Undeniable Grace

I bought a few pairs of shoes when I was pregnant and now they're too big or they don't match any of my regular clothes. I instantly want to go out and buy more, of course.  Then I think about people who don't have shoes at all; they can't afford them or they have to make them (third world countries don't have Payless or Macys down the street).  I got to thinking, if we step back from our own wants or frustrations in life and notice those around us who are really hurting, we will see how little our problems really are. There are situations where we really need to focus our time and money; where we need to give instead of take. If we can see past our own selfishness we can then see what truly matters and who is truly in need.  When I was leaving Walmart the other day there was an elderly man getting into a car. Someone was picking him up at the door. He had one leg and was on crutches. As I drove away in MY car, with MY legs, and the FREEDOM to go wherever I wanted...

After a rough nap (or no nap I should say) day with Lilly, I finally got her down for bed. She cried for about 20 minutes before falling asleep which was horrific for me because she never cries herself to sleep! Long story short, I'm exhausted. She was fussy today and seemed more needy than usual. Takes a toll on my carpal tunnel when she wants held so much! Since I didn't get to everything on my to do list today I was finishing up one last to-do tonight. I was sitting on my bed with a few of Lilly's books and some tape. Most of them were pop-up or lift-the-flap and naturally she, at nine months, had ripped parts of the books out. At the end of one of the lift-the-flaps there are animals from the story that pop-up. She would get so excited over them that she would just rip them right off of the page! Anyway, I sat there,on my bed, exhausted, and I taped each little piece and each little animal back where it belonged. Then I got to thinking.... As a mommy, and wife too actua...

My amazing husband recently posted this on Facebook: "I've finally realized the more you get (material things, money, job titles etc) the more you worry about losing those things. The more you give (love, time, an ear to listen) the more you get (hope, grace, love in return). It's a basic concept that I've over complicated for a long time." I admire this so much and he and I discuss this often. Jesus says "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal" Matthew 7:19. He says to store up treasure in heaven where nothing can destroy it. Where your treasure is your heart will also be.  So what does that mean?? Well I've been thinking about it a lot and especially with the holidays around the corner. It's so easy to get caught up in the traditions of things such as:  shopping for gifts, trying to get the best deals on Black Friday, getting the latest technologies, games, movies, ...

So the amazing thing about confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness is GRACE (Lillian's middle name btw :) ) I could easily get hung up on the things I have done wrong or still do, but God knows my heart and He forgives me graciously. If you didn't get to listen to David Crowder's song I posted last week, you MUST look up How He Loves Us and saturate yourself in those lyrics. "If grace were an ocean we'd all be sinking!" I also love "I don't have the time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us." Gets me every time :) So we've talked about rewards recently in BSF. Who doesn't love a reward? A pat on the back? Recognition? Well I must say that my greatest reward (other than truly accepting Christ and God's forgiveness) is my husband. I was so broken when I started going to church with Rodney's sister. I hadn't met him or even knew she had a younger brother when I was babysitting her boys. When I m...

In the short amount of time that I was married (March 2012), had my first baby (Jan. 2013), and moved to a new state (July 2013), I hadn't had much time to really think about everything that was happening. I knew I was happy, excited, tired, nervous, and most of all faithful. My trust in the Lord had grown immensely since I had met my husband, dated him, was married and then became pregnant. I will never forget the day I was standing next to my future husband in church, listening to him singing the worship music and gushing with love for him.  I was struggling with the new path I was on because....well I didn't have a reason at the time; when I look back I think because I was happy, closer to God than I'd ever been, and so amazingly in love with this man that was 9 years older than me, Satan wanted to steal my joy. There were things trying to get in the way of me dating Rodney and things I was skeptical about, but my feelings for him were beyond anything I had ever experien...

Have you ever been on a jury? Ever had to judge a person based on evidence given to you by strangers? Ever had to decide a complete stranger's fate by conversing with other strangers? I've never actually sat on a jury but I almost did. It was for a murder trial that happened in Fairfield, Ohio. Thank goodness I got out of it. I cannot imagine if I would have been part of deciding that man's fate! So why is it so easy to judge other people? When you're out and about, do you find yourself judging people? Critiquing them? Looking at their clothes, car they're driving; what brand is on the bag they're carrying out of the mall? Do you see a mom disciplining her child while you're at the park and think "I would have NEVER handled it that way." Do you feel frustration toward someone when they complain about a situation that they're in; wondering "why did they do that in the first place?" or thinking "they got themselves into the mes...