Handing It Over To Jesus_part 1

Greetings, (fyi...This post was actually written and held in draft form for several days. After I go ahead and post this one, I'll be sending out the update to this situation.)

Have you ever gotten upset over something and had that "upset-ness" try to take over your every thought?

Something like that happened to me this afternoon.

A young man said some extremely foul words, I wrote a referral, and when the parent was contacted by the assistant principal, the mom told the administrator that she wanted to talk to me.

The Administrator called me and asked me to call the mom.

I called her immediately.

The mom asked me to tell her what happened and exactly what I heard her son say.

I cautioned her that in order to do what she was requesting I would be saying vulgar words.

I asked her if she was sure that she wanted me to repeat what her son said.

She told me to do so.

I told her what I had seen and what I had heard.


And then...

She told me that her son did not talk like that. 

She told me that she had looked into his eyes, and she knew he was telling the truth.

She also told me that she wanted a meeting to get to the bottom of this. 

She basically called me liar, though she did not actually use that word.

(Just in case you are wondering...yeah the F-Bomb was one of the words the young man said.)

(And Just in case you are wondering that wasn't the only vulgarity uttered.)

I started replaying that conversation over and over in my head and was insulted and really upset by the whole situation.  It was poisoning my afternoon.  I was dwelling. And I was getting angry.

And then it hit me that Satan was being very present in this situation and that he was using the kid, the mom and my own mind against me.

Every morning I pray for Discernment. 

I ask God to be let me realize when The Evil One is working against me.

And I am so glad that I realized what was happening.

It took all of the pressure off the situation.

It took all the anger away.

It took away my anxiety about how Administration is going to handle this situation.

As I was driving home from school, I actually said out loud "Jesus please take this from me."

And He did.

My God is in control....not the evil one.

And I am HIS Child!

When ya stack that very angry momma up against God Almighty...she doesn't seem quite so menacing anymore.

My God is in control.

And I am HIS Child!

The rest of the day is going to be just fine now.

And so is tomorrow and the day after that.

God is in Control and NOTHING can change this truth.


Meanwhile I am claiming the following scriptures for Peace and Protection: 

Romans 8:38 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

John 16:33  "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good chear, for I have overcome the world." 


John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."


2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 


Hebrews 13:6  "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."


1 Peter 3:12-14 "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled." 

In Him,

Grace

Welcome 2012

Greetings Everyone,
Every morning, I sit down and have some time in prayer. 
Actually it turns out to be about an hour.


Didn't plan it that way, it has just evolved into that routine.


Originally it was a lot longer, but then there were some gigantic troubles in my life when I first started prayer journaling and as those burdens eased, the prayer time just kind of morphed into about an hour time slot each morning.


It takes about a hour for me to get all of my Thank You's and Please Help's itemized.
And that hour is the most precious part of my life now.
Every corner of my mind gets swept clean...all the fluff, all the darkness, all the cobwebs.


God, listens to it all, and in return...
He gives me PEACE.
And He gives me JOY.
And He gives me ENERGY.
And He gives me a zillion other things I need to get through each day.


I've been doing this for a number of years...and it is simply "a part of me" now.


Along the way, I have gleaned a few crystalized thoughts.
And I cherish them.


Every morning, I ask God for the 5 things that are listed below.
And He is faithful.
And My GOD Delivers!


Today, I am going to post one of those thoughts in the form of a Blessing to those of you who are reading.


Yes these are my original words, I am the one who penned them...but it was
"The Great I AM" 
who gave me these words...I'm not this smart on my own.


I hope this touches your life in some way.

A Blessing for 2012


May The Lord God Almighty,
PROTECT You, 
PROVIDE for You, 
PREPARE You, 
PURPOSE You, 
and POSITION You.


Welcome 2012!
Come on in, take off your coat and stay a while.
We've been waiting for you.


In Him,
Grace

Come On Christmas Break!

Greetings All,

Do you remember being a school kid who could hardly wait for Christmas Break?

                             I do!

My husband and I are like that EVERY year...right along WITH our students.

WE are just as ready as THEY are.

As a matter of fact, I think that TEACHERS are even MORE ready for school to be out than the KIDS are. Kids only do "public school" for their allotted K-12 years, but I did  "public school" for all the years when I WAS a kid, PLUS well over 20 years sitting on the other side of the desks. That's alot of Christmas Breaks to wait for.

I've been a Kid and I've been a Grown-up. 
I can speak from both perspectives.

And I can testify that my Grown-Up Self generally wants Christmas Break WAAAAY more than my Child Self ever did.

"Just a handful of days to go."

"Just a handful of days to go."

We teachers chant this to ourselves as we drive to work.

We teachers chant this to our colleagues between classes.

We teachers chant this to ourselves as we drive home from work.

We basically mutter this mantra till folks think we've "gone round the bend!" 

But somehow it seems to help lol.

This Christmas I have a list of things I want, but there's not much on my list that you can actually buy

Things I want during Christmas Break:

         -to wake up and realize that I don't HAVE to go anywhere at all

         -to wake up smelling cinnamon buns and coffee

         -to wear flannel pj's all day long while sitting on the sofa covered in a quilt

         -to read for several hours and not feel guilty

         -to have a good fire going in the fireplace every day

         -to have enough food & supplies in the house to keep us satisfied & safe

         -enough extra to share with those in need

         -health & safety for my family and my friends

         -a sense of peace and serenity

         -to be still for a couple of weeks

There will be other Christmas's when I pour on the High Energy...but I hope that this year is a soft and gentle one...my soul needs it


"Just a handful of days to go."


In Him,
Grace

I Woke Up Smiling This Morning

Greetings,
Today has the mark of Wonder upon it, for I woke up SMILING.


At 4:30, my eyes fluttered open and I realized that I was fully rested and WANTING to get up.


No alarm clock.


Isn't that cool.


Don't you just love the mornings when you wake up on your own and you realize that you are just simply DONE with your sleep!


We live in an age of time management.
It seems that our lives are lived out in strictly-managed time-allocated chunks.


But today was a total violation of that norm.


I just simply woke up ready to be UP.


I did not have the desire to just snuggle back down in the covers.
I did not have something I woke up worried about.
I did not have a huge agenda-laden day that I woke up thinking about.


Rather, like a baby who is done with her nap, I simply woke up...smiling.


I LOVE this morning.


This Day Has HOPE and PROMISE and JOY written all over it.


Psalms 118:24 " This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."


Yeah THAT's how I feel about today.


Just finished my prayer journal, emptied my heart out to God...and was, as always filled back up in the process....and now here is sit.


The lights on the Christmas Tree are twinkling behind me, and the house is so still and quiet...and my coffee is so perfect this morning...and I am deeply, honestly, simply content.


This Peace is of God!


Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."


It is deep and it is precious and it is wonderful.


Regardless of what this day may bring, I want to cling to this sense of well-being. 
My Heavenly Father has wrapped me in his warm embrace and is holding me safe and secure this morning.


I Am Thankful For This Peace.


In Him,
Grace

That Baby in the Other Room

Greetings,
This morning I want to talk for just a little bit about how cool it is to be a grandmother.
And I also want to take just a little moment to mention how incredibly cool it is to be married to a grandfather.
lol

For the 2nd time in his young life, my grandson (now 4 months old) had a "sleepover" at our house.

He is due to wake up in about an hour...so this is my pre-baby-duty time slot of the morning...meanwhile he is in the other room.

My daughter & son in law have trusted us with this precious little one and it is an honor that kinda makes me get all teary-eyed.

We got to take him through his nightnight rituals last night...the bottle, the bath, the warm jammies...the little wind up music gizmo that sings him sleep.

We set up the baby monitor and yes I went in to check on him even though we tested the monitor to make sure it was working.
He sleeps with his little fists curled up right next to his ears.

QUESTION:  Is there anything more precious than a sleeping baby?
ANSWER: Yes there is.  I have to say that when he is in that little bathtub of his, with his head all lathered up and his little left foot kicking away, and that gummy grin is beaming at me...yeah THAT is even more precious than when he is sleeping.

And btw...Yes clearly some pixie has sprinkled me with magic grandmother foofydust...cause his drool doesn't bother me, and his diapers don't bother me...and he can scream his head off if he needs to, and it doesn't bother me.

...I remember this part from when I was a young mother myself.  There is a feeling of peace even in the midst of a dynamic hurricane of insistent baby needs.  That baby needs me to hold him and feed him and clean him...and care for his every need. When he needs something today, I will be there to make sure that whatever he needs will be taken care of. I will hold him and comfort him and shower him with love and affection and songs...and I will let him sleep when he needs it...even if he wants to fight against what is best for him and is resistant to taking a nap.

When that little fellow sleeps in my arms...all is right with the world.

And when I see him laughing and playing with his Grampaw...and I see the love in my husbands eyes being focused on that little boy...well there I go getting all teary-eyed again.

Thank you God...for this child...and for the one that is due to arrive in June.

Yes baby #2 is due this summer...and God...I am not sure my heart is big enough for this much love.

...God, how do YOU do it?  You love each of your children more than I ever loved my own daughter and or my grandchild (and the ones to come)...how do you do that?

..God, your heart must be a mighty and awesome thing...

Thank you for the knowledge that I am YOUR child...and that you love me with a force that I can not comprehend but can totally depend on...just like that baby in the other room is depending on me.

In HIM,
Grace.