Do you know the Serenity Prayer?

Do you know this prayer?  Oh, maybe you've seen it on a plaque.  Or maybe you associate it with something "those 12 step people" do.  But are you familiar with the entire prayer?  This prayer has made a powerful impact on me the past two years as many things have happened (and continue to happen) that are out of my control.  It goes like this:

                                                     God, give us 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.

                                                                    Living one day at a time,

                                                             Enjoying one moment at a a time,

                                                      Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

                                                                      Taking, as Jesus did,

                                                                    This sinful world as it is,

                                                                     Not as I would have it,

                                                       Trusting that You will make all things right,

                                                                   If I surrender to Your will,

                                                    So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

                                                And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

                                                                                  Amen.

Living, enjoying, accepting, taking, trusting, and surrender all leading to supreme happiness in heaven with our loving Father.  I know wrote prayers are really "out of style" but don't write them off completely.  The prayers of others can help us express things that we haven't found a way to express ourselves.