I am excited to report I have a very special sidenote to my post yesterday on my mom! While she was here we completed A LIST FULL of projects on the house. One very special project was a photo wall up my stairwell…and my dear friend decided to feature it on her blog today! HOW EXCITING!
I wanted to share the post with all of you! CLICK HERE: Emily's Blog
Also, today is my Grandpa Besch’s birthday. He is no longer with us, but celebrating up in heaven with Grams. He truly was such an amazing example of a Godly man. I am so thankful for the years I was able to spend with him and looking forward to eternity with him…someday :o)
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?
Sending Mom back up north today and MAN AM I GOING TO MISS THAT LADY! I can't count the number of times I saw God's grace through her love while she was down visiting! We spent this past weekend on the west coast of Florida looking to see if that is a possibility for Mom and Dad at some point in the near future!
For those of you who don't know Momma Besch...She LOVES maps :o) Here she is this past weekend @ lunch showing me the golf course where Dad had his BEST round of gold in his entire LIFE (Ft. Myers, FL)! She really loves that guy!
It would be AMAZING to have them SO CLOSE! The request has been moved to the top of my prayer list - as I'm feeling a bit of the sting of loneliness this morning having to say goodbye to Mom.
I am SO thankful for her and the time we had together! The fight continues today and although I continue to wonder why God has me hear alone in South Florida, I am choosing to focus on all I have to be SO THANKFUL for.
Where have you seen God's grace in your life today?
Well, we are officially rounding out Mom’s trip down to Florida this weekend. We are headed up the coast to meet my Aunt for dinner tonight and then we are headed out of town over to the other coast of Florida! Can’t WAIT for a great weekend with the mom after all of the hard work we put into the house the last few weeks :o)
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I was reminded of this song this morning and it’s just the perfect way to start off the day! What a great reminder of what freedom it is to TRUST the one who really is in CONTROL!
ENJOY:
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?
I have no real reason behind posting this. I saw a friend post it and all I could think about is how amazing the human body God created is and what we can accomplish through discipline and hard work!
WOW! This is a MUST WATCH!
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?
I hope that you all are having a wonderful weekend :o) I wanted to mention that the prayer that was in the process of being answered nearly two months ago (with much patience) is in its end stages. It has to do with a career move – and I will know more in the next few weeks! THANK YOU VERY MUCH for all of your thoughts and prayers! I can’t wait to fill you in on all of the details.
Brennan Manning broke down peace this morning – and again God continues to meet me where I’m at! Here’s what he has to say to us Ragamuffins this morning”
The way to peace begins with accepting the truth of myself – the WHOLE truth. Any bit of me that I REFUSE to ACCEPT becomes the ENEMY. (Had to pause for a moment…WOW!) My struggle to cope with certain people has a simple explanation: THEY REPRESENT TO ME PRECISELY THOSE ELEMENTS THAT I HAVE REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT IN MYSELF. (I’m just going to be honest here – God totally ripped me a new one with this!!! I don’t know if any of your struggle with this – but this really woke me up today! Before you get to hard on yourself; make sure to read on…)
To accept the truth of my own brokenness is unbearable, if not impossible, without turning to Christ. If my vision of myself is not purified by the mercy and compassion of Jesus, I have to get dishonest, camouflage my warts, and present to you a self that is mostly admirable, fault free, and superficially happy.
For Meister Eckhart the equation “in Christ = in peace” is ALWAYS valid. When I accept the truth of myself, shipwrecked and saved, and give it over to the person of Jesus, I am in peace even if I don’t FEEL at peace. (such a beautiful reminder!) The peace that comes from God and surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7) was wrought by Christ on the cross and does not depend on my shifting feelings or moods.
The PEACE that comes through accepting the whole truth about myself is rooted in Christ “who has reconciled all things in himself, making peace through the blood of his cross.” The “Shalom” of Jesus is not a mere greeting but AN AUTHORITATIVE DECLARATION FROM THE SON OF GOD, a crucified word that produces the PEACE it proclaims.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139: 23-24.
Great song to soak this all in with - just to sit for a moment and think about Peace:
THANKS BE TO GOD! Well, I must say I feel a lot lighter…and I hope you do, too! God is SO good! I love that he reminded us of Philippians 4:7. Through some tough storms the last few years a really turned to these verses (actually 6 & 7). I had them written on a note card and just could not get myself to throw it away!
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 4:6-7.
Wishing you PEACE today in a whole new way! Off to paint the LAST ROOM in my house with Momma Besch :o) Sure do LOVE that lady!
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?
I probably blog more about my morning reflections then anything - but God has just continued to reveal SO MANY TRUTHS to me this way - and I MUST share with you again this morning!!!
For those who feel that their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept the love of Christ, which knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened,” he assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that physical pain, the loss of loved ones, failure, loneliness, rejection, abandonment, and betrayal would sap our spirits, that the day would come when faith would no longer offer any assurance, any drive or comfort, that prayer would lack any sense of reality or progress, that one day we would echo the cry of Teresa of Avila, “Lord, if this is the way you treat your friends, it is no wonder you have so few.”
All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ~ 2 Thessalonians.
Thank you Lord for using Brennan Manning’s Reflections for Ragamuffins to continue to teach me the value of being a true disciple! This is a great piggy-back off of what we just discussed on suffering and being lukewarm (previous two posts). I don’t want to be lukewarm, God! I want to give you all of me (but not with an attitude, Lord)…with a JOYFUL HEART!
Thank you for today!
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?
After a few weeks off from study, it was SO WONDERFUL to see the girls last night! We went over Chapter 4 from the book Crazy Love titled Profile of the Lukewarm.
What’s a Lukewarm Christian? WATCH FRANCIS’ SUMMARY HERE:
The chapter gives some very convicting examples that truly challenged me to reposition myself and where my priorities in my day-to-day living are! We expanded upon the quote from C.S. Lewis I posted yesterday in the book of Philippians where God unravels the topic of suffering. I wrote down a quote in my Bible from a sermon last summer and I just think it’s something really great to chew on today:
“If you are a Christian, this life is as close to Hell as you will ever experience and if you are a non-Christian, this life is as close to Heaven as you will ever experience.”
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?
