30
It may be a month away but I can sympathize myself. I suppose age 30 is a milestone of sorts. A lot has happened in that time. But 30 is nothing. Ernie, a shut-in, is turning 90 on Dec. 19th. Pastor is turning 45 on Dec. 20th. 30 years isn't that long after all. Löhe's prayer is perfect.
Geek Spaces » Blog Archive » 30 In approximately 14 hours, I will have been born for 30 years. I wish I could say that the previous 30 were happy and fulfilling. They weren’t. They were painful, full of misery, and drowned in failure. Here’s to another year. May God make is better than the previous 30. Dear Father in Heaven, most heartily do I give thanks unto Thee that Thou hast created me an intelligent being and placed me here in the world that I have been conceived and born of Christian parents and received into Thy Church This day is the anniversary of my birth and I come to bring Thee hearty thanks for the return of the day As I have been permitted to lay behind me another year of my pilgrimage I rejoice and sing with the Psalmist Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits Who forgiveth all thine iniquities Who healeth all thy diseases Who redeemeth thy life from destruction Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies (Ps 103:1-4) O Loving Father since each day is a step nearer death which may overtake me ere this day wanes yea even in this moment I pray Thee so to rule and govern me every day which Thou yet graciously givest unto me that according to Thy will I may walk as in the day that is first of all in Thy light then also wisely honestly and conscientiously in short in everything as a true Christian according to my promise which I made unto Thee my beloved God in the day of my baptism Should the year now beginning and this anniversary day of my birth be the last on earth for me I leave all unto Thy gracious providence If it be Thy will that my days shall have numbered their course I shall be satisfied for if it be sufficient unto Thee it will be sufficient for me For those whom Thou gavest me Thou wilt care though I could no longer provide for them Therefore grant me now my desire to enter anew under Thy protection and defense under Thy great eternal power Should it please Thee to grant me to live another year let me live unto Thee if I die let me die unto Thee that I may live move and have my being in Thee and whether I live or die be and remain Thine forever Amen. Seed-grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians By Wilhelm Löhe, Henry Eyster Jacobs, H. A.. Weller
