Been There, Done That

Friends, Jesus isn't just sitting up in Heaven on His throne looking down at us (literally or figuratively).

He knows.  He gets it.  He's been there.  Or here, as the case may be...

photo credit - publicdomainpictures.net

He was one of us.  He has worn the restraints of being human.  He fully understands and sympathizes with every weakness we battle.  Every temptation we face.  Every time we fall.

He understands.

And He WANTS TO HELP.  He wants to pour mercy and grace over us because He loves us.  All we have to do is open our hearts and ask for His strength.  His wisdom.  His love.  His mercy.

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What I Deserve

Ever thought about how you really deserve something?  Maybe you've worked hard for it.  Maybe you've been having a rough time.  Maybe you've accomplished some big goal you set for yourself. 

Ever found yourself saying some form of this prayer - "God, please do this for me.  I deserve it because..."?

But do we really want God to give us what we deserve?

Oh, the nice things... sure.  But what about all the punishment for the sins against Him?  Everything that was heaped onto Jesus at the time of His crucifixion and death? That's what we really "deserve".  But instead, He took everything we deserve onto Himself so that we could receive the gifts: 

Grace, Love, Eternal life

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." ~ Romans 5:8



Feeling Honored

I t has been a week of honors for my little blog!  I am humbled and honored to have my blog be recognized by other bloggers.  And so very grateful that God has given me a blog to write about the journey of my life and to share what He shows me about His grace and power every day with others. To Him be the glory!

First, Tales of Beauty for Ashes featured my post Made Perfect In Weakness  for this week's Into The Word Wednesday. 

Second, Caffeinated Country Diva Diaries bestowed upon me the greatly sought after and coveted Liebster Award. 

It seems there are a whole set of rules to the Liebster award.  I hope she will forgive me if I humbly accept the award while skipping the rest of the steps.

As Far As It Depends On You

It started when I began reading "Unglued" by Lysa TerKeurst.  I barely made it through the first chapter page before I became convinced that she has cameras hidden somewhere in my home and had been watching all my less-than-stellar unglued moments.  As I kept reading, I found plenty of  "oh, that's me!...Ouch!" moments in those pages.  I recognized myself in her stories of stuffing emotions, and those of exploding.  I knew I had plenty of room for what Lysa calls "imperfect progress" -  "slow steps of progress wrapped in grace".

Oh, but God didn't stop there.  No.  He keeps pressing on my heart.  Every where I turned were messages of  letting go of resentment.  Forgiving.  Not holding onto bitterness.  Not gathering retaliation rocks.  Being kind and humble.  Forgive.  Let go.  Forgive.  Let go.  Be kind.  Resolve conflicts.  He had identified an area I need some work, and he was going to make sure I got the message.  Why, even this coming week the subject our preacher will be speaking on is "God is Bigger Than Your Conflicts". 

I can identify relationships in my life where I am holding onto some level of resentment. I store up hurt feelings, slights, and annoyances. Some real, some may just be in my perspective. I use them to justify myself as I build up that wall. I avoid the person and I stuff the feelings that come up when faced when them. Funny thing about those feelings - they grow, they get sharper, and they end up hurting us more than anyone else.


It's not that I want to be angry.  Or bitter.  Or self righteous.  Or unkind.  But... well, in some situations it's just become what's comfortable.  Maybe comfortable is the wrong word.  But familiar.  And even if it's not comfortable, familiarity still carries its own level of... well, comfort.  Holding onto past resentments.  Or harsh feelings.  Or dislike of a particular person.  It becomes like a security blanket.  It can be because we haven't really forgiven.  Or it may be a wall we've built up to protect ourselves before that person can hurt our feelings once again. 

Romans 12:18 tells us "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."  Which puts the ball for resolving those feelings of conflict squarely on our shoulders. 

I want to resist.  I want to throw myself to the floor and flail my arms like a child, crying out "But, I don't wannaaaaaa".  I want to pull out all those justifications of  for why I am feeling and acting the way I am.  This was about the time I read Lysa TerKeurst's words "Am I trying to prove or improve? In other words, is my desire in this conflict to prove that I am right or to improve the relationship at hand?" I felt the sting.  Another "ouch".  Message received. 

I know I have improvement to make.  But it starts with realizing that I need to take steps as far as it depends on me to live at peace with everyone.  I can't control others, but I can control how I react to them and how I let them affect me.  I have to try to improve relationships rather than prove myself right.

Trust me... it's going to be imperfect progress.  And I'm going to need plenty of grace as I stumble and slip along the way.  Fortunately I've also been blessed with more of that than I could ever hope for!

Thankful Thursday - August 16

Digging deep to find the thankful this week!  Some weeks are more difficult than others.  But if you look enough, there's always good there somewhere.

Grace and Mercy:  When ever I start feeling down on myself it always helps to remember the grace which God has given to me.  He knows me for just who I am, and loves me despite all the things I do to get in the way of His plan for me.  The Man of the House, the Little Man, and I were all baptized Sunday afternoon.  Good ol' southern Baptist style - with a full dunk in a mountain lake.  It was grand and God is good!

Fridays:  And tomorrow is one of them.  Yah!  :0)

Chocolate covered pretzels:  Just... Yum! 

Don't Call Me "Grace"

I've never been exactly coordinated.  I'm the gal who can trip on nothing.  No, not my own feet - Nothing!  I have been known to be so caught up in my own thoughts, or a conversation, or looking at something that I have walked right smack into a wall.  I stub my toes more times in a month than I care to count.

Today, while leaving to get the Little Man off to school, I fell down the stairs.

This isn't exactly a new thing for me.  I often trip up the stairs.  Or slip down a stair or two.  Once I even fell down the concrete front entrance steps at work.  In front of several people.  It wasn't a slip, or a slide, or a trip.  That time it was a full on head-over-heels tumble.  Resulting with me ending up sprawled on the ground at the bottom of those steps with a scraped up leg, a bruised elbow, and some hurt pride.  That time was definitely worse than this morning.

I was preparing to dash out the door with coffee in hand, when I slipped.  Or something.  I'm not very clear on how this fall started.  I just know I took a few steps and next thing I knew I realized I was pitching forward.  Two very clear thoughts went through my head in about a half second flat. 

1) Grab the railing!!
2) Don't spill the coffee!!

I think I grabbed the rail at some point, but my hand slid right off and I ended up lying sideways on the stairs in a rather crooked position.  With some serious pain shooting through my right hip and thigh and all up and down the right arm.  I had to take a minute to sit on the stairs and compose myself.  While the pain subsided to a dull ache.  All the while reassuring The Little Man that I was fine.

I did manage not to spill the coffee.  Just splashed a little on my left hand.  So, there's the bright side of the whole incident.