Long May She Wave

Greetings Everybody,
Happy 4th of July to all of the U. S. folks who are reading this blog...whether you are on our soil or are scattered abroad.


I am happy to celebrate our freedom today.
And I hope YOU are too.
Blessings to each and every one of you.


In Him,
Grace.
P.S...LONG MAY SHE WAVE

I took this photo this morning. It's the print on the front of a shirt that came from Walmart...which was ironically made in El Salvador.  I DID stop to consider the political and financial implications of purchasing this inexpensive shirt. And because I DID, I also wanted to take the time to post that it was MADE in El Salvador.
"May God Bless the Hands and Homes of the workers who Made this Shirt....AMEN!"

I Serve a "Right On Time" God

Greetings Everyone,


Today I want to share the fullness that is in my heart with you.
Over and over and over I keep seeing that God is providing for me and my family.
I look around and there is not 1 single thing that I really need...that I don't have.


There may be WANTS that I don't have.
But WANTS are different than NEEDS.


I continually see the blessings.


But then again, I continually LOOK for the Blessings.


Yes it does have to do with Perspective...I grant you that.


But over and over I find that there is JUST ENOUGH of whatever I need,
or JUST ENOUGH money to GET what I need.
or JUST EXACTLY WHEN WE NEED IT a blessing appears.


-I look in my pantry and there are canned goods.
-I look in my freezer and there is meat.
-I look in my house and there is electricity to run the appliances (and all of them are working right now)...and fresh water...and all the things we tend to take for granted. 


I do not look at my house and see extravagance...and I am glad of that.


-We do not live in a mansion.
-We do not have servants.
-We do not have unlimited cash.
-We are not debt free.


But we have what we need.


-Today I ran out of ink for my printer...but the replacement cartridge was waiting.
-There is gas in both of our vehicles.
-I have all of my asthma medicines.
-We have good doctors.
-We have coats to help us through the winter chill and blankets to cuddle on the sofa 
 with.


I serve a "Right On Time" God.


Right On Time...my blessings are provided.


-The things we really need always arrive Right On Time.
-Not so soon that we never need to exercise our faith, yet not so late that we lose 
 faith either.
-Just when we wonder if things will happen work out exactly as they need to...they 
 do.


And I am so deeply aware that I am blessed.


-Blessed beyond measure...and not by the fact that I have food or wealth or 
 possessions...but rather I feel so blessed because of the fact that I GET IT!
-I SEE THAT GOD IS TAKING CARE OF US.
-And the SEEING is the richest blessing of all.


David felt this way in the old testament...


Psalms 8:3 "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?"


-The ability to SEE that...to FEEL that...to KNOW that God is mindful of me, of us..is the real blessing.
-I thank God Almighty and His Son Jesus Christ for the Perspective, the Insight, the Discernment, and the Recollection that I did NONE Of THIS on my own.


-HE not Me...
-HE not We...
-HE has provided for ALL of our needs.


I Thank God that we are aware of this.
And once more, I stand amazed in the presence of He Who Created Me
And it brings me to my knees to know that HE loves me and takes such tender care of me and of us.


I assure that my life has not been an easy one in all regards.
I do not speak to you today from the vantage point of one who has never known trials.
I do not speak to you today from the vantage point of one who has been sheltered.


There have been trials.
There have been hardships.
There has been struggle.


-I was NOT sheltered from Adversity.
-But rather, it is BECAUSE of the Adversity that I can now proclaim that God Is In Control.


I am blessed to serve The King.
And I am blessed to KNOW that he will never leave me.


Hebrews 13:5-6 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

   “Never will I leave you;
   never will I forsake you.”

 ⁶ So we say with confidence,

   “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
   What can mere mortals do to me?”

I Serve a "Right On Time" God...do YOU?
In HIm,
Grace

The Blessings of December 29, 2011

Greetings Everyone,
Woohoo...and I have Happy News.


1. My sister in law has made amazing progress since yesterday.
She is still in the Neurological ICU and still has a feeding tube, and still has an infection, but she is lucid.


She sat in a chair for an hour today.
She turned down pain medication today. 
And she wants the blinds left open so that she can see the sunshine outside.


This is an answer to prayer.


2. My daughters fever has broken and she is feeling better today.  


She said that Little Man still has a cough and a stuffy nose, but that he seems happy.


And so far... my son in law has not caught the cold that his wife and child have.


This is an answer to prayer.


3.  Hubby feels better today.  


The cough is better & the diabetes is in control today.


We had our breakfast date today, ran some errands, and then made the long trip to go see his sister in the hospital (where as I mentioned, we found her tremendously improved).  


Hubby's heart was lighter on the drive back home.


This too is an answer to prayer.


Let's just say we have been rejoicing and that the Ole Family Grapevine has been working overtime today.


Let me also say that OUR Family gives ALL the credit for these blessings to God Almighty. 


We prayed in faith for healings.


He responded with a YES on all counts.


His answer isn't always YES...but today it was!


Sometimes He says NO, and when he does, we have to remember that His Grace Is Sufficient...just like PAUL.


2 Corinthians 12: 17-19 "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."



But today, His answer was YES.


Ephesians 3:20-21 " Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.


We CHOOSE to BELIEVE in HIM.


Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."


But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.


It does make me wonder what would happen if America would really claim            2 Chronicles 7:14
" If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."


What would happen IF WE AS A NATION HUMBLED OURSELVES AND PRAYED?
I believe with all my heart that HE WOULD RESPOND WITH A YES!


...just a little something to ponder...


In Him,
Grace

Huckleberry Preserves and God

Greetings Everyone,
Today I want to focus on one very small gift that we received this Christmas..a little 8 ounce jar of Huckleberry preserves.


My Father in  Law gave this to us, among other gifts, and it would be easy to dismiss the significance of the gift.


But I get it.


We are blessed to live within about 15 minutes of my parents, and within about 20 minutes of my In Laws.


We have a ton of family in this area, and we get to see them all the time.


However, this last summer, during the hottest part of the summer, my In Laws took the RV and went up into the Montana mountains.


If memory serves, they were away from us for a full 2 months.


But clearly they were thinking of us.


Because my Father In Law bought a whole case of 8 ounce Huckleberry Preserves while they were up there, and every single family unit in our extended family got a jar of the preserves this Christmas.


Months ago, he was thinking about how good this would taste on warm buttered biscuits.
Months ago, he was loved us enough to "put aside this small blessing for the perfect time."


And isn't God just like that too!


He sends us blessings, large and small, at the perfect time.


Luke 11:11-13 ¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[a] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”


And He is in charge of time.


Acts 1:7 "He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority'." 


And yet, most of the time we simply go the refrigerator and get the Huckleberry Preserves out and slather it on our warm buttered biscuits never taking the time to realize that it was not just dumb luck that caused us to have the preserves, or the refrigerator it was in, or the biscuits, or the butter or the oven the biscuits were made in.


We forget that we are blessed.
We forget to say Thank You.
We fail to acknowledge all the tiny pieces of the puzzle of our lives that had to be put in place for us to be where we are today.


But OUR FATHER has been watching over us as we sleep and helping us throughout our whole lives...and we need to remember that HE has been there all along...


Psalms 121: 1-8 
"¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills— 
   where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.
 ³ He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.
 ⁵ The LORD watches over you—
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.
 ⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
   he will watch over your life;
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
   both now and forevermore."

Warm Buttered Biscuits and Huckleberry Preserves sound pretty good right now.

In Him,

Grace

Enough :)

Greetings All,
Let's talk about having enough.
Enough is a really big deal.
It has boundaries.
It has borders.
It almost has some geographical properties.

ENOUGH is when you open the pantry and you have what you need to make the meal you want to make.

ENOUGH is when you have the ability to have choices about what you can cook.

ENOUGH is when you use the last of the toilet paper and you don't panic cause there is another roll left.

ENOUGH is when there is gas in the car and you don't have to anticipate if you can get somewhere without running out.

ENOUGH is when you need to go the doctor and can pay the office visit charge right then.

ENOUGH is when you can share whatever you have without causing harm to your own family or self.

ENOUGH is comfortable.

But there are other places: TOO LITTLE and TOO MUCH

TOO LITTLE is when you reach for something and it is not there.

TOO LITTLE is when you are hungry...be it mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, or faith starved.

TOO LITTLE is when you look at others and yearn for things you see them with.

TOO LITTLE is sad, and lonely, and desperate sometimes.

TOO LITTLE and TOO MUCH are close cousins.

TOO MUCH is when things begin to overflow and you have no place to put them.

TOO MUCH is when you feel entitled and lazy...mentally, physically, emotionally, socially... and when you grow lethargic in your faith.

TOO MUCH is when your possessions, or your job, or your life begins to get too heavy for you to bear.

TOO LITTLE and TOO MUCH are difficult geographic places to thrive in.


God, thank you for ENOUGH.
Please keep us from TOO LITTLE and TOO MUCH.
Thank you for loving us and blessing us.
Help us to share your love with all we meet.
AMEN

In Him,
Grace

Contentment

Greetings,
The apostle Paul said 

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4: 11-13


Humans crave contentment.  
We enjoy having Enough. 


Enough money, enough food, enough family, health, friends, clothing, education...the list grows and grows.


Yet sometimes Enough is not ENOUGH!


Sometimes, like computers, we re-quire a ReBoot...a Shut down...a Psalms 46:10 "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM  GOD" time.


It may be harsh, but ultimately it is in our best interest.


I am convinced that we must all endure Spiritual Hunger sometimes, in order to draw closer to God.  This is when we DEFRAGMENT.  The times of Spiritual Hunger are when we clean ourselves. This is when we get rid of the things that slow us down so that we can "RUN THE GOOD RACE".


 I Corinithians 9:24-27  ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.


I am convinced that going through hard times draws us closer to God.


Nobody ASKS for those hard times, and we hate them while they are with us.


But when we SUBMIT to His Will we are transported above the pain somehow and into the reality that we are immortal beings who are residing in an alien land.


We are transplants on a hostile planet.


Our real home is with God.


And regardless of the pain, suffering, and lack of food, family, friends, job, health or anything else...WE, like The Apostle Paul, somehow learn to be content in whatever state we are in.


Perhaps the secret is twofold:
1. Submitting to HIS Will
2. Finding Blessings even when they mask themselves as Troubles.


As we draw close to Thanksgiving...perhaps its worth mentioning that contentment is not about the amount of food on the table, but in the sharing of whatever we DO have with those we love.


Contentment is a precious thing.
May you seek it and find it in HIM today.


In HIM,
Grace

I Will Carry The Thought-Kernal of this Weekend...

Greetings,

Let me set the scene for you:

Its 6:43 a.m. on a Sunday Morning as I type this sentence. It is the Lords' Day. And I am sitting in the dark in a hotel room, sipping freshly brewed coffee by the light of my computer screen (which has been dimmed to a meager 10% of its usual brightness). The room is equipped with blackout drapes and so no natural light will invade the velvety darkness in here. I had been working on my prayer journal for a while and but have now moved on to writing in this blog.  My husband snores quite softly in the background, creating a cozy & comforting backdrop for thoughts of safety and blessing and hope.

And I am keenly aware that God Is HERE.

He is in the room with me...with us.  He has kept us safe all weekend long. And I am overwhelmed when I consider His abundant blessings and protection.  He has provided beautiful scenery all around us and we have enjoyed looking at His handiwork this weekend.  And today, as we begin the drive homeward, we plan to stop somewhere scenic along the way and break the unleavened bread and drink the grape juice.  We Will Take Communion in the middle of HIS landscape...and HE will be there with us.


 Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” 

God is Good!

Today, Lord Willing, we will travel back home.
And tomorrow, Lord Willing, we will return to the treadmill.
We will earn our daily bread and we will get tired doing so.

But I will carry the thought-kernal of this weekend in my memory-pocket like a little gemstone that I have secreted away.  I will retrieve it from that pocket and take it out, and watch it shine on days when I need to gain perspective on life's difficulties. 
And the memories of this weekend will be a blessing for the days ahead.

I thank God for the husband to travel with and the ability to do so.

It is an amazing thing to ride in the palm of HIS hand.
In Him,
Grace

In the Quiet of the Dark Morning

Greetings,
It's a little after 5 am on a Saturday morning.Yes I am an early riser, usually earlier than this.  Today I slept in for a bit.
This is my prayer time and I have found great joy and comfort in the discipline of getting up early, getting my coffee and sitting down at my computer to do my prayer journaling.
Let's talk for just a minute about prayer journaling: It's Amazing.

I start off every morning with a blank page. I type the date and the phrase "Good Morning God,"
It looks like a letter to God.  And I have found that in the quiet of the dark morning, the first words out of my mouth are generally "Thank You".  This is when I usually begin to itemize the list of Blessings that came to me the day before or have already come that morning.

It is a humbling and soul satisfying thing to begin itemizing every little thing that God has blessed you with.  Often I thank God for my coffee, and the fresh milk in it, and for the coffee pot and the filter and the sugar and the pretty cup I drink from,... and the refrigerator to keep the milk cold, and the money to pay for the electricity that runs the refrigerator.

Do you see how one blessing links to so many others?
Do you see just exactly how many things we tend to take for granted?
Do you see my point about how humbling and soul satisfying it is to itemize the zillions of blessings that surround us?

When I am done with the listing of the blessings (though I have never managed to exhaust the list...ever), my frame of mind has been altered significantly.  The tasks of the upcoming day, the cares of the world and the fears in my soul have been subdued; for I have just been reminded that I am loved, blessed and protected by God.

I challenge you to start off your prayers listing blessings and see if it doesn't change your whole sense of well being. My prayer journal awaits:)...time to list my blessings and invite God to enter my day. It's time to thank Him for allowing me to ride in the palm of His Hand once more.

God is Good!

In Him,
Grace