Day 27. 3/17

the courage
to change
the things I can—
a long talk
with a good friend

#Lent #tanka #SerenityPrayer

(Where are the italics on here?)

What do you do when the kids had a flu and the world is on fire?
Replace your flooring!
#homereno #diy
#nocarpet #serenityprayer
#califloors

I need this reminder daily. #serenityprayer

Episode 79 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 5 - Living One Day At A Time Episode 79 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 5 - Living One Day At A Time Are you living in yesterday’s regret… or tomorrow’s anxiety? In Part 5 of our Serenity Prayer series, we explore two powerful phrases: “Living one day at a time. Enjoying one moment at a time.” Many pastors and ministry leaders struggle with replaying conversations from the past or rehearsing fears about the future. Shame and insecurity quietly shape how we lead, speak, and show up in relationships. In this episode, we imagine the same pastor in three different mental locations: • Living in the past • Living in the future • Living fully in the present We unpack how worship and prayer realign the heart, expose hidden idols, and restore peace. When we seek God’s face, shame loses authority. Fear loosens its grip. And clarity returns. Scripture anchors this conversation in: Isaiah 43:18–19, Matthew 6:34 and Psalm 118:24 If you are tired of spiraling thoughts, insecurity, or mental over-rehearsing, this episode will gently guide you back to what matters most — today.  🎶 At the end of the episode, Jon invites listeners to enter into worship through the new Stone and Mercy album, Greater Still, available wherever you stream music under “Crashing Lyrics.”

📣 New Podcast! "Episode 79 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 5 - Living One Day At A Time" on @Spreaker #anxietyandfaith #christianrecovery #faithoverfear #greaterstill #livinginthemoment #overthinking #pastorsinrecovery #serenityprayer #shameandgrace #stoneandmercy

Episode 78 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 4 + Original Worship Experience with Stone & Mercy Episode 78 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 4 + Original Worship Experience with Stone & Mercy In Part 4 of our Serenity Prayer series, we focus on one of the most overlooked — and most powerful — lines: “…and the wisdom to know the difference.” As pastors, many of us are wired to fix things. We carry responsibility. We step into chaos. We try to help. But what happens when we confuse what is ours to do with what only God can do? - In this episode, we talk about discernment born from closeness to Christ. - About the sin of omission. - About fear, comfort, insecurity, and self-deception. - And about how wisdom comes not from trying harder — but from staying nearer. God will not do what He has clearly given us the power and responsibility to do. And we cannot do what only He can accomplish. We end this episode differently — with an invitation into extended worship. If you’d like to stay and sit with the Lord, the final 25 minutes include music from the Stone & Mercy album, created as a space for reflection, surrender, and listening. You can listen, pray, or simply be still. Sometimes wisdom begins in silence.

📣 New Podcast! "Episode 78 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 4 + Original Worship Experience with Stone & Mercy" on @Spreaker #christianleadership #churchhealth #faithandrecovery #holyspirit #pastorsinrecovery #serenityprayer #spiritualdiscernment #stoneandmercy #surrender #wisdomtoknowthedifference

Episode 77 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 3 + Original Song "When It's My Turn" Episode 77 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 3 + Original Song "When It's My Turn" This week on Pastors in Recovery, we move into the hardest part of the Serenity Prayer. Not accepting what we cannot change. But owning what we can. As pastors, we preach that the Holy Spirit does the cleaning. We say, “God changes hearts.” And that’s true.  - But what happens when God has already shown us something… and we haven’t obeyed? - Where have we prayed for deliverance when we needed repentance? - Where have we blamed God for our lack of discipline? - Where have we said, “God hasn’t changed me yet,” when we haven’t taken the step He already asked for? In this episode, we talk about the partnership between God’s power and our responsibility. About how obedience isn’t passive. About how growth requires courage. And about the quiet, personal work that no one else sees. This isn’t condemnation. It’s clarity. Because sometimes the prayer isn’t “God change this.” Sometimes it’s “God, I’m ready to change.” Take a deep breath. Let the Holy Spirit speak. And ask yourself… what’s mine to own?

📣 New Podcast! "Episode 77 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 3 + Original Song "When It's My Turn"" on @Spreaker #christianrecovery #faithandrecovery #holyspirit #obedience #pastoralleadership #pastorsinrecovery #recoveryjourney #repentance #serenityprayer #spiritualgrowth

Episode 76 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 2 + Original Song "When God is First" Episode 76 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 2 + Original Song "When God is First" What happens when God is first… but nothing changes? In Week 2 of our Serenity Prayer series, we slow down and sit with one of the hardest realities of faith and recovery: accepting what we cannot change. Many of us were formed to believe that obedience should be rewarded—and that if we’re doing the right things, life should get easier. But what happens when it doesn’t? This episode explores the quiet disappointment pastors often carry when surrender doesn’t lead to relief, and how the Serenity Prayer invites us into a deeper reframe—not changing reality, but changing our relationship to it. Drawing from Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” we reflect on faithfulness without resolution, obedience without relief, and peace that doesn’t depend on outcomes. Acceptance is not giving up—it’s learning how to trust God inside what remains. If you’ve ever prayed, surrendered, and still found yourself standing in the same pain, this episode is for you. “This week on Pastors in Recovery, we stayed with the Serenity Prayer and sat with what it means to accept what we cannot change—and still find peace.”

📣 New Podcast! "Episode 76 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 2 + Original Song "When God is First"" on @Spreaker #acceptance #christianrecovery #chronicpainfaith #faithandrecovery #graceovercontrol #letgoletgod #pastoralcare #pastorsinrecovery #recoveryjourney #recoverypodcast #serenityprayer

Episode 75 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 1 + Featuring the song "The Serenity Prayer" Episode 75 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 1 + Featuring the song "The Serenity Prayer" In this episode, we begin a new short series by slowing down and looking closer at the Serenity Prayer—starting with the very first word: God. Before we ask for serenity, courage, or wisdom, we acknowledge who God is. This prayer begins by placing God at the center, not as a vending machine or last resort, but as the greatest and highest power—worthy of our trust, our surrender, and our praise. We talk honestly about control, pride, and the tension between the things we desperately want to fix and the things we simply cannot change. From chronic illness to other people’s choices, from global problems to personal limits, this prayer invites us into a posture of humility and dependence on God. This episode sets the foundation for the weeks ahead, where we’ll break the Serenity Prayer into four clear sections—one piece at a time—so it stays practical, meaningful, and livable, not overwhelming.  If you’ve ever felt exhausted trying to control what was never yours to carry, this episode is for you.

📣 New Podcast! "Episode 75 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 1 + Featuring the song "The Serenity Prayer"" on @Spreaker #christianrecovery #faithandrecovery #graceovercontrol #letgoletgod #pastorsinrecovery #recoverypodcast #serenityprayer #spiritualgrowth #surrender #twelvesteps

#SerenityPrayer #Beloved #YouCanMakeADifference

A good lesson for life #CirclesOfInfluence or more poetically #SerenityPrayer And as it's a Sunday ..."God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other." You good?

I don’t think I have the energy for another year of doomscrolling.
#doomscrolling #news #serenityprayer

Quote of the Day “Would that we could choose the things that trouble us, but we can’t.” — Ted Chiang, Omphalos

“Would that we could choose the things that trouble us, but we can’t.” — Ted Chiang, Omphalos
#QOTD #TedChiang #Quotation #SerenityPrayer #Quote #Troublesome

Serene #serenityprayer #aa #relatable #mindset #alcoholicsaononymous #adayinmylife #travelaholic #shopaholic #beyou #loveyou #youareenough #affirmations #fypシ

#serenityprayer #fyp #relatable #travelaholic #budapest #sobriety

Inhale the #wisdom to know what’s yours to do today and what is not.

Hold it in your heart.

Exhale love to a world desperately in need of it.

Leave it with them.

Let’s get to work.

#serenityprayer #ODAAT #recovery

#SerenityPrayer

🙏🏽

#serenityprayer #paris #relatable #fypシ

Serene in Paris #serenityprayer #paris #mindset #dailyreminder #morningmanifestation #meditation #mood #relatable #travelaholic #shopaholic #positive #serenityprayer #grateful #blessed #adayinmylife #mindset #alcoholicsaononymous #aa #parisfrance #fyp #relatable #aholic #disease #sober #sobriety #

Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.

Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.

#SerenityPrayer

Thank you Jonathan Matheny for continuing to trust me with your Serenity Explained series.

I am now recording book 4 - Wisdom.

“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.”

#SerenityPrayer
#wisdom

#serenityprayer #sobersky

“To accept the things we cannot change…”

Jonathan Matheny breaks down the difference between “acceptance” and “resignation”. So much of what we struggle to accept is about us trying to control things that are not actually under our control.

#audiobooks
#narrators
#SerenityPrayer
#acceptance

This basically a (my) #DomesticAbuseSurvivors #SerenityPrayer.

(Background image: original acrylic painting, "The Scarred Heart", copyright Creative Expressions Arts @ceaalys.bsky.social. Used by permission.)

Grateful that ACOA meetings are all over the country and thus are accessible when traveling too. #fellowship #fellowtravelers #serenityprayer

#WednesdayMotivation #Quote #Wisdom #Morality #GreaterGood #Knowledge #Astrophysicist #BrianCox This quotation reminds me #SerenityPrayer
"God, grant me the #Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the #Courage to change the things I can, and the #Wisdom to know the difference. Amen!"