My Place of Grace

As the Christmas holiday approaches, our minds are set on preparation. Preparation of what is the question? Preparing for company, buying gifts, baking cookies, cleaning house, decorating, wrapping, visiting friends and family, setting up the tree, the advent wreath? All these examples are ways we prepare for the holiday season. But wait! Are forgetting the most important preparation, that is the preparation of our heart. Are we preparing the way of the Lord? I have been thinking about what this exactly means. How do we prepare the way of the Lord? Well being prepared means to make things ready. Is my heart ready? Do I have my priorities in order? Is Jesus first and foremost in my life? Christmas is a time we celebrate Jesus' birth. We can't think about Jesus' birth without also thinking about His life, his reason for coming, His death on the cross and His resurrection. He came to prepare the way for us to enter the kingdom of heaven. His life by example shows us what we ne...

2 Corinthians 9:15 -"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" Thanksgiving, a time to remember the bountiful provision of our Heavenly Father. No matter where you are this Thanksgiving Day, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, You can be sure that God is right there with you. He has made you, designed every detail, planned every step, and is calling out to you to draw close to Him. God has provided a way for every one in the whole world to know Him, by sending His only Son to become a sacrifice for each one of us. The greatest provision for our lives that has ever been given. Whatever circumstance you find yourself in this day. Be assured, that our Great God is there, waiting for you to run to Him. Go, lay down all your burdens, all your joys and all your thanks and praises before Him, The one who gives life and the one who saves life. Thank You God! For your Indescribable Gift! Life in You through Jesus Christ Your Son! Blessed be Your name Lord over Heaven...

A Prayer Of Thanks With a thankful heart I lift this prayer, To my God, my All, For His loving care. For providing everything I need, And guiding that I may succeed. For sustaining me though numerous storms, And showing Himself in many forms. For placing my feet on the path He has set And shining His light, lest I never forget. For calling me out of darkness and sin, And His still small voice set deep within. For His sacrifice that saved my soul, And restoring my life, making me whole. I will sing Your praises Lord, everyday! Exalting Your name as I go on my way. For You are Lord over heaven and earth! And I am ever so grateful for my second birth! May I make You famous in all I do! Bringing honor, enjoyment, and glory to You! Amen.

Recently, I went on a 6 mile hike with a couple of friends. It reminded me a lot of life. We had never hiked in this area before and were uncertain where to start. As it turned out, we chose a way that presented quite a challenge. We stood before a mountain of rocks...our destination, the top. Confident we could scale this mountain of rocks, we set out. Step by step, rock by rock, we made our climb. We were certain that when we got to the top that we would find the marked trail we were looking for. With that in mind we took the challenge. Reaching the top, we had to rest. Sitting our weary bodies on a large boulder, we took some time to quiet ourselves and pray, thanking God for this opportunity and asking for direction and protection on our journey. Once rested, We found the start of our path clearly marked. White blazes on trees and rocks, made it possible to follow the sometimes dense and treacherous path through the forest. Along the way there were areas we had to traverse some ver...

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 Our past experiences have a way of shaping us into who we are. The problem is, most of the time those experiences do not measure up to who we really are in Gods eyes. When we come to Christ, we are made into a new creation. ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ) We are called out of our old ways of thinking and living. The places in our lives where we've been stuck, God is bringing in the WD-40 and unsticking us. When we are lost in the desert, He takes that vast expanse before us and separates the sand, making a definite visible path right before our eyes. When we are drowning in the toxic wasteland of our past and everything around is oozing green, threatening to eat the flesh right off our bones...

Little did I know, when I became a mother, that my heart would be stretched, pinched, pounded, pierced, broken, and rebuilt over and over again. There is so much joy and sorrow wrapped into the raising of each child. When your child comes into the world, you hold so many hopes, dreams and expectations for him/her. In a mother's eyes, she sees all the things her child can become, inevitably though, there comes a time when the realization hits... this child has his own mind. He makes choices that go against our hearts. We watch as they make mistakes, some little and some big. We try to guide, we want their best, we grieve when their decisions will have undesirable consequences. Much like God feels with each of us. We are His children. He loves us with the heart of a mother and a father. He grieves our poor decisions, and rejoices when we finally get it right. He loves us unconditionally, right where we are and with His whole heart. As I am challenged with the decisions of my own chil...

Hanging from the tree in my front yard is a bird feeder. Bought in hopes that we could watch and enjoy the birds while they ate. But to our disappointment the birds aren't coming as we had hoped. Every now and then one appears but its so far and few between. We have the choicest seeds, said to attract all kinds of birds, the feeder is nestled into the branches of the great tree, so as to provide protection, yet visible enough so they can find it. So what's the problem? Every thing the need to be sustained and fed is there, just waiting for them. Why don't they come? This scenario reminds me what God must feel like sometimes with us. He has everything we need for life all set out for us. He offers it freely, He wants us to come, He waits as He keeps offering life sustaining food and refuge. Oh, how it must disappoint Him when we don't come and receive what He offers us. I know when I see a bird finally find our feeder, my heart jumps for joy...How much more must God rejo...

1 Corinthians 13:12-13 "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." As human beings, we want to know everything! We are rarely content to wait, or accept when things are out of order. We feel the need to figure things out, fix things, and organize our lives so everything around us runs smoothly. These are not necessarily bad things, but what happens when no matter how hard we try things just don't work out? The fact is, we try to control our own lives, forgetting our limitations, losing sight of God's sovereignty. God created us in His image. When we come to Him; we become his children. He loves us and wants us to love him in return. He becomes our Father, our loving parent, guiding, molding, teaching, and disciplining us for the rest of our earthly lives in order to shape us...

There's a tree that stands in the middle of our front yard, big, and leaf filled all summer long, the birds find refuge there, and the squirrels run up and down trying to score some bird food from the feeder that hangs from a branch. The tree is full of activity and provides shade and beauty to our home. With the on set of Autumn, our lovely tree begins to change, the lush green leaves turn to a fiery red. A beautiful sight to behold yet a foreshadowing that a transformation is coming. As the winds blow and the weather turns cold, each leave tries to hold on, to maintain it's beauty. Nature takes its course eventually and the leaves are shed one by one, stripped away revealing the trees nakedness, and all that was happening within the mask of its beauty. Bird's nests and sneaky squirrel exposed, straggly weak branches intertwined with the strong. It looks dead and deserted. But Wait! Though our tree looks to be dead, if you take the time to look further, your will see littl...

When all the world seems frenzied I cry out for release. Calm my frazzled heart,Lord Send to me your peace My energy's depleted, Trying to keep up; With all the things that people need... Lord, please fill me up. Free me from the bondage, Of the busyness of life. Quiet down the chaos, creating all this strife. I'm fashioned by Your hand,Lord To be a human being. I've become a human doing, Please help me in the seeing. Teach me to be still, Lord. That I may learn to rest, In the shelter of Your presence, When I am feeling stressed. Job 6:24 Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.

The season of Thanksgiving is upon us. Gods word says we should give thanks in ALL circumstances( 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ) It says this is God's will for all those in Christ Jesus. This is not always an easy task, especially when those little annoying daily "happenings" show up! How many times in a day do our thoughts turn to grumbling and complaint? When: *You come out of work and your tire is flat *You're in a hurry and there's a slow driver in front of you in a no passing zone. *You're exhausted and come home from work to a messy house when the rest of the family was home all day? *You can't find an important paper needed for an appointment you were supposed to be at 15 minutes ago. *The last bit of ice cream was eaten before you had the chance to get any *Your husband leaves his drawers hanging out after getting dressed and his dirty clothes strewn all over the floor. *Your kids leave a trail of mud on your freshly washed floor. *You're asked to do t...

Secured by His hands Eyes lit with wonder Unable to contain Her squeals of joy. Face to face they gaze Perfect trust engaged An indescribable moment Encompassed by pure love.