Glimpses of Grace

I'm counting gifts of grace again.  I decided to start counting again from #1 in 2012,
taking Ann's Joy Dare-to count 1,000 gifts of grace this year.
I scratch down a list of 5 gifts (or more) each morning as I write in my journal; some simple, some sweet, some that only I understand to be gift.
But when all is grace, all is also gift- no matter how mundane or messy.
Real life, real love- these are priceless gifts.

Here are a few random graces jotted down in my journal for the first days of February:

#161 glorious sunny winter's day

#162 boxes of books- dusty treasures for the library (a gift from a pastor friend, so many books!)

#171 green tea in my favorite cup

#172 soft breeze making music with the wind chimes

#175 first light

#177 middlest Love driving the lawn mower and feeling quite proud of herself

#180 a few hours of quiet solitude on a Sabbath evening


Simple, daily joys ... gifts from our Good God.  

What gifts are you finding these days?  

Monday Musings ~ Joy

We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.~  E.B. White 

I think I'll go out and gather a handful of herbs.  The lavender is in bloom  ...

What simple things bring you joy? 

Contemplating Creatures

In a mouse we admire God’s creation and craft work. The same may be said about flies. Animals are the footprints of God. Adam and Eve derived the fullness of joy and bliss from their contemplation of all the animal creatures. ~ Martin Luther

In a mouse ... yes, cute little critters that they are, it is easy to admire God's creation in a mouse. In the rat(s) ? that have inhabited the walls of my house, that seem to find the spot in the wall behind wherever I'm sitting to be the perfect place to scratch and chew and make all sorts of odd noises; rats that sneak out at night to collect their dinner from the kitchen, and scare me half to death when I disturb one in its garbage can diving ... I'm not admiring this creature these days. No... not admiring rats at all. I might be able to admire them better if they would kindly remove themselves to the backyard.

Right now I'm contemplating the bliss of walking into the kitchen without the dread of seeing a rat's tail disappearing under the stove ... or reading a book without hearing the scurrying and scuttling of creatures racing about in the wall (what are they doing in there anyway?).

I'm trying to find Joy in this situation ... really I am.

p.s. my husband keeps telling me they make great pets. i'm not buying it. no, rats are not pets. not in my house.

The Gift of Joy

There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go. ~Frederick Wm. Faber

I want this gift! To find joy everywhere, and then to leave it behind where ever I go ... Yes, finding and spreading Joy; that's a good gift.

Since in His Presence is fullness of Joy ... and He is indeed everywhere, this really should be a simple thing to do ... if only I'll keep my eyes on the Joy Giver instead of my own little dust-being.


Joy is the flag you fly when the Prince of Peace
is in residence within your heart. ~Wilfred Peterson

I pray our flags of Joy fly high and spread the gift of Joy everywhere we go this season ... and for all our days.

Finding Joy in the Simple Things

Thank you, Lord for the joy that comes from enjoying the simple things of life with those I love.

Gathering leaves, a simple activity that opened our eyes once again to the beauty of God's creation that often goes unnoticed. What an array of color, size, shape ... simply amazing!

A picnic in the park after church. Simply delightful!

Simple food- cheese, bread, olives, grapes. Simply delicious!

Simple drink- water, pure and clean, a gift we take for granted. Many do not have this simple blessing; but we who do can help provide it for them. (click here to see how)

Simply beautiful dessert- Banana nut muffins, a gift from one of the homeless gentlemen to my children after church yesterday. The homeless giving food to the minister's well-fed family ... He who has so little, giving what he does have away to those who already possess so much. A glimpse of the Joy to be found in the upside-down Kingdom of God! May I always be so eager to bless others with whatever I find in my hands. (update: I discovered last night that Danny isn't technically "homeless". ... Humbling to realize that because I see him at the shelter, the soup kitchen, and wandering the streets in his wheelchair, I just "assumed" he was homeless. No, he does have a room in one of the boarding houses in the neighborhood ... I'm not sure it is a lot better than the shelter, however; he just has to pay to stay there. At any rate, he has very little compared to my family; and it was such a wonderful example of using what you have in your hands to bless someone else, even if it is a little container of muffins that you were given at the soup kitchen. His gift to my children (and me) was priceless.

Finally, a simple grace from a children's book of prayers that says it so sweetly:

Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you, God, for everything!
~Edith Rutter Leatham

Yes, Lord thank you for everything, we are so very blessed. May we all find Joy in Your Presence this day.


Giving thanks in community today, care to join us? Visit Holy Experience today.

To Live in Hope, Joy, and Celebration

We can only live the changes we wish to see: we cannot think our way to humanity. Every one of us, every group, must become the model of that which we desire to create.
We must break the obsolete social and economic systems that divide the world between the over-privileged and the under-privileged.
Each of us, whether government leader or protester, business executive or worker, professor or student, share a common guilt.
We have failed…through our lack of responsible awareness…and thus added to suffering around the world.
All of us are cripples—some physically, some mentally, some emotionally. We must, therefore, strive cooperatively to create a new world.
There is no time left for destruction, for hatred, for anger. We must build, in hope and joy and celebration. ~Ivan Illich (1926-2002), Celebrations of Awareness, 1971

Pondering those words today...

What does the Lord require? (That one I know- Micah 6:8)
How do I walk this out?
How do I live the changes I wish to see?
How do I build in hope?
In joy?
In celebration?

Questions...lots of questions.
The Lord's answer: Isaiah 58

Help me, help all of your children Lord, to
bring life to the waste places,
bring healing and hope to the hopeless,
live and build in hope, joy, and celebration...for You, because of You!

Joy...a net of love and my heart's cry

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. ~Mother Teresa



Thinking about spreading a net of love today...
There are so many stray souls, precious souls, who need to be caught up in love by joyful Christians and brought to Him...so, so many.




Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Matthew 9:37


Lord,
So many need you, your love, your salvation, your grace.
Help me, Jesus, to be joyful so that I may spread the net of love
for those lost ones, those wandering ones, searching for something...
searching for Love, for You; though they might not realize it just yet.

Lord,
Help me choose joy, when my first response is irritation.
When I spend Labor Day morning rushing from place to place, children in tow,
with husband searching for a place for a homeless man who asked for our help to lay his head that night.
When finally an available bed, and a promise to hold it is secured (Thank you, Jesus!), and we have just enough time to dash home for husband to change into his work clothes and drive the 15 minutes back into town to drop him off.
When I must assume the task of meeting the homeless gentleman and directing him to his place of shelter; with strict instructions from husband, as this is not the safest area of town... he'll call to check on me.
When not wanting to make another round trip home and back, the children and I spend the day in town, window shopping, running assorted errands...mostly waiting for the appointed meeting time.
When I arrive a bit early and find no one waiting, so I drive down the block and come back. No, he's still not there. I drive around again, being instructed not to park and wait for him...and I drive, and pray, and wait. Nothing. Frustration mounts. I've spent most of the day on this man, and now he doesn't even show up. I assume (and pray) he's found his own place to stay; but I am annoyed that he didn't even bother to come and let us know; especially after he was so adamant yesterday that my husband not forget to meet him!
When husband calls and I must tell him the news.
When after he gets off work, we go back to the shelter so he can go inside and check to see if perhaps the man is there.....no, not there. Irritation at the thoughtlessness of this man remains throughout the evening, interrupted by intermittent prayers...just in case something happened to him.
Where was my joy? Why could I not just do my part and leave the rest to You? I made the wrong choice...until that little whisper of the Spirit caused me to pray.

"Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul."

Lord,
Forgive me when I am irritated at the inconveniences that come with serving You.
For, it was You after all, that we were serving as we searched for and located a place for this man. I should be grateful for Your provision for him, even if he didn't take advantage of it.

How many times, Lord, did you make provision for me, only to have me choose to do things my own way instead?
And Your response to me? Not frustration or irritation,
but grace, grace upon grace, time after time...
how I still need Your grace, Father!

Help me, Lord, to choose joy,
when it has to be a conscious choice,
when otherwise my flesh
would yield up something quite less lovely.

Help me, Lord, to choose...
joy instead of judgement,
grace instead of griping,
to learn to live and love like You, always.

Thank you for Your grace, Lord;
for I am so very, very needful of it myself.

Thank you for the Joy that comes
when I choose to serve no matter the outcome,
because of You, for You, with You...
for in Your presence, Lord, there is fullness of Joy!


I pray that a multitude of joyful souls will spring up and go forth, spreading joy to those who need it most; and that those willing to choose joy, will be renewed, refreshed and abundantly blessed for their obedience to the Joy Giver!


Join me in choosing Joy today...for His glory, and for the sake of those souls who need to be brought into His kingdom?




To read more heart's cries today, drop by Holy Experience.

Autumn Sunshine

I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

This is exactly how we feel these days...lovely autumn-like mornings, too precious to be spent indoors, find us heading out into the yard as soon as the sun begins to peek over the treetops. Bike riding, games of follow-the-leader and tetherball, watching the deer (who are watching us just as closely), feeding the birds and filling the birdbath, sitting together in the yet unfinished tepee, enjoying each other and God's creation around us are the first order of the day in our "school" for now.

Yes, yes, we do get to the other things- math, language arts, geography, history, etc...but, right now, we are beginning with the best, enjoying nature and having fun together!

Early evening finds us right back where we started...

Such simple joy to be found in spending a few lovely hours each day enjoying the great outdoors with my family.