Hiking In Grace & Capturing My View

Gratitude: Growing Up And Growing In Gratitude

12.27.10

Thursday was busy with cleaning and packing. I finally cleaned up some clutter in my bedroom and packed the clothes we would need for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I had packed the suitcase with everyone’s finest for we were going to The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. for the annual Washington Choral Arts Society Christmas Concert. Everyone’s dress shoes were placed in a bag, all together, and placed in the center of the walk way, as one would leave our house through the back door. We would have to trip over it to get out the door.

The concert was a matinee and so we needed to leave the house by 11:30 A.M. Around 9 A. M. I began laying out everyone’s clothes, not wanting to be in a stressed out hurry getting everyone ready.

I looked around for the plastic bag full of shoes…

… and looked…

… and looked.

My husband didn’t remember packing a bag of shoes.

Umm…. what?

NO SHOES.

We would usually pack the car and leave through the mud room door… but the wind was so bad that we packed and left through the basement… so we didn’t trip over the shoes…

Our day ahead called for semi-formal dress not crocs-and-tennis-shoes-casual dress.

Our youngest had no shoes at all, having been carried to the car and tucked into her carseat in her pjs, while sound alseep.

We hurriedly packed all the kids into the car and drove straight to the nearest Payless, and began praying: Lord please let everyone find shoes in this one store… we needed 5 pairs… I needed them too!!

This may sound like a fairly simple task, but it is difficult to find my oldest shoes. She has a wide foot but a narrow heel. She is 12 years old and I really don’t want her growing up too fast and footwear has been an area where I have dragged my feet… does a tween-ager really need to wear 3 inch heels? I have tried to keep her in low heels.

Wouldn’t you know, the only pair in the entire store that fit her looked like this:

um… and THIS:

The diameter of the heel is that of a pencil!!

Thank you, Lord, for helping us find her shoes…. all of us shoes… in less than 10 minutes.

Thank you Lord for meeting our needs… and blessing us with our desires as well… grace-gifts from your hand…

321. new technology… so all can enjoy without gathering around a tiny screen

322. that she is so creative with her choice of seating…

323. one sock on and one sock off…

324. Shoes from above

Christmas Eve was a delightfully busy day; a whirlwind shopping spree for shoes, Christmas Concert at the Kennedy Center in DC, Dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, and a beautiful late-night Christmas Eve service at the Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, followed by fellowship and food at my parents home.

325. the family tradition of the Christmas Concert at the Kennedy Center…

326. the sound of these

327. the kids searching for and finding the flag for the Republic of the Philipines, in the Hall of Nations at the Kennedy Center

328. the Naval Academy Chapel dome

329. a son following along in the Bible as each lesson was read… on his own…

330. a child exhausted from a very long day…

331. Silent Night… for the second time of the day… by candlelight

332. a son who exclaims, while watching the flame spread in the pitch darkness, “I get it Mom! It is like the gospel being spread from person to person and lighting the world that is in darkness!”

Lord, please help him to surrender if you call him to preach and to DO IT with all his might for your glory and honor. Amen

333. our Eternal Father, who is STRONG TO SAVE

334. the vibrations felt in the chest when that pipe organ behind us sounds loud and low
335. (and oh yeah, the only shoes they had for me… were 3 inch spikes…)

336. that this shot came out clear though hand held (of course I kept the camera on the ground so it could not move much… uh… yeah… I was laying on the ground in a full length mink. I thought my mom was going to ~~tar and feather me~~ yell at me… when she turned and looked… but… thankfully… all she said was… “nice shot”)

337. singing my favorite carols, proclaiming my Savior’s birth

338. a very special visitor for Christmas Dinner, a man (now 27) that my husband led to Christ, when he was only 11 years old

339. he is now a Captain in the Army

340. that God has kept him safe through two tours in Iraq

Join in and start the New Year with your own gratitude list! Click on over to Ann Voskamp’s “A Holy Experience.”

Joy and Praise

12.22.10

As I wage battle in my own fight for joy…

As I seek God for that “joy unspeakable and full of glory”…

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not,

yet believing,

ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:”

~1 Peter 1:8

The Lord puts this verse in front of me:

Isaiah 61:3 “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”

I find this… God “gives… oil of joy for mourning, and garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…”
People focus so often on the ‘beauty for ashes’ part that precedes these words, and so little attention is given to these following words.

Think about these… the oil of joy… the garment of praise…

When Moses anointed Aaron as High Priest, he anointed him with oil and adorned him in new garments.

In the New Testament oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit which indwells each believer and new garments represent the righteousness that covers those who abide in Christ.

Mourning brings to my mind the mourning for our sin. It grieves us, as Christians, when we sin. Sin brings a heaviness of spirit. When I repent of my sin, God forgives, and my gratitude for that forgiveness turns to praise… for His forgiveness that washes white as snow.

God truly does “forgive and forget.” He treats us as if we never did anything wrong to begin with. He doesn’t say “I forgive you” and then abandon us in case we might sin again… because He knows we will sin again. He knows it and still loves us and STILL wants to be in our lives, in our every moment with us… Emmanuel ~ God with us.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,

who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

~Romans 8:1

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not,

yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:”

~1 Peter 1:6-8

Does Emmanuel live in you today? Won’t you Choose Him as a gift for yourself this Christmas?

Be filled with the oil of joy and put on the garment of praise today!

It. Is. Finished.

12.21.10

I have never been good at follow-through.

I have so many unfinished jobs ~~in my life~~ around the house. Stacks of clutter, that each time I begin to sort, I get sidetracked and never seem to get back onto the main-line task of finishing the job.

And they don’t just clutter MY house. They even clutter my mother’s house, where I have at least two boxes filled with stuff I keep meaning to Forex to the Philippines. (I have another one in my basement.)

I always have lots of great ideas but never seem to get them to completion.

Laundry gets washed and dumped on the couch, eventually it gets folded… and rarely ever makes it from basket to drawer. I have never done a complete load and actually sort it, wash it, dry it, fold it, and put it away… all in one day.

I am so glad that God finishes what He starts.

I have a terminal problem called sin.

But God… has already taken care of it.

I am so thankful that God doesn’t get sidetracked.

He has excellent ‘follow-through’.

He sent his Son to free us from our sin.

He separated it from us as far as East is from West.

He nailed it to His Cross and declared, “It is Finished.”

When he declared His work completed…

He swung the door wide open for me.

To receive Grace.

To receive Mercy.

To hold on to Hope.

To know one day I will actually be perfect.

And it all had to start somewhere…

He chose a stable and not a royal palace.

She gave birth to him in a stable… a barn…

Maybe…

laying on Joseph’s coat, to cover up the dirty hay…

in a stall toward the back…

maybe there were curious bystanders that crowded around the outside…

not knowing it was the Christ child being born…

thinking it was just another “normal” birth but in such an “unfortunate place”…

Have you ever received this most wonderful baby into your life?

He comes to bring you redeeming grace…

Have you received it?

Gratitude: And THE LIST Grows Longer…

12.20.10

306. “Look! I braided my hair all by myself!” and she did a great job too!
307. snow blankets on fields
308. tree skeletons frosted white with snow
309. the “crunch” of snow underfoot
310. the “oatmeal-peach-mango” scent of two freshly bathed dogs
311. Carmel Brulee Latte, a tasty Starbucks gift from my love
312. bloggers willing to answer odd questions and help another blogger out
313. this morning’s sunrise
314. this morning’s sonrise, already singing at the kitchen table
315. a sweet sister-in-love letting me know my parents have just started the long drive home
316. the education I received sitting under Pastor Ron Fenwick’s preaching
317. the education I receive sitting under my husband’s preaching
318. the education I get at home… I get 24/7 access to all that knowledge God has put in his head 🙂
319. a good friend taking time to check my links
320. they work now… (now I have quite a bit of tweeking to do to make it more interesting)

Linking up at Ann Voskamp’s A Holy Experience today. Come and join our gratitude community!

Gratitude: Better Late Then Never… When Counting

12.15.10

Another week of Counting His Blessings with Ann Voskamp…

285. Youngest finished her breakfast, “I’m done Daddy, I’m FULL.”
286. a massive cloud of red-winged blackbirds
287. being engulfed in them while driving, as they decide to change fields
288. pink clouds striping the sky over frosted white fields
289. dog-breath steam cloud, as Carmel sits surveying her realm from the top step of the porch
290. listening to my Baking Girl teaching her youngest sibling how to roll snicker-doodle balls in cinnamon and sugar
291. the children spilling memories while their hands busily decorate the tree

292. early morning announcement from the youngest, “Its Miss Crystal Day!
293. …and she will see our tree and she will say, ‘Its bee-u-ful!'”
294. Our Baking Girl finding making two batches of cookies rewarding and enjoyable, “I have such a sense of accomplishment!”
295. a dear long-time friend coming for a “sleep-over”
296. her company and fellowship
297. she loves and enjoys our kids too!
298. early-morning theology discussion, in the kitchen, while sipping coffee
299. the gift of Coffee
300. that she joined us in our ‘home’ worshipping our Savior on Sunday Morning
301. the cantata disc did not skip during the service
302. “Glory in the Highest”
303. tropical children scraping together a ‘snowball’ from the light dusting we received
304. Husband’s love and care for me
305. a grandmother working all night caring for others, driving an hour and a half to enjoy Christmas programs and driving an hour and a half back to work for another night shift of caring for others

Join us over there, click a few links and read a few lists…