Grace in the Midst

1 Praise the LORD, my soul.  LORD my God, you are very great ;  you are clothed with splendor and majesty .  2 The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment;  he stretches out the heavens like a tent  3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.  He makes the clouds his chariot  and rides on the wings of the wind.  4 He makes winds his messengers, [a] flames of fire his servants.  5 He set the earth on its foundations;  it can never be moved.  6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;  the waters stood above the mountains.  7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,  at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;  8 they flowed over the mountains ,  they went down into the valleys ,  to the place you assigned for them.  9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;  never again will they cover the earth.  10 He makes springs p...

957. A friend who MIGHT join me in blogging her gifts when I get to 1000 (and the fact that I'm almost at 1000!) 958. A pretty severe cold slowing me down and taking the pressure off (something about being sick helps me give myself permission to get less done) 959. An ALMOST two year old little boy!  We celebrated Cole's birthday with his Grandaddy, Ollie, Grammy & Grampy &  (GD & O were visiting from out of town) 960. Cole playing with a Blue balloon for almost an hour - while laughing hysterically 961. A WONDERFUL evening out with Granddaddy and Ollie - if you haven't tried Delvino's in Belfast, it is YUMMY! 962. Beautiful weather 963. Happy, healthy boys. 964. Second chances (I re-read through this list and realized I skipped 964, but that still had time to edit it) 965. Avonlea - my cuddle bug 966. My "Heart & Home" friends (an online to do list that inspires us to grow spiritually and domestically) 967. Our very own ABC song...be...

1 Praise the LORD, my soul ;  all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  2 Praise the LORD, my soul,  and forget not all his benefits —  3 who forgives all your sins  and heals all your diseases,  4 who redeems your life from the pit  and crowns you with love and compassion ,  5 who satisfies your desires with good things  so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  6 The LORD works righteousness   and justice for all the oppressed.  7 He made known his ways to Moses,  his deeds to the people of Israel:   8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,   slow to anger, abounding in love.   9 He will not always accuse,  nor will he harbor his anger forever;  10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve  or repay us according to our iniquities.  11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,  so great is his love for those who fear h...

931. A dear friend  spending an entire day (and more) helping and encouraging me as I redesigned (and renamed) Grace in the Midst 932. Letting the boys stay up later than usual one night because I was enjoying them so much 933. Reading books to Blake, Cole & Avonlea in our big blue rocking chair 934. Singing 935. Spontaneity 936. Looking forward to a visit with my Dad and Stepmom 937. Cole falling asleep on  Krissy 's lap during church (and all of her help on Sunday mornings!) 938. A room full of children singing praise to God 939. Finally finding the perfect place for all our living room furniture - and Matt actually agreeing! 940. An evening of encouragement with dear friends 941. Letting Go and letting God 942. Blake - "Daddy, these leaves are for you...you can keep them all day"...He had filled a cup with fallen leaves - Somehow children realize that the simple things truly are gifts 943. Talking on the phone with my soulmate for almost an hour 944. L...

1 Hear my prayer , O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. 2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. 3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. 4 My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. 5 By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. 6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. 7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. 8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. 9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping. 10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up , and cast me down. 11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. 12 But thou, O LORD, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. 13 Thou shalt arise , and ha...

914. 8 years with the love of my life (no, honey - I am not being sarcastic - promise.) 915. Making the boys laugh while pumping gas 916. Blake having a blast on a new friends trampoline 917. The boys "washing" the kitchen window 918. A friend who inspires me spiritually, physically, and entrepreneurially (not sure if that is really a word?) 919. Blake singing Hallelujah  while  playing with a box car around matt's sleeping head 920. Resting on our hammock while the kids slept 921. A family walk across the Belfast bridge 922. An absolutely GORGEOUS weekend 923. Enjoying our backyard 924. Long conversations about faith and life with my sister 925. My grandmother thinking about our family on her shopping trip 926. 2 friends getting settled in their new houses (on the same weekend) 927. 3 day weekends 928. Matt letting me move the living room furniture - AGAIN 929. A man capturing the moment (examining a caterpillar crawling across his finger) on the Belfast B...

      Don't worry - I'm not going to publish a running sins list :)...however, I have been thinking about my sin a lot more than usual lately.  And I don't mean that in a bad way.  I'm feeling convicted - not condemned.       I want to lead a blameless life.  There was a time where I found the word blameless frustrating because I had it associated with perfection, which - though God's word tells us to strive for perfection, we all know is actually impossible on this side of heaven.  I do believe, however, that God's word indicates that we can lead blameless lives.  Though I am still in the process of figuring out exactly what that means, I have a feeling it has a lot to do with bringing our sin before the Lord on a regular basis.  I just started reading a book called "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges - I am only half way through the first chapter and I'm already feeling excited.  Yes, a book about sins is exciting me....

1  I will sing of your love and justice ;    to you, LORD, I will sing praise . 2  I will be careful to lead a blameless life— (I am thankful that we can be blameless by bringing our sin before the Lord on a regular basis...)   when will you come to me?    I will conduct the affairs of my house    with a blameless heart . 3  I will not look with approval    on anything that is vile.    I hate what faithless people do;  ( I  hate, or strive to hate what they DO, and I DO - not hate myself or the people who commit faithless acts)   I will have no part in it. 4  The perverse of heart shall be far from me;    I will have nothing to do with what is evil.   5  Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret,    I will put to silence; ( I'm afraid at times it is my very own lips that I am having to put to silence...and thus far I haven't...

891. Ugly/Beautiful - Boys are up earlier than usual this morning/they are healthy and happy 892. Ugly/Beautiful - It is Monday morning and I'm feeling behind already/everything I am behind on is in actuality a blessing (we have clothes, we have dishes, etc...) 893. Starting to understand the words - A sacrifice of praise 894. Long overdue catch up conversations with dear friends 895. Cole playing contentedly with a toy train for 45 minutes 895. Worshipping with the praise team 896. Chrissy Martin helping with the boys (which made worshipping with the praise team possible) 897. Denise Martin helping me stay on track with the music (I regularly lose my place) 898. Enjoying my morning routine with the boys (even on a Saturday morning) 899. Decluttering our electronics @ during the free Ecylcle day 900. Conviction 901. Tanjas post responding to my post on pride 902. Learning about the Incourage blog, specifically the bloom book study on Sabbath 903. Remembering that rest ...

Wow. This is good stuff. This is what God uses. Yes, I will be the first to admit that I have a major pride problem as well. I started calling it my "she Tiger" when I first started noticing it growling in the corner at me and rising up when things did not go my way.  Scared the living daylights out of me when I realized how bad a problem I actually had. But this is where Jesus steps in and says "Ah, perfect! Now I can use YOU! You are awake and ready.  Jesus is an awesome Tiger trainer! He is the only one that can put that Tiger to sleep. One thing I have noticed was for a season ...it was a long season like two years or so that I thought the Tiger was dead and stuff was happening in the work God had me in. He moved me on and I started realizing I was getting too used to the freedom and the blessings and victory in prayer! Uh-Oh ....as I wandered out to the edge a bit I started hearing something I forgot about and soon enough ...