, I saw Tristan turn around and look at me. Suddenly, he started running as fast as he could to the van. I thought, “Tristan, what the heck are you doing?” “What have you forgotten this time?” “What are you thinking, Tristan? “ Now you are keeping me and everyone in the carpool line from leaving.”

As the teachers in the front of the carpool line were impatiently motioning me to move forward and get out of the way, I remained in the carpool line. I looked back. I felt the eyes of the parents in the line behind me wondering what the holdup was. Why was I not moving?

Tristan made it to the passenger front door of the van. He opened the door. Instead of criticizing Tristan for slowing me and others down, I decided to do what God does with all of His children. I paused. I was patient. I listened.

I softly asked, “Tristan is there a problem?” Then, Tristan said and did something both unexpected and everlasting. Tristan replied, “Oh, there is nothing wrong. I got to the classroom door and remembered that I forgot to do something.” Tristan leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me. He said, “I forgot to give you a hug and tell you how much I love you.”

At that moment I could have cared less about what the teachers and the drivers in the cars behind me were thinking. I knew I just received a gift from a child and God which I would never forget.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about patience.

Colossians 3:12
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

James 1:19
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, I thank You for Your loving kindness and patience with me as I struggle to find and share those qualities in me.

God, please help me to be open, respectful, and patient with the children in my life especially the young ones.

God, please help me listen to the words and the heart of every child. May I not be judgmental but instead be curious as to the feelings of each child.

Last, please forgive me for the harsh things I have said to children when I should have been more like You. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, Bending Angels, Jack Emmott, Prayer for Patience with Children -- December 5

Prayer in Thanks for Friends on Days of Giving Thanks – November 21, 2021

November 24, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

After Dorothy and I had our two children, as parents we wanted to make our own family holiday traditions. After a few years, one tradition we began was going with our friends, Ann and Herb, to the White River in Northern Arkansas amidst the beauty of the Ozarks to gather for Thanksgiving. Fishing for rainbow and brown trout in the river’s clear cold spring water. Fishing guides telling stories about the locals and the history of the White River.

Sitting in the jon boat drifting downstream to go nowhere in particular. Seeing the pristine rock bluffs rising from the riverbanks lined with Sycamore trees made me think that my view was the same as the Native Americans who lived there centuries before me. Watching the fishing guides pull the skins off our fish as if the skins were socks. Nothing I had ever seen done with saltwater fish like speckled trout or redfish.

The shore lunches at which we savored the fresh fried cornmeal-coated fish cooked in a large cast-iron skillet. Tasting hot French fries cooked alongside slices of yellow onions in the same skillet. Sitting around the hot crackling wood fire to warm our bodies and to feed our souls with God’s abundant and glorious grace.

As glorious as these memories are to us, even more important was having our friends and their son and daughter to share them with us. Planning and looking forward with anticipation to the holiday together. A family to share jokes. To cook and consume the Thanksgiving meal around a common table. Holding hands with one another during the blessing of the bountiful dishes we ate.

Laughing at the unexpected happenings like when my wheelchair-lift van got high-centered and stuck on a rock. In the snow, I tried to park as close to the front door of the cabin as possible. A very good idea gone bad. That year it was so cold Dorothy and I stayed in the cabin while our friend Herb took the four kids on the river.

The kids returned as cold as frozen popsicles even though they all wore cold-weather gear and jumpsuits. We knew that was a moment they would never forget as shown in the photograph posted with this prayer. Our daughter, Cat, is seen standing behind her brother, John, not out of shyness but to shield her from the frigid and fearsome north wind.

As Americans struggle in the Pandemic to begin again their Thanksgiving traditions with family and friends let us all be thankful for our blessings. Let us be mindful of the lessons we learned from the losses and pain experienced by us and others in moving through the mess of the Coronavirus since March of 2020.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about giving thanks.

Psalm 69:30
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 100:4-5
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, please help me to be forever thankful for the innumerable gifts You have bestowed upon me and all Your children.

God, I am grateful for the persons you have placed in my path who have become friends for life and who have made good times better and bad times endurable.

God, today on Thanksgiving and every day thereafter, I thank You for Your grace. For Your grace is not something I deserve or earn. Your grace is simply a gift.

God, I give You thanks and praise for Your amazing, wondrous and inestimable grace. In Your grace You have given the greatest treasure to me, the least deserving to receive it. That is the blessing of Your grace. Amen.

If you like this prayer, please share.

 If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

 Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, Bending Angels, Family Thanksgiving Traditions, Jack Emmott, Prayer in Thanks for Friends on Days of Giving Thanks - November 21

Prayer to Separate Us from Our Stuff – October 31, 2021

October 31, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

This week I am reposting one of my most read prayers. It’s really hard to let go of our stuff. May God help you and me to remove clutter from our lives.

God – This week Dorothy and I are making room in our home for a dear family member who needs to live with us for a while. We have had to focus on decluttering, giving away, and pitching items we have acquired and which take up space in our rooms, closets and drawers.

The sheer magnitude of this task and the size of the piles of stuff we have to deal with is overwhelming. Thankfully, it is at the time in our lives when we truly want simplicity. To find joy and the sacred in the simple and in the ordinary. Not yielding to the belief in advertising that long-lasting happiness is found in getting the latest gadget, the newest iPhone, the newest car, an expensive piece of furniture or high priced fashion.

We discover items we bought years ago, but never used. Items saved for later use, but never needed. Moneys spent on possessions which could’ve been better spent on others in need. Hours spent at the office to pay for possessions, time we could have used looking at more sunsets and rising moons, walking through the Houston Arboretum and Emmott Circle, or taking family trips, going to concerts, and being with others we love, just to name a few.

Lord, like millions of others, we love our stuff. But, except for the joy at time of purchase, things are not what make us happy. We find happiness in our experiences. We find value not in what we own but in who we share our lives with – our families and friends.

God, please help separate us from our stuff so we can be closer to others and nearer to You.

For those of us with too much stuff, please help us give it to others who have so much less.

By serving and working for our stuff less, we can spend more time in our service to You.

God, please help us refrain from buying things we do not really need. To clear the clutter from our lives and in our homes.

In doing so we make room for others in our hearts, for You and for Your love and light which bring us everlasting joy. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, Bending Angel, Jack Emmott, Prayer to Separate Us from Our Stuff - October 31

Prayer for the Feeling You Only Get on the Field or in Church — October 24, 2021

October 24, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment


 Photo credit: TexasMonthly.com

For the millions of Astros fans, like me, at the end of Friday night’s Game Six, it felt like the parting of the Red Sea. After soundly losing games two and three to the Red Sox, Houston won games four, five, and six in the ALCS to advance to the World Series. Pandemonium broke out on and off the field. The celebration of victory encompassed more than joy, the love of the game, or the sheer relief in overcoming all the obstacles the Team faced to get there.

That moment made me feel that I was part of something bigger than me. In witnessing the love between the players amidst the hugs, smiles, laughter, and clubhouse waves of champagne, I felt there was more of that love in me and those around me .

To underscore what had just happened there was the post-game interview of the “Big OG”, Dusty Baker, the 72-year old Astros’ Manager. Last year he said he felt like a substitute teacher but this year something had happened.

Dusty proclaimed that there was an indescribable feeling in that moment of victory. “It’s a special feeling you have for each other…….It’s a special feeling you only get in church or on the field.”

That comment really touched my heart. I remembered how, after polio as a seven-year-old boy, I did not feel a part of something bigger than me. I did not belong. Love was not as near, not as present as before. That changed with the special indescribable feeling I experienced in church. Without even asking me, Mom put me in the Cherub Choir at St. Francis Episcopal Church. I sang all the hymns the other kids were singing. In singing those hymns and in wearing my red robe I knew Jesus loved me. I was not only a member of the Choir. I was part of a family of God’s love. What made our Astros their best in Game 6 was the love created under the watch of Dusty Baker’s faith. He spoke of kindred spirits watching and guiding him from above like his dad, Hank Aaron, and Joe Morgan.

After all the mess of Covid, the disharmony in America, and the inability to attend church services, how much do we need to find, share and experience that special, indescribable feeling Dusty Baker spoke about? For me, plenty. I have not attended in-person worship services since March of 2020. As good as Zoom, Facebook Live or YouTube are, it is more difficult to have that experience in an electronic world.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about that indescribable feeling as being part of His love.

Philippians 2:3-4
Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem another better than himself.

Let us pray together.

God, every day please help me find and experience that indescribable feeling of love when I am with You in prayer or in Church.

God, in the joy of knowing that I am a special part of Your Kingdom, may I share the Good News that I, like all Your faithful people, have the greatest victory of all. Eternal life after the game of life on Earth has ended.

God, please open my heart to others so that they can also be invited to be and become a member of Your Kingdom.

Thanks to You, my God, I have a place at Your Table. I truly belong. I am Yours. You are mine forever and ever. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, astros win, dusty baker, Jack Emmott, Prayer for the Feeling You Only Get on the Field or in Church -- October 24

Prayer for Lessons Learned from My Senior Prom — October 10, 2021

October 11, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Photo credit: SuperCars.net

As a Senior at Cy-Fair High School, I was much more excited about going to the Prom than getting my diploma. I made perfect plans for the making of an everlasting life-long memory. But what I remember now, decades later, are the lessons I learned from that experience.

Because of my father’s relationship with Bob Sakowitz, I had the opportunity to rent Mr. Sakowitz’s Rolls-Royce for the evening of the Prom. What could be grander than that? I worked for a year at Oak Village Theater to earn enough money to pay for the Rolls to be driven by Mr. Sakowitz’s personal Chauffer, Johnny Cole. A year of sacrifice to pay for it was a lot of money. Surely, the sacrifice would be worth it.

As Johnny, the Chauffer, drove down Emmott Road to pick up my brother Charles and me, there was a big problem. A drunk white man with a lead pipe in his hand motioned the Black Chauffeur to pull over. He yelled, “Hey, n….r, what the hell are you doing around here? Get out of the car and come talk to me.” Obviously, Johnny did not accept the invitation from the bigoted man. Instead, Johnny drove the car into the driveway of John Guhn’s parents on Fairbanks-North Houston. Johnny got out of the Rolls. He hurriedly ran to the front door for refuge. Thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. Guhn let Johnny in to protect him from the angry drunk man who was waiting outside in the yard with the pipe in his hand. The police were called. After the police arrested the man, Johnny, the Chauffer, came to pick us up.

What a start to my perfect evening. Besides getting to ride in a Rolls-Royce to the Prom, my date was a pretty Cy-Fair girl who was also a cheerleader for the Houston Oilers. She had recently broken up with a Cy-Fair senior football player. Because of that, she accepted my invitation to be my Prom date.

Everything was set up for me to have a fabulous time. Mr. Sakowitz’s Rolls-Royce and his personal Chauffeur. Attending the Prom at the Warwick Hotel (now Hotel Zaza). And spending the evening with a cheerleader for the Oilers.

Things did not turn out the way that I had planned. The evening started out with our Chauffeur, Johnny, being accosted. Then, at the Prom, my date temporarily reconciled with her former boyfriend, the high school football player. I sat there watching the two of them kiss on the dance floor.

The football player’s date in tears walked over to my table. Her name was Leah Lawson. The evening was not going as she had planned either. I looked at Leah as the tears flowed down her face. I said, “Leah, why don’t we leave the Prom and spend some time together driving around town?” Leah replied, “That would be nice.”

Johnny drove us up and down Westheimer past Putt-Putt Golf and the A&W Drive-in. Then, down Main Street to have chocolate malts at Prince’s. For the two hours that we spent together away from the Prom, there was no romance. No holding hands, hugging or kissing. Just friendship and a little tenderness when things were not going well for either of us.

Now, decades later what I remember most and value from that Prom experience are the lessons I learned from that difficult and unexpected evening.
– Gratitude for Mr. and Mrs. Guhn opening the front door to spare the Chauffeur, from hate.
– The falsity of my belief that spending money on things, such as a Rolls-Royce on Prom night, guaranteed happiness, joy, and peace.
– The unexpected comforting friendship of Leah Lawson at a time when it was needed.

Even at my age, I still can see Leah sitting in the back seat of the car. Leah being with me in all her sweetness and tenderness and as young and beautiful as she was that night. Leah, wherever you are out there, I thank you for your friendship on that Prom night. I hope that your life and love have been as good for you as they have been for me.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about putting our possessions in their proper place.

Psalm 49:17
For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
His glory will not descend after him.

Proverbs 4:7
The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, please help me know that the riches of Your Kingdom do not dwell in my possessions but reside in my heart.

God, please open my heart to others, like Mr. and Mrs. Guhn opened the front door of their loving home to Johnny, a Black Chauffeur, to save him from hate years ago.

God, please enable me in prayer to see that Your love dwells in human kindness and not in things.

God, in prayer please erase in me all thoughts that the things I purchase will provide happiness for me. For, true joy and peace are what I, as Your child, experience most in my relationship with You, now and forever. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of “Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love” or “Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce”, please click on here to go to Amazon. 

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, “Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love,” go to www.BendingAngel.com website.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, Bending Angels, Jack Emmott, Prayer for Lessons Learned from My Senior Prom — October 10

Prayer for Tied Shoe Laces and God’s Good Graces – September 26, 2021

September 26, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Photo credit: ca.movies.yahoo.com

Yesterday, I looked down at my shoes as I sat in my wheelchair. My mind was drawn to the memories as a young boy before and after polio. Memories of my mother tying my shoelaces almost every day until I married Dorothy when I was 23. At age six I had just learned to do that myself. I was almost a big boy. Then, polio took that away from me for the rest of my life.

Without complaint, Mom sat on the floor in front of me before breakfast each day. She put on my socks. Slipped my feet into my shoes. Then, tied the shoelaces with care. This daily ritual said to me without a word from her lips, “There you go my son. Now, you are ready to step forward and tackle what comes your way today.”

After our wedding, my bride, Dorothy, took over the daily ritual of Mom tying my shoelaces. Like my Mom, for more than twice as many years, Dorothy has done daily what Mom did without complaint to make sure I am ready for wherever my walk of faith takes me.

Two extraordinary women. One man receiving the same dependable daily care from two women who’ve loved him. Two women I have never taken for granted. I will remember such gifts of God’s grace until I can remember no more.

From tied shoelaces, I received God’s good graces.

Mom died eleven years ago. At my age as a grown man, it seems silly to wish Mom could show up some morning to tie my shoes again. But, today that is my wish.

How many of you remember your mom or dad doing something daily for you which warms your heart now? The warmth of that kindness, love, and care never fades. God sends to all of us His good graces in such simple, ordinary and loving gifts in our lives.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about His grace and each of us being acts of His grace in service to others.

1 Peter 4:10
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

Colossians 3:12
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

Dear God, in prayer I thank you for the many acts of Your grace I have received from those who have loved me as You have loved me.

God, please help me see the gifts of Your grace given me in the simple, the ordinary, and the daily deeds of others.

God, please show me ways to be kind to others in order to share and magnify Your glory and grace in Your Kingdom on Earth. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of “Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love” or “Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce”, please click on here to go to Amazon. 

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, “Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love”, go to www.BendingAngel.com website.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, Bending Angels, Jack Emmott, Prayer for Tied Shoe Laces and God’s Good Graces - September 26

Prayer to Find Labor’s Rest in God Alone – September 6, 2021

September 5, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

For you and for me this Labor Day weekend is like no other in our lives, (except for 2020). When we are working at the office or virtually at home, our minds are working overtime with worry. With caring for others in unexpected ways. With sleeping disturbed by our anxieties and fears about our safety and the welfare of others. With being deprived of a sense of community and companionship with others because of physical separation. In seeing conflict in our towns, cities, states, and nations which present unprecedented challenges in our One Nation under God. In grieving for those who have died during the Pandemic. In seeing so many children suffer in pediatric wards across the country. In witnessing incivility in the public and private debates whether to mask or not to mask, to receive the vaccine or refuse to get it, and the shaming of those on both sides of the issues. In adapting to address the Coronavirus which changes and challenges us every day. Even for the vaccinated and the masked, due to the Delta variant, millions of us still fear infection if we simply go to the store, dine out with friends or attend in-person church services. The list goes on and on doesn’t it?

Labor Day weekend last year in 2020 was a big change for me and my family. Because Dorothy and I lived in a three-generational home with our beloved daughter and three school-aged grandchildren, we moved to our bay home, Camp PawPaw, with its beautiful view of Tres Palacios Bay. The beauty of the bay did not compare with being with those we loved each day. For over five months we lived at Camp PawPaw separated from those we love in order to protect ourselves from harm. Dorothy and I celebrated New Year’s Eve by getting the Moderna vaccine. After our second dose, we returned home.

Getting the vaccine seemed like a miracle. We believed we were finally stepping out of the dark and into the light. Immediately, our lives would return to normal. Like you, that’s not what happened. What will the new normal look like? For now, only God knows the answer to that question.
None of us like the changes forced upon us, do we? The Coronavirus is nimble and changes every day. Yet, it is a relief to know that God’s love never changes and that God goes wherever we go to help us find peace. To restore ourselves. To accept things that we cannot change. To make the best of things at the worst of times.

For you and for me on this Labor Day weekend in 2021, just how much do we all need to find ways to rest our minds, our bodies, and our souls? Where do we turn for that?

God has spoken to us in Scripture about where to turn.
Scripture in Psalm 62:1:
My soul finds rest in God alone…..

So, this Labor Day weekend and every day which follows in this troubled time of Pandemic, and to quiet the conflict within us, please let us remember to pray. In prayer, we can surely find all the rest we need. From our labors. To replenish ourselves and one another. To find the strength to carry on. To renew our gratitude to God for the fruits of our labors given to us in God’s Love and Grace. Let us pray together.

God, we praise You for giving us minds, hands, and hearts to earn a living and support those who depend on us.

God, please help us to be mindful that You are not just with us on Sundays but all the days of the week.

God, in thanksgiving to You, may we use the fruits of our labors to make a difference for those who are out of work, without food or shelter, or are less fortunate.

Please help us to remember to give more to those who have less. To think of the safety and protection of others as much as ourselves.

May we strive to labor in ways that always please You. When we find our labor’s rest, may we take the time to be with You in prayer.

Last, we pray that, when our work in service to You is done, we will find eternal and everlasting rest from our labors with You in Heaven. Amen.

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website. 

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, Jack Emmott, Labor Day Prayer, Prayer to Find Labor’s Rest in God Alone - September 6

Prayer to Do All I Can – August 29, 2021

August 30, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Last Thursday, August 26, was another anniversary of a day I will never forget. On the 26th of August when I was six I watched my mother watching me as I sat in Doctor Sterling’s lap. At that moment I believed mom was crying tears of blood. Actually, her tears were wet streams of mascara running down her face. Mom braced her grief by leaning against my father who stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her. As Dad held Mom in his arms, he leaned against the wall next to the tall bedroom dresser. Dad could not see the face of my mother which I saw. Her devastation and disbelief are imprinted in my memory until I am no more.

Like any parent at that moment of stark recognition when their child contracted paralytic polio, I am certain she was devastated. Without words. Asking herself and God, “How can this happen to Bubba?”

There was one question she never had to ask herself. “Did I do all I could to protect Bubba from polio?”

Mom never wanted any of her children to end up like sweet little Margaret Airola down our road in 1952. Margaret contracted paralytic polio and had to remain in an Iron Lung to breathe for the rest of her life. So, Mom read the newspaper to keep abreast of every way to protect her children. She made sure we did not go swimming even in August’s sweltering heat. We could not play with other kids who might be sick or had a cold. She made us come inside the house each afternoon to rest for several hours. Mom knew that polio was a fecal virus. Every month, especially after a flood from White Oak Bayou, she ran a bottle of water from our water well. Then, Mom dropped off the sample to be tested by Abbott Laboratories. Mom made us take daily vitamins and have well-balanced meals. She took us to Dr. Montgomery’s office on Montrose Boulevard to get a gamma-globulin shot every six weeks to boost our immune systems. Because Mom believed in the power of God to protect us from harm, we knelt beside each other at bedtime to say the Lord’s Prayer together.

What more could my mother have done to keep me from getting polio? Absolutely nothing. Mom never had to regret not having done all she could to spare me of polio and the long-haul challenges of the disease she most feared.

Now, in the Pandemic we have another dreaded, deadly, nimble, continuously evolving, life-altering disease with long haul effects for its survivors. If someone you know or love, such as a spouse, partner, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, dies or contracts Covid-19, will you be like my mother? Will you be able to say, “At least I did all I could’ve done.”?

God has spoken to us in Scripture about protecting and caring for others.

Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and unto their children after them
.

Philippians 2:4
Everyone should look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others.

Proverb 4:23
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, I am worried about Covid-19 and its mutations infecting, harming, or killing those I love.

God, please inform me of the things I can and cannot do to safeguard others from harm.

God, just as You look after me in my sleeping and in my waking, please help me to do all I can to protect others from Covid-19.

God, in the event my efforts do not prevent Covid from harming others, may Your love transform the bad of Covid into goodness for Your creation and the darkness of the Pandemic into light. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Photo credit: medscape.com

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: 2021, Jack Emmott, Prayer to Do All I Can - August 29, Preventing Covid

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

About Jack H. Emmott

Jack H. Emmott

I am a polio survivor. The fact that I suffered paralysis at the age of six is, in some ways, unimportant. Bad things happen to everyone. Viewed differently...

Read more...

Weekly Prayer

Prayer for Gifts of My Birth – August 12, 2022

Another year in my life has come and gone. The Earth has completed another circle around the sun. Thankfully, I am alive today to celebrate the day of my birth.

  • Read more...
  • Receive a weekly prayer via email
©2022 Bending Angel · Developed by Hero House Creative