Lent is a process...

SO, I missed Sunday AGAIN. But I'm still grateful! Obviously, these Sunday Gratitude postings are not in order of priority, but they are inspired. This week I am particularly grateful for GRACE! That ultimately means that I'm grateful for my salvation, yes. But even more than that, I'm grateful to be a child of God. I'm glad that HE is my Father, my Judge, and my Redeemer. I'm grateful that God sets the standards for me, and gives me GRACE when I fail, just like a Father does with His child.

Sometimes I feel guilty, because I take for granted the amazing gift I've been given. My heart has belonged to the Father since I was so young, it's part of who I am. I can't look back on a time "before" I became a Christian. I was raised in the church, by a wonderful loving mother. I was Christened at 3 months old. I asked my mom if I could be baptized again when I was 8, and my pastor agreed to do so (even though I don't think it's technically Methodist doctrine to re-baptize someone). And the Holy Spirit entered my life in rather dramatic fashion when I was 14. In the [paraphrased] words of Brother Jim (according to my mother), 'I've never seen the Holy Spirit get hold of a child the way He did Jill.' I don't say this to seem Holier than Thou or brag, but to illustrate that God has always been in my life in a very real way. And for that I'm truly grateful.

Now, I admit to you that at times in my life I walked close to His side, and others I've been further away. But His presence never left me, and I'm constantly convicted and drawn back closer when I stray. Conviction is not at all bad. It's the loving correction of the Father, and I cherish it. Like any parent-child relationship, discipline shows the child you care about them enough to set limits for them. I'm grateful for God's conviction, knowing that with it comes His GRACE.

God loves us enough to walk with us, comfort us, guide us, convict and correct us. He loves us enough to cherish us, and count each hair on our heads (even the gray ones!). God loves us enough to create us, and draw us into His presence through the sacrifice of His only Son. Most of all, more than anything, I'm grateful to be a child of God.

MONDAY Gratitude?

I was SO BUSY Sabbathing yesterday that I totally forgot to blog. Lenten FAIL. But Lent is a process, not automatic perfection.

This week my MONDAY Gratitude is FRIENDS you can count on in a pinch, or small impalement. Regular readers know that we found this wonderful, dream of a home, because some of our BCFF (best couple friends forever) the Oakleys live up the street. Meghan came to small group and told me there was this super cute house that just got finished being remodeled that we needed to go look at. The rest is history.

So today, I had the morning off to make up for working over last week. I thought to myself, "I can bang out this simple cafe curtain for the bathroom before my afternoon meeting. I was having to fight with the fabric to keep it feeding in a straight line when I heard the machine make the CRUNK noise it does when it breaks a needle. Then I looked down and saw this:

OOPS!!!!

Then I walked in circles for a few seconds flapping my arms like a big sissy girl saying in a high pitched voice, "I have an emergency! I have an emergency!" THEN I ran out into the street, flagged down a sweet old lady that lives a few doors down across the street, and asked her to drive me to Meghan's house at the top of the hill.

Once Meghan finally answered the door (HAHA, she saw the strange car and thought it was a sales person!), just knowing she was going to help me caused me to calm down and stop crying. At that point it really didn't hurt that much, I was more scared than anything. We totally "pulled a Debbie"* before going to the hospital. I waited for her to change & brush her teeth, then she drove me down the hill and put the dogs up while I dressed and brush my teeth. I did NOT want to go to the ER in my JJs.

Sweet Meghan called ahead to the ER where she works and I feel I got a little special treatment for the hook-up. ;-) I do appreciate her sacrificing her day off from work, when she was supposed to be working on homework for school, to help out a friend in need. I mean she had to go TO WORK on her day off!

So today, on this MONDAY Gratitude I'm grateful for ALL of our wonderful FRIENDS that God has blessed us with. If you knew how many wonderful people that we call friends, well there isn't a blog post big enough to hold them all. If you're reading this, you're probably one of them!!

*Our friend Debbie lied to her hubby after she started having contractions and down played it so that she was able to take a shower and fix up before delivering their 2nd son! He believed her so much he almost left for work before she fessed up that her water had broken!

Sunday Gratitude

So this Sunday's Gratitude was a little more challenging to find; it's been a rough week. We have been faced with worry, tough decisions, and stark reality. Matt's grandmother (Grandy) went into the hospital this week with difficulty breathing, but she is home now and doing much better. Our contract with our Realtor expired this week, and we were faced with decisions about how to proceed in selling the old house. In general our hearts and minds were very heavy.

Instead of focusing on those things that were causing worry, for Lent I am trying to focus on the blessings we have. This week's Sunday Gratitude is FAMILY!!! When crisis strikes, you see who is really around you, who you can count on. This week I saw what a wonderful family we have, and what an amazing group of people I picked to marry into!

We are so blessed to have Matt's grandparents still here with us (mine are waiting for me in heaven ;) ). His mom and step-dad, aunts and uncles, are all such amazing, loving people who have been so accepting of me. They really do come through in a pinch, let me tell ya. My mom ain't too shabby herself. She called me every day to check on Grandy and to let us know she was thinking of us.

In the midst of worry and heavy hearts, God reminds me that we are truly blessed to have such a large, wonderful FAMILY who will walk with us through good times and bad. We are especially blessed with the wisdom and love that only grandparents can give, and I count myself lucky to have that experience again. I thought as time went on and I got older, that it would get easier not having my own Meme and Papaw around, but notsomuch.

So, take time this Sunday thank God for your FAMILY. And if you are blessed enough to still have them here with you, GO HUG YOUR GRANDPARENTS!!!

Join the blog hop (even if it isn't Sunday) and tell us what you are grateful for!

Sunday Gratitude

OBVIOUSLY I am grateful throughout the week, not just on Sunday. But I wanted to "take on" something, as well as "give up" something this Lent. SO, as part of my Lenten season Fast from discontent, and feast on gratitude, I have chosen to write a Sunday Gratitude post each week focusing on one thing (of many) that I am grateful for.

For my first post, I chose to write not about the thing that I'm necessarily most grateful for, but the thing that stands out for the week. This Sunday Gratitude is SUNSHINE!!!!! Yesterday was the first day of real, semi-warm, enjoyable SUNSHINE in about 4 months. We truly had a gorgeous weekend here in Chattaboogie, and I was extremely grateful.

I will admit, this winter was seriously starting to wear me down physically and emotionally. The clouds, rain, snow and dreariness were playing a large role in exacerbating my discontent of late. Now obviously I can't blame it all on the weather, but it certainly didn't help. I know that I must take responsibility for the things I was doing, and not doing, to worsen my moods. But I sure was glad to get a little help from my friend SUNSHINE this weekend!!

[she sings, "I get by with a little help from my friends"]

AHEM. Sorry.

So I went to worship this morning, with a grateful heart and a smile on my face, in no small part due to the beautiful SUNSHINE that God gave us this weekend. His whole creation is beautiful; everything He made is perfect.

[she sings, "You make everything glorious, and I am yours! What does that make me?"]

AHEM.

But the SUNSHINE that shown all around and warmed our faces this weekend reminded me that I AM GRATEFUL!! I am grateful to be a child of God, blessed in so many ways. And I will continue to feast on gratitude.

If you want to participate in Sunday Gratitude, write your own and link up here!!!