Growing in Grace

"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...