Soul-FULL Sundays: Understanding Grace

For today's filling of your soul, go here to read a commentary by Paul Tripp on the Desiring God blog. Here's the beginning...


"Do you understand the majesty and practicality of the grace you have been given? If you don't, in subtle and not so subtle ways, you are looking to other things to get you through. You don't need to go out searching for hope and help, because they are already yours in the resources of grace that you have been given as God's child."

Soul-Full Sundays: Amazing Grace

Thank you for joining us on Soul-Full Sundays....a chance to observe the Sabbath through resting and filling our souls with His words, love, and strength. 

(These entries are usually written ahead of time so we can enjoy our Sabbath as well.)  :)


Amazing Grace - John Newton, 1779

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.

(the verse below was added in 1790)
When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
Than when we first begun.


To read more about John Newton's hymn, check out these resources...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace
http://www.anointedlinks.com/amazing_grace.html




Please share in comments below what has touched you on this Sabbath day...

On being thankful

My oldest son got mixed up at snack time today. In other families, this would not be a big deal. In our family, it's a huge deal.
My oldest son took a bite of his brother's cookie. And immediately, he had second thoughts about going on and eating something without asking us first because he called to myself and my husband Nate "What does my cookie look like?" Nate and I looked at each other (we were in the other room).
"Phin's cookie is a wafer cookie and yours is the oatmeal one." We heard Isaiah start to panic.
We ran downstairs and saw a bite missing from Phin's.
Isaiah is allergic to wheat. He's allergic to peanuts, eggs and peas too. We weren't sure if those things were in those cookies, but we knew there would be wheat in them. My husband grabbed the Benadryl and gave it to a crying Isaiah and he gulped it down.
Then we watched him.
I'm not sure what Nate was thinking during this time, but I know what I was thinking: "Just let him be okay, just let him be okay......"
You know when you get a bag of flour from the grocery store and you bring it home and pour it into its canister? Isaiah can't even be one room away from that process or his eyes will swell up and he'll have an allergic reaction. We have to give him Benadryl just from being around flour at times. Who knew what would happen once he had digested it?
So, we waited. We waited for Isaiah to stop crying. We waited for the Benadryl to do its job. And were grateful.
He did fine. He recovered beautifully. Tonight you wouldn't even guess there had been anything wrong today.
As parents, we pray for protection for our children. I believe there are many things that happen all around us, all day long, where the Lord is protecting our kids. We just don't see it.
Today I got to see it.
I got to see how the Lord protected Isaiah.
He gave him the instinct to ask us about his snack.
What would have happened if he had taken more than that first bite? We don't have to know that answer.
I'm so thankful tonight. Thankful that I love my kids. I love my kids so much. I do whatever I can to protect them.
But the Lord loves them more.

On waiting....

Our roof leaked.

So, we wait. We've been getting a lot of rain around here and knew there was a problem with it. We had a roofer take a look and he applied what he called a "band aid". It didn't work.

We wait until we hear what the next steps are. New roof? Was there more damage done than originally thought? Or will it be an "easy" fix just around the chimney? We know we need it fixed. We know it will cost money. And that's about all we know.

So, like I said, we wait.

I started thinking of times in my life when I've waited. I waited for my husband to propose to me. I waited to hear each of my boys' first cries after being born, assuring me they were okay and into the world. I've waited for illnesses to pass. For birthdays to come. I realized I have spent a lot of my life waiting.

And each of those times, an answer or an event came. And passed. And I wasn't completely shattered. Not even once. In fact, there are some instances when I am glad that the Lord made me wait. Am thankful for it now.

I also started thinking about friends. I thought of my friend who wants to do the Lord's work overseas but just can't find enough funds for her mission work. I think of my friends that have waited, waited, waited to have a baby. Or those that have, and still are, waiting to find a mate. I think of "mom friends" that wait for a diagnosis for their child. We wait in line at the grocery store. We wait for so many things.

And then I think of my boys. They wait for snack time. They wait for their punishments to pass. They wait to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house. They wait for Tuesdays to come (Tuesdays mean video game day and since it's summer, Wipeout is on TV too--a very big day for the kids....)

We all wait. And how we wait can say a lot about us. And it can be a testament of what and Who we believe in.

Those of us with kids know that they look at us and copy us, whether we like them to or not. They are watching me as I wait to hear news on the roofing situation. I believe my boys understand these things: 1. Our roof has a leak and that's a bad thing. 2. My oldest, because of respiratory issues, has to be gone while part of the interior gets fixed. 3. It's going to cost us money. They don't have a huge understanding of money, but I think they are getting the idea of how expensive this might be because of some hushed (and admittedly, not so hushed) conversations between Mommy and Daddy.

I have not shown them an example of peaceful waiting. I have not shown them very well that there are times when we don't have all the answers, that they will come, and that the Lord will be glorified, no matter what the answer may be. I have tried, and may have succeeded at times, to show a peaceful wait in progress, but most of the time, what they have seen from me is an anxious heart.

I know I have friends praying for us and I feel them right now. Oh, to have a community that prays for us! For friends that not only check on us to see how we are doing emotionally, but friends that invite us to move in with them if we have to for a bit, for friends that just want to be there to support us. We are so blessed.

With those blessings in mind, this afternoon I am restful. And peaceful. The Lord will provide for us as he graciously has in the past.

We don't know what the answers will be. But, we trust that it is for the good of those of us in this house that love Him.

His will be done.

Kristin

Why I Need Grace #1

So the kids and I were out driving this afternoon. Almost a daily occurance, it seems. How have things gotten so busy? What happened to the lazy days of summer?  :)

Anyway, we were stopped at a light and once we started moving again, I could see that the person in the lane next to me wanted to get over.  She had her blinker on, which helped immensely in my determining she wanted to change lanes.  Amazing how that works, isn't it??  haha  I wish everyone had the sense, or courtesy, to use their blinker to tell the world what they were doing! 


So I slowed up a bit so there was plenty of space for her to get over; and, that she did.  She even waved an ackward backwards armed kind of 'Thank You' to me.  At this point I could have basked in the joy of being a good witness, of showing God's love through the kindness of letting a person squeeze into a congested lane of traffic. 

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."  (Matthew 7:12 NIV)

But no.

What did I do instead?

Well, the lane opened up ahead of me because everyone was moving over into the turning lane.  So I saw an opportunity to catch up and drive by her - so she can have the opportunity to see the fish on the back of my van. 

Yes, I have a fish on the back of my van.  And, I'm not the World's Most Perfect Driver either.  Not a good combination I am aware.  Have I had to cut people off?  Yes.  Have I driven over the speed limit?  Yes.  Have I gotten in an accident?  Yes ( a 4 car pile-up, none the less). 
 
I'm not usually conciously thinking about waving my 'fishy flag' around, so I don't know what my deal was today.  Maybe because of my history of poorly using the fish on the back of my van I wanted to redeem myself a little bit by showing this gal that yes, people with fish on the back of their vehicles were nice people. Did I have to speed a little to 'catch up' to her?  Unfortunately, yes a little bit.  That's when I realized I just cancelled myself out, in a sense.  Oh dear. 


For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:16 NIV)



Thank you, God, for the grace You so freely give me.  Even when I fail You so miserably.

My New Box of Crayons...

Remember when you were a kid and it was time to get your new school supplies? Most people would say their favorite supply to get was a new box of crayons - and I would have to agree. I think a new box of crayons even warms the hearts of most adults!! haha

Even though I never had the priviledge of having one of those GINORMOUS boxes of colors, I still enjoyed opening the crisp, stiff box of my small 12 or 24 counter to find all the perfectly-tipped crayons in their neatly organized rows just waiting for me to create a masterpiece with them.

Well, this blog is my 'new box of crayons'.  Just like the crayons sitting there in that new box, this blog holds potential - for being something greater than myself, for encouraging others to live a life of grace, and for being an outlet for sharing some not-so-graceful moments that help us all remember the gift of Grace we have received.  And, like those crayons in the box that don't stay perfect forever - some get worn way down and have to have their paper peeled off, some break in half, and even some get eaten by the dog and end up making colorful piles of doggy doo - this blog won't be perfect either.  It will be a process, just like our lives are. 

Life is meant to be lived and lived to the fullest, just as crayons are meant to be colored with and not just stuck in a box for eternity.  A life filled with perfection....no.   But a life filled with 'missing paper, broken pieces, and yes, even doggy doo' all covered with Grace....YES!