Fall Into GRACE
Fall into grace like a refreshing swimming pool on a hot summer day. It’s a gift. It’s free. We don’t earn it. There’s nothing we can do to get more or less of it. It allows us to breathe the fresh air. It helps us to continue breathing when we’ve lost a loved one, and we feel there’s no air left to take in. It helps us to stay on the straight and narrow when hell is knocking at our door, and it gives us strength to stand when we feel that same enemy has busted down the door and is about to overwhelm us. Grace gives us an escape from the temptations. It gives us rest for our souls. It gives us tenacity for the journey. Receive that grace to take one more step. To live one more day. To breathe one more breath.
Month: April 2015
Fall Into It (1)
Fall Into LOVE
Fall into love like you fell into those piles of autumn leaves as a child, or maybe, you’d prefer that snow to make snow angels. Either way, you wanted nothing more than to keep falling over and over and over. You wanted nothing less than to get right back up and fall again. That is just how our love should be, falling deeper and deeper with each new day…with God…with family…with our spouse…with children…with nature…with LIFE.
Our problems with people are not always the people. Too often, when we have a conflict, we like to tell ourselves, it’s because we haven’t loved enough. We haven’t tried enough. We haven’t sacrificed enough. When all we need is more of Him and so much less of us. If we’d just fall into love with Him, He would love through us. He would speak through us. He would reach through us. So, fall into Him; so, your heart can love them.
Answer to Friday’s Angle #7
Did you guess it yesterday??
It’s a computer keyboard!! 🙂
Friday’s New Angle #7
It’s Friday, and it’s time for a New Angle! 😉
Hint: Looking for the answer to what is BLACK… Have fun!
Never Let Go (of Hope)
For years, I prayed for a change, for a difference…I prayed for a miracle, really. For more than 20 years, I prayed these two would makes a change; so, we could have the life and the relationships for which I so longed. I knew God could only do so much, for He will never force a man’s will, and the rest would be left to that man. Oh, that human will can be so very stubborn! I was clinging to the last bit of hope in my heart when we got the call…the news was not good; frankly, it was terrible. Shortened days…a shortened life. Surgery impending. Death probable. How could this be? He was bigger than life! He had been the biggest part of my life. He was supposed to be invincible. My sons were supposed to know him and love him like I did. This wasn’t fair! Often, life just isn’t fair. It doesn’t play favorites. It rains on the just and on the unjust. So, we waited. Then, it happened. A vision was seen. His glory was revealed to the heart. A life was rededicated. His faith and his fate were forever sealed. I rejoiced as one lifelong prayer was answered; yet, I wondered, “Could we possibly get another?” Maybe it was just too good of a dream to imagine. Almost 15 years later, my heart had almost given up hope that a change could ever occur. After all, prayers had been sent up for over 35 years. Maybe that human will was going to win out this time… Out of the blue, a mistaken email reveals possibilities, a glimmer of hope. Could it be? Could it possibly be true? I stand in awe to testify of God’s mercy and grace, of His awesome love being shown through a man whom many had counted as forever lost. God is good. Are all things perfect? Are things as they once should have been? Sadly, I must confess, some things are simply lost as the water rushes under that bridge of time. Yet, we will not dwell on yesterday’s regrets, nor will we miss the precious gifts of the present. If we did, we would overlook the beautiful promises of the future! Sometimes, you just have to take the baby steps of grace today; so, you can bask in the love of His tomorrow. So, never let go of hope, for hope is the only thing which brings true life back into our prayers.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
Wednesday’s Ode #8
Today, I’d like to give tribute to my grandmother. She and I share the same birthday this month, and since today is April first (and I’m not so crazy about April Fool’s Day), I think she is a much better subject to talk about! 😉
I absolutely love my grandmother! Many people say we’re a lot alike, and I take that as a huge compliment. She is a very loving, peaceful, pleasant, elegant, loyal, diligent, dependable, and noble woman. She is fiesty at times, yet, incredibly feminine. She is enthusiastic and always ready to have a good time; yet, she’s quiet and as easy going as the day is long.
She fiercely loved her husband of almost 59 years, and she loves him to this day; although, she had to say goodbye to him almost 13 years ago. They were best friends, confidantes, business partners and lovers. Together, they faced and survived being married at the young ages of 14 and 17, the death of their only son, several miscarriages, running a business together, politics and even cancer. She stayed by his side, through thick and thin, until the very end.
At four foot eleven inches, she is a strong, independent woman; yet, she is there when you need her, and she loves deeply. She is quick to smile and always the first to shed a tear of joy or sorrow. She is kind and gracious, and she is a woman of deep character and deep faith. She trusts in her God to take care of her, and she gives Him praise in the tiniest of blessings. She always looks to the brighter side of things and is able to keep a positive attitude through some life’s toughest storms. She reads her Bible and prays everyday and, even, many times throughout her day. She is faithful to her church family; even when she’s out of town visiting me (or others), she spends some time connecting with those back at home.
She can spruce up the dullest of rooms or ceremonies with her elegant Victorian ways, and she can bake a “mean” pound cake, fried shrimp, fried mullet and even Thanksgiving dressing! She, also, makes an awesome sweet potato casserole for me during the holidays, and she doesn’t even eat sweet potatoes! She loves to decorate for every season of the year and even keeps a Christmas tree up in her rec room, which is transformed into a “whatever holiday it is” tree throughout the year. …yes, that tree has been a snowman, an Easter bunny and a pumpkin man! Haha.
I stayed with her and my grandfather many times, as a youngster, and I cherish every memory I have with her. Oh, and she’s definitely got “young genes!” She sure doesn’t look like she’s about to celebrate her 86th birthday! (…this picture was taken two years ago!)
I am thankful that God saw fit to have me born on the day of her birth, and I will always cherish this honor and this blessing. I pray that I can carry on the legacy she has set before me.
the grizzle grist mill 