Grace and Gratitude

Every time I hear the word grace, I am reminded that I must live a life, everyday, which reflects, my gratitude to God ~ Chuck Colson

 

Being thankful is a choice. It is something we willfully do each day.

I mean, let me very transparent here. I awake most mornings to my Bible and a cup of coffee. Sometimes I get some quiet in there too. Most days, no matter how early I awake, my children are very soon bounding down the steps with hug and kisses – Ready to start their day. No need for coffee or tea on their part! haha

Some days I do thank God for my joyful and loving children. but not every day. Some days, I have to admit it, I grumble. There goes my quiet times. So much for prayer and reading. They cannot sit still; they already have a plan in place. Its a rush of getting dressed to get outdoors, to walk, to do a new project (art or nature or story). They have a plan. And some days rather than appreciating their desire to go and do, I just want them to shoo  LOL

I admit it, on those mornings, I choose to be ungrateful for the blessings He has provided. I need to choose to be thankful; I need to be intentional in doing so. Every day. Regardless of whether I slept well or not; how loud everyone was in the morning; if the car works or if it stalled and we are home for the day. In sickness and health, in all things, it’s about choosing to be grateful because there is always something to be grateful for.  And how hard can it be when “His mercies are new every morning?” (Lamentations 3:23)

 

12 Pearls of Christmas | New Beginnings | Sharron Cosby

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas blog series!

Merry Christmas from Pearl Girls™! We hope you enjoy these Christmas “Pearls of Wisdom” from the authors who were so kind to donate their time and talents! If you miss a few posts, you’ll be able go back through and read them on this blog throughout the next few days.

We’re giving away a pearl necklace in celebration of the holidays, as well as some items from the contributors! Enter now below. The winner will be announced on January 2, 2014, at the Pearl Girls blog.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we’re all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Mother of Pearl, Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace, or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

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New Beginnings
by Sharron Cosby

Christmas. The mere mention of the word sends thoughts and memories skittering like a box of spilled ornaments. Some roll toward sweet remembrances of times shared with family. Others bounce to the let’s-not-go-there corner of our minds.

I recall Christmas 2009. The one I wanted to cancel. My only son is an addict, and this was his worst year ever. I had convinced myself it would be his last, assuming he would be in prison or dead by the next Christmas. I told my daughters we would exchange gifts and have our usual holiday dinner, but no tree or decorations. I couldn’t dredge up the emotional energy to plaster contrived cheer around the house.

I’m usually the decorator, gift purchaser, food preparer, and mess cleaner-upper. Executing the necessary holiday tasks takes time and effort. Worrying about my son had left me drained of the required get-up-and-go. I couldn’t do it. Thank goodness for online shopping; at least there would be presents to hand out.

My pastor’s message four days before Christmas cut straight through my Scrooge-like attitude. His sermon points were: The holidays are too much trouble, count your blessings, and forgive someone.

Considering Christmas too much trouble reflects a selfish attitude, according to my pastor. What if Jesus had thought that way? My icy heart began to thaw.

The second point, count your blessings, stopped me dead in my tracks. Count blessings with a broken heart? I considered my husband’s love and my two daughters who have stood by their brother. I smiled as I pictured the faces of my four grandsons and the joy they brought our family. Yes, I had many blessings to number.

The third was the hardest: forgiveness. Forgive my son for the pain and suffering he had caused? “God, you can’t be serious,” I protested. “We’ve spent thousands of dollars on him, he’s broken our hearts, and he’s in worse shape than ever before.”

“Forgive him,” the Spirit whispered.

Tears slid down my face as I chose to forgive my son. No strings attached.

After church I headed home with a changed attitude. When my husband left for work, I retrieved the ornaments, dragged the Christmas tree from the garage, and set it up, my gift to the family. Decorating our tree with the children’s handmade ornaments is always a joint project, but that day I worked alone. I held the clothespin reindeers, popsicle stick picture frames, and monogramed angels and remembered the good times.

With tear-filled eyes, I watched as amazement etched the faces of my daughters when they came to our home Christmas morning and saw the decorated tree. “Mom! You put up the tree after all,” they said.

The biggest surprise of the day came when our daughter’s boyfriend knelt in front of her and asked, “Will you marry me?”

The discouragement of addiction was replaced with the joy of new beginnings, which is, after all, the message of the Christ Child.

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Sharron Cosby has been married to Dan for thirty-nine years, is Mom to three adult children and “Mimi” to five grandchildren. Her family was rocked by her son’s drug addiction for fifteen years until he laid it down on February 18, 2010. She uses her life experiences to offer hope and encouragement to families caught in the chaos of addiction. Sharron is available to speak to groups on addiction related topics. Sharron recently published her first book, Praying for Your Addicted Loved One: 90 in 90, a ninety day devotional for families in recovery or those wanting to be. Receive weekly encouragement at her blog, www.efamilyrecovery.com, and Twitter @sharroncosby or contact her at moc.liamg@ybsocnorrahs.

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a cause to be thankful

It’s been on my mind a great deal lately – being thankful. having a cause.
both are so important in life and can make or break our lives, relationships, experiences…..

so many live a life of entitlement today. we believe it is our right to have whatever it is we feel we need or want, at any given moment. and of course we are never happy, truly, because there is always that next thing we desire – the excitement of obtaining overshadows and often covers completely, the gratitude we should feel for all that we do have.

i am guilty. i am a complainer. i can be quite ornery when things do not go as I want them to; when my neat and organized life is the exact opposite, how quickly I forget that i have much to be grateful for.

Let us find a cause. Jesus – thats my cause. I want people to see Him when they look at me. And that will never happen, not with the power that it could have, if I am always whining and complaining.

I need to tame my tongue – I need to be wise in the words I speak. For my family; I need to remember that I am a witness and I am, more importantly, His.

Reading A Cause to Be Thankful reminds us of how important it is to be thankful for all we have, in the good times and in the bad times. Even more, let us show our love and faith by being thankful in the midst of the storm.

Let us examine our heart; pray that He may cleanse us – Search our hearts and show us where we are needing to grow. That we may glorify Him in all that we do.

Required Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

Everyday God Moments

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much,

much more will be asked”

(Luke 12:48b).

I love my faith – I love being in the kitchen. Cooking up new recipes for my family. Some sweet treats; some meant to be more nourishing yet still tasty and fresh as can be.

Food and faith. I think there can be more of a connection between the two if we are really honest with ourselves. How and what do we consume? We should be considering this even more today.

As I follow the news, Monsanto, GMO, gluten free diets, paleo .. what am I missing? There is such a great need, and desire, to be healthier, to eat better and maintain a natural foods diet. Where do we begin? How to we maintain a better life for our families?

Kay says: “God seemed very real to me when . . . “. Every one of us can testify to times in which God taught us something or gave us extraordinary courage or answered a prayer in a special way. Do members of our families (especially the next generations) know about those times? What do we behind that they may share and see and know? Its precious!

The recipes within – such comfort- so traditional, old fashioned – yummmm! It was what first caught my eye. I have such a stack of cookbooks already; adding more when I can. Nothing better than a book with inspiration – wisdom to enjoy those everyday moments – and delicious treats too! Cooking my way through one taste at a time.

What a joy!

Seasons

I have to remember…….

I was reading about the Common Core. A friend of mine is very active and involved in this and as a homeschool family…It is something I need to be aware and informed of.

I was looking at all she has put together; information and links, online and off. All of her activity in her community; radio interviews, written works – She is an inspiration.

And for a moment, I felt a bit of bitterness. Why can I not be “in charge” of something big like thi? Lucky her….getting to be so involved, so active, in something so important..

And here I am reading online, with a little one resting on me, rocking and reading. Nursing my sweet little girl. Who will soon be two.

Seasons. I heard the Lord speak – it is not your season. “Children are an heritage from the Lord….” There is a time and a purpose for everything…A season for all things.

I forget how blessed I am with my little ones. ANd sometimes I forget to enjoy those moment. Intentional. It is how we must be with our little ones. We must be intentional. His word tells us so. Just read Deuteronomy 6 – in all things we are to train our little ones –

As we walk, as we sit – when we awake and as we lay down to rest….Teach them a love of the Lord, help to sow seeds within that will grow as they grow – until our little ones are no longer so small but have a great love for the Lord and the things of the Lord.

I want to do great things. I need to remember. I AM doing great things for the Lord. Pray without ceasing. Speak His word, worship Him in all times and seasons. Tis the season for spills and snuggles; for books and blanket tents; legos and baking cookies, eating ice cream.

My time shall come – when they are grown and gone – in a season of raising and training their own for the Lord – I must remember and love and cherish every moment.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Are you Full?

Philippians 4:11-12: I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Why i it so difficult to be content with what we have ? Why is it so many are always seeking bigger and better? It seem some folks can never have enough. How can we “be full” for the glory of God?

In 1675 it was written by Rev. Burroughs writes, “A Christian is taught by God to know how to be full.” He continues, “There are many who would gladly hear a lesson on how they could obtain fullness, but they do not consider it as necessary to learn how to sanctify God in their fullness.
If I could preach a sermon or two on how you could supply your wants and how you could obtain wealth, I have no question that our church would be filled with people.
This would be the case if I were to teach poor people how they could get rich, or teach those who are disgraced how they could get honor, and the like.
But, I am teaching you a lesson from God rather than man, and that is much better.
It is a better lesson for one to learn how to honor God in fullness than to learn how to get full.”

How true it is, even more, today! We need to learn how to prosper and yet be content. I do believe we need to spend more time in prayer; seeking from Him, how we may be full for His glory.

This was a wonderful addition to my ibrary – something I believe we all need to understand more. In a world that says we can never have enough we need the truth that much more today. He is the only one who can fill us full – He is all we need. As for all that we have, does not every good gift come from above? And as stewards of thee “things” should we not be sure that we use them, evermore, to glorify Him and to further.

No truer words have been spoken than: I must decrease that He may increase.

Contentment, Prosperity and God’s Glory is a treasure that everyone should read; take your time and approach it in prayer. There are amazing truths here we should all seek to live out.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received Contentment, Prosperity, and God’s Glory by Jeremiah Burroughs for free from Cross Focused Reviews. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Counting it all …

I cannot say this just right but it stuck. Sitting in the pew last night, listening to one of my favorite preachers.  It has been hard lately in the King home. Between the mess from the remodel, challenges with the kids, quizzing practices, friends and family…Many burdens have been felt. Its been awhile since I have felt like I could truly say, I am blessed. Yet I am even in this storm that I have been in. And I needed to hear what I heard last night – God works in great ways. He always knows our need and is sure to deliver.

Its been a grumbling, moaning and groaning time for all of us too. Not one of us has seemed to feel rested and relaxed, rejuvenated and at peace….So where is the joy of the Lord in our life ? More importantly what path did we choose? We could choose joy….or we could choose…..to complain. To focus on all the things that we think are going wrong; all the battles, all the spiritual warfare coming against us. Do we put on the armor of GOd in these times? r do we curl up under the covers and hide?

I have done neither of those. I wish I had done one of them. Instead I have been moody and irritable, short tempered and ungrateful. I have been mad and sad and sure that He has forsaken me…..I have been a terrible witness !

Complaining is so easy. Its so much easier than digging down deep and thanking Him for these trials that will only bring s closer to Him. These struggles that strengthen our faith and bring us into a deeper walk with Him. These persecutions we face – they are nothing compared to all that He nedured for US so why when we are persecuted for Him do we get so angry about it? Its just easier to get mad. 😦

Anyway to get to what was said that stuck. To get to that message, that simple little sentance that hit me. Right in the gut. Made me remember how precious I am to Him; how sweet and awesome He is in my life. Where would I be without Him? And why and how did I forget how priceless and precious this life that He has given me, is? How many could use al that I have? How many can walk with Him and hear Him as I have?

I count myself blessed. No matter the storms. And I thank God for truth – truth that hurts-  but also heals.

…. We complain about today and all the thing that are wrong in our eyes….yet we never stop to think that yesterday God reviewed and approved our today – He blessed it as a part of His plan for us, for our life, for His glory….We may not understand it but those struggles, those trials, those things that break our heart – He approved them because we need them. It doesn’t have to make sense to us – We just have to have faith – and show that faith, in Him 🙂 He has blessed today even though it hurts – Thus we must rejoice!

 

I wanna Get Away…

I wanna get away……I have been saying this lately. A lot.

Why? What do I want to get away from?

Our house is loud and crazy; fun and full of joy but tiring – there is lots of work to be done; constant cleaning and organizing – again and again.

I have muchto  be so very thankful for-  all that we are blessed with –  the signs of joy and learning and life and togetherness…..yet by the middle of the week……I wanna get away……

Shame on me … what message does this send to my little ones? My husband? Even our doggies…?

What DO I want to get away from? My perspective perhaps? My blessings are many but only when  I see them as blessings.

Praying, Lord help me to SEE and to THINK on those things as the good, right and true joy that they are.

Let me be right in word and deed, in thought and in action that I may not see these things as that which I need to run from but rather what I wish to run to (or with).

Glory to God!

Real Feasting

Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. Proverbs 17:1 

I feel so much pressure sometimes to get that “just right” meal for the family each night. And how fast the days go by.

Today for example went by at the speed of light…haha  We woke up early (as always –  I am NOT a morning person however my three children are the type that like to be up to see the sunrise ~sigh)

SO we started out with cereal and a bit of Bible reading (I read outloud while they eat and I enjoy coffee to wake up, wake up!)  Soon I was bathing a little one whose poopy diaper came out of nowhere and eruptred all over…might as well shower myself; get stuff clean in the laundry too …

FInally all are dressed, clean and ready to go…Internet isn’t working right; neither is our telelvision (we subscre to netflix and aside from local channels its all we have) Blah 😦

And in all of this we do manage to get some reading done;enjoy some lego and lincoln log building time – stories of the old west to go with the Indian figures the boys have – leading into math. How many logs we need to make our cabin? Time to measure the feet and inches for height and length….Can we build a bigger one the Indians can fit in?

Already its 3pm and today I am doing well – meatloaf in the over; ready to heat those potatoes and veggies in a bit. Its a crazy busy good kind of day.

But most days – its a struggle. Many days I have to fight with my oldest to get some things done; he is it seems what a recent TED Talks video refers to as a “hackschooler” Very interesting stuff that gave me lots to think about regarding how we do “school” and what we expet of our son (7).

But the point  I was reminded of today, I guess, is that we are provided for. We will not t my boys dismay be having cheetos and ice cream sundaes for dinner BUT we will always have enough. A nd it always will be prepared with love, and with concern for their well being in mind. We shall feast and be joyful ( well mealtime here is a bit of a struggle right now) but we will do the best we can to enjoy our time together. Is it not that much better? Chicken nuggets may not be the  best; pot pies are yummy and shepard pie too – warm and inviting and good for you! It’s not lobster or steak but at least we can rejoice TOGETHER for dinner time.

Interesting fact too as I was reading the commentary on this verse; did you know that bread was the staple food in ancient times? It was eaten with butter, honey or a vinegary dip. A dry morsel would be a bit of bread without anything to go with it. The best beasts were used to sacrifice, and since a portion of each was eaten by the offerers and priests, this would be the choicest meat, yet even the dry crust of bread would be better in a house where there was peace and harmony than the choicest food with constant wrangling. Who can enjoy food if the stomach is upset because of an inharmonious home?

Bless the Lord for that breat – truly one cannot live by bread alone 🙂

Numbered Days

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

I have a ot of habits….some good,some not so good. All are things that I feel some kind of need to hold on to. I need a cup of coffee first thing each morning; I need to start my day in the Lord’s book…..I just need to. Good habit.

Then there are those habits that are not so good. I need a clean sink every morning; I need clean floors. Sometimes this comes at the expense of what could have been a morning of books or games wth my little ones. Bad habit.

He knows the days that are before us. What each day holds. When our last day shall be.

We must be wise. We must be gracious. We must let every moment inspire us to see all that is the awesomeness of His creation.

I fear too often I get caught up in those mundane tasks; those things that we must do but that we must remember not to take too seriously.

So the floor is a bit sticky. SO the dishes are piled up in the sink. There is time for that later.

Maybe the laundry is piling up….Maybe the countertops are sticky ….

But these little ones are only little for so long…….They are only ours for so long and we know not how long that is.

Really. Our days are numbered but that should not be a bad thing. Let us remember and rejoice in those days we are so blessed to have.

And let us remember to hold all things in their place; temper each habit, each routine with the grace and wisdom of God.

 

“The right thing to do with habits is to lose them in the life of the Lord, until every habit is so practiced that there is no conscious habit at all. Our spiritual life continually resolves into introspection, because there are some qualities we have not added yet…Watch how your Father will upset those times if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes – ‘I can’t do that right now, I am praying; it is my hour with God.’ No, it is the hour with your habit…Recognize the defect and then look for the opportunity of exercising yourself along the line of the quality to be added.”