Growing in Grace

"Few people have grateful hearts like captives who have been freed and the afflicted who have been healed." -Beth Moore Being a sinner saved by grace is more than enough for which to be grateful. I have been freed from my old, sinful way of life and have experienced the healing of my brokenness. Because I have chosen to allow Christ to be the Lord of my life, I now see everything as a gift from above. The more I count the gifts, the more I see. Sometimes the blessings are big, but most of the time they are the simple things that are easy to take for granted. I am thankful to have been freed and healed. And so the list continues. . .  326. Exercise - I’m able 327. My parents - willing to take the kids over night 328. The flexibility home schooling allows us - the kids can have an over nighter at G&Gs! 329. My hubby - my best friend who still makes my heart skip a beat! 330. A new hair cut 331. A quiet house 332. A great doctor who really cares abou

More from Beth Moore's "Praying God's Word Day By Day" Pure appreciation for His presence emerges from the daily walk, perhaps in the mundane more than the miraculous. "Lord, according to Your Word, if my eyes are bad, my whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within me is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23). Lord, this verse tells me that the focus of my gaze, where my eyes are fixed, has a monumental impact on whether light or darkness will be prevalent in my life. Please, Lord, heal my eyes - my sight! - that I might look to You my Hope and my Redeemer. Lord, even though I may feel covered in darkness, even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You (Psalm 139:12). Cloak me in Your presence, God, for in You is no darkness at all." Focus. . . that is what counting gifts is all about. There are circumstances in my personal life that could cause me

Tomorrow marks one year since my brother-in-law, Dennis Lucero, Sr., passed away following a long battle with many health complications including stomach cancer. Sunday the 11th, Veterans Day, marks six years since my aunt passed away following her battle with cancer. Both of these people were very special to me and are missed very much. Unfortunately, disease and death are a part of our fallen world, even for believers in Christ. The Bible teaches that all trials serve a purpose in our lives (James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6-7). In spite of this, we still wish we didn't have to endure them or see those we love endure them. We pray for healing, hoping it is God's will to allow it this side of heaven. But God's Word tells us that God created us and that all our days were ordained for us and written in His book before we were ever born (Psalm 139:13-16). Sometimes "the healing doesn't come". God may ask us to endure health problems for some time or He may choose to take

Beth Moore is another of my favorite authors. During my hubby's cancer journey a friend gave me her book " Praying God's Word Day by Day ". There were so many amazing quotes and thoughts that really encouraged me. I loved this one on joy: The greatest joy in our lives is the very thing we have deserved the least. It is an absolute gift of grace. Father, how I thank You that Your servants were also sinners saved by grace. The apostle Paul said, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service." Even though he was once a blasphemer and persecutor and a violent man, he was shown mercy. Like him, Lord, Your grace has been poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 1:12-14). Never let me show contempt for the riches of Your kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that Your kindness leads me toward repentance (Romans 2:4).

Although Ann Voskamp's book " One Thousand Gifts " sparked my quest for joy, there have been other sources that have pointed me in the direction of counting my gifts. In reading Sally Clarkson's book " Seasons of a Mother's Heart ", I found a chapter titled "Surprised by Joy". While this chapter spoke about the joys she found in homeschooling her children, the premise was that there unexpected joys to be found in everyday life if we choose to look for them.. She ends each chapter of this books with "Thoughts on the Living Word". Here is how she ended this chapter: Eternal life does not start after we die. It is a quality of life we enjoy from the moment of rebirth. Though we cannot escape suffering in this temporal life, God's desire for us is to fully enjoy the eternal life he has given us, not just at some point in the distant future, but from the moment our spirit is regenerated with new life by the holy Spirit. He brings a

"God is always good and I am always loved"  (My favorite quote from Ann Voskamp's book "One Thousand Gifts") Ann Voskamp writes that eucharisteo has made her her truest self, "full of grace". Eucharisteo has made me my truest self, "joyful spirit; song of happiness". The more I count my gifts from the Lord, the more I have to be joyful about regardless of my current circumstances. I"m grateful for the challenge to live fully right where I am. 226.  Mom-in-law home safely from her trip 227. Check engine light diagnosed and fixed simply 228. More curriculum found for less 229. Hug and kiss from my girl after her night away 230. Sunday morning worship and teaching by Donald Perkins 231. First day of school went fairly well 232. Fun with Legos 233. Kids having fun together after some tempers during the day 234. Sweet card from my girl 235. “Best Mom in the Universe” from my Cuddle Bug

"The most fundamental thing is not how we think of God but rather what God thinks of us: 'How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important.'" -C.S. Lewis "Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are. . . a divine choice." -Henri Nouwen "He chooses His children to fully live! Fully live the fullest life; . . . The discipline of giving thanks, of unwrapping one thousand gifts, unwraps God's heart bare: I choose you. Live!" -AV "Eucharisteo had gently slowed me down, opened my hand to purge me of my hold, my control, on the world. With each gift I had accepted His. . . I empty to become full. Full of grace. . . to fully live. . . Eucharisteo had been exactly this for me, opening my eyes to a way of seeing, to a realization that belief is, in essence, a way of the eyes. The one thousand presents wakes me to the presence of God - but more so, living eucharisteo, living in

John chapter 8 begins with Jesus retreating to the Mount of Olives. At dawn He resumes His place in the temple to teach. He was interrupted by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who brought a woman they claimed to have been caught in adultery. Their motive in doing so was to trap Jesus so they could accuse Him. In those days, the Romans did not allow the Jews to carry out death sentences. If Jesus had agreed to stone the woman, He would have been in conflict with the Romans. Yet if He said not to stone her, then He would have been guilty of not supporting the Law of Moses. Jesus cannot be “trapped” by any man. He began to write in the dirt with His finger. Then He disarmed the religious leaders with His statement, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” With these words, Jesus upheld the Law. However, because of the qualifications He gave, no one was qualified to do so. As He began to write in the dirt again, the men gradually began to l

"Use me, then, my Savior, for whatever purposes and in whatever way you may require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel, fill it with your grace."  -D.L.Moody "Grace is alive, . . . If I dam up the grace, hold the blessings tight, joy within dies. A life contemplating the blessings of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ." (p. 184) Jesus washed the disciples feet at the Last Supper. When He was finished, He asked the disciples, "Do you understand what I have done for you?" Then He told them, "Now that I your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." (John 13:12; 14-15) Ann Voskamp writes, "At the last, this is what will determine a fulfilling, meaningful life, a life that, behind all the facades, every one of us longs to live: gratitude for the blessings that expresses itself by becoming the blessing . Euchar

On September 2nd we celebrated Dennis' 49th birthday. I wrote on Facebook, that for a cancer survivor and his family, birthdays are a treasured gift. On August 18, two years ago we received the news of Dennis' colon cancer diagnosis. It was a great shock and life as we knew it came to a screeching halt. Our lives have been filled with all things medical for the past two years. August 5 was the one year anniversary of Dennis' last chemotherapy infusion and August 17 was one year from his porta-cath removal. We thought this would be his last surgery and that life could begin to move forward - that we could get back to "normal". But as we've written before, we are now living a "new normal". Dennis is still dealing with affects from his treatment and surgery. He still has follow-up appointments. We still have medical bills. And he had to have another surgery which was related to his previous surgeries. Dennis developed a hernia at his ostomy site tha

I cannot add anything to what Ann Voskamp has already said in this chapter of her book "One Thousand Gifts", except the continuation of my own list as I continued to be surprised by joy in even the hardest, darkest days. . .  How to live in a state of awe when life is mundane and ordinary? I murmur eucharisteo thanks . . and the world expands and heightens and deepens and surges with the glory of God and I can feel the body decreasing and the soul increasing and joy filling the breadth between.(p. 168) Expectations kill relationships. . . Without expectation, what can topple the surprising wonder of the moment? (p. 169) Is it only when our lives are emptied that we're surprised by how truly full our lives were? Instead of filling with expectations, the joy-filled expect nothing - and are filled. . .  The humble lived surprised. The humble live by joy. 'God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.' (Matthew 5:5) The humble are the

Following the feeding of the five thousand in chapter six, chapter seven opens with Jesus continuing to teach and do miracles throughout Galilee. He stayed away from Judea, however, because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Him. As the Feast of Tabernacles was drawing near, Jesus’ brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, told Jesus that He should go to Judea to do His miracles publicly. Their advice was not to bring others to a salvation, but to see Jesus become a prominent public person. Sadly, Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in Him. Jesus told His brothers that it was not the right time for Him to go. He was on a divine time table set for Him by the Father. It was right for the brothers to go to the Feast because they were following tradition - it was expected of them and they were not a threat to anyone. Jesus, however, was hated because His teaching challenged people to live righteously. He called sin what it was - sin; and the world hated Him for it. Therefore, He could not g

"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." Ralph Waldo Emerson Worry. Stress. Fear. Anxiety. As one who has experienced all of these at various times these past several years, I can say that they will not lead to joy. It's difficult sometimes to wrap our minds around our struggles. We may question why. We may get angry. It's definitely not easy to accept it. When things are challenging, we often naturally become stressed. Ann Voskamp writes that  "stress isn't only a joy stealer. The way we respond to it can be sin." John 14:1 says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." She continues, "I know an untroubled heart relaxes, trusts, leans assured into His ever-dependable arms. Trust, it's the antithesis of stress . . . I can't fill with joy until I learn how to trust: . .If I believe, then I must let go and trust." (p. 146) So the opposite of stress is trust. An

"You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances, and tedious annoyances really are. You would realize that your complaints about them are nothing more nor less than blasphemies - though that never occurs to you. Nothing happens to you except by the will of God, and yet (God's) beloved children curse it because they do not know it for what it is." (quote by Jean-Pierre de Caussade; p. 125 "One Thousand Gifts") Often in life these past several years, I have seen things as setbacks and disturbances and annoyances. Even now, I feel a little like we've taken a few steps back in life with Dennis' recent hernia surgery. But this chapter in Ann Voskamp's book reminds me that I need to look at these moments also as "grace and gift". In difficult moments, I need to keep my focus on Christ. "Contemplative simplicity isn't a matter of circumstances; it's a matter of focus.

"Pain is everywhere, and wherever the pain there can be everywhere grace. . . The only place we have to come before we die is the place of seeing God. This is what I'm famished for: more of the God-glory. I whisper with the blind beggar, 'Lord, I want to see.' (Luke 18:41) (p. 108) "I want to see beauty. In the ugly, in the sink, in the suffering, in the daily, in all the days before I die, the moments before I sleep. Isn't beauty what we yearn to burn with before we die?" (p. 109) "Every moment I live, I live bowed to something. And if I don't see God, I'll bow down before something else." (p. 110) "Eucharisteo is everywhere and I want to see eucharisteo everywhere and I want to remember how badly I really want to see." (p. 111) "How we behold determines if we hold joy. Behold glory and be held by God. How we look determines how we live. . .if we live." (p. 113) "Faith is in the gaze of a soul. That fa

John chapter 6 opens with crowds of people following Jesus “because they saw the miraculous signs He had performed” (v. 2).  Jesus and His disciples headed for the mountainside, only to find “a great crowd coming toward (them)” (v. 5). Jesus seems to choose this time to “test” His disciples by asking them how the crowd of people could be fed. There were several solutions offered for feeding such a large crowd. The first one as read in Mark 6:36 was to send the people away. Philip added it up and said it would take 8 month’s wages to buy food that would barely feed the crowd. Andrew seemed to be the one to show some faith as he found the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish and brought him to Jesus. The final and only viable solution came from the Lord. Jesus gave thanks and then had the disciples pass out the food. Warren Wiersbe reminds us that “whenever there is a need, give all you have to Jesus and let Him do the rest.” He also points out the fact that Jesus gave thanks. He writes, “God

Hello, Family and Friends.  Just wanted to give you a brief update and share a prayer request for Dennis. I posted an update on my blog at the beginning of April. You can read it here if you like. I'll pick up from there. Dennis had a CT scan and colonoscopy at the beginning of May as this fell between the anniversaries of his two surgeries. The CT scan looked good, but revealed that he did have a small hernia above his ostomoy site. The colonoscopy went well. The doctor found a few small polyps which he removed. He said everything looked good, especially the surgery site; and he reminded us that Dr. Pigazzi is one of the top surgeons. We all looked forward to the end of school which for us was June 11. The summer has been good for Dennis. He has been able to both rest and exercise. These have worked together to increase his energy level. I wrote on my post in April that he was struggling with this as well as with digestive issues. Not only has his energy level inc