I once heard someone say that we have had the Lord's prayer for thousands of years and therefore have thousands of years worth of contemplations of it, yet we are still not fully satisfied with our understanding of it. It feels as though every time I say the beautiful prayer given to us by our Beloved, I notice something new, and for the last few months my heart latched onto the words "Give us this day our daily bread". As a child, I was taught to interpret this phrase as a request for God to give us what we need for the day. Things such as food, water, and shelter were always what came to mind and while that meaning still applies, I began to notice that God had been supplying me with a different kind of "daily bread". Everyday I feel as though God pokes at my heart and tries to tell me a new secret about His love for mankind. I noticed that at my job there were consecutive days where at least one patient would spark a conversation about Christ or mention in passing something that is so evidently the work of God in their lives. And if it wasn't a patient at work it was a small conversation in line at Stop and Shop or the sweet prayer of the little kids at the end of Sunday school. But what was unique about all these occurrences and encounters was that I needed every single one. Whether I knew what I needed or not God provided- this was my daily bread. Everytime I encountered some form of a struggle or question and brought it to the Lord, He sent me the sweet lady who asked me for directions and gave me encouragement along the way or he gave me the patient who doubted the power of the grace of God so that I could see what I looked like doing the same thing. And especially on days where I didn't reach out to Him and read His word, He stretched His arm out first.

So… now what? With the start of the new year I want to put a huge emphasis on asking the Lord to provide for us our daily bread. Our daily encounter with Him. How many times a day do we think to ourselves "what an odd encounter" or "how did that person know to say that to me?". We all notice those small golden moments of our day but imagine how much more valuable these treasures would be if we took them as personal messages from our lover, and our God. When you say the Lord's prayer in the morning try to meditate on those words and ask God "what do you want to tell me today?" "What secret have you kept for me today?" May He provide for each and every one of us more than just food, water and shelter, but His bread of life, His living water , and His heavenly dwelling place.