Grace in the Midst

For those of you who read my last post, " not my cup of tea ", I am curious what you thought my main point was? After re-reading it a few times, I realized that it may have come across that I was pointing the finger at people who point the finger when I often struggle with pointing the finger. You might have to read that line a few times :) I'd like to take a moment to clarify the heart of my message.  It is not so much that I want to come down on people (including myself) who sometimes struggle with "the log in the eye" syndrome, as it is that I want to encourage each of us to constantly hold the things that we feel the most strongly about before the Lord.  You just might find, as I did even yesterday, that God often changes our hearts & mind on the very things we find ourselves pointing at. Consider this verse for a moment -  James 1: 22-25  "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.   23  Anyone who listens to ...

I recently had a conversation with a friend in which the subject of large families came up.  When I mentioned a new arrival (baby) to an already large family, her response was - "that is not my cup of tea."  I already knew that and it was/is ok with me, but for some reason the "not my cup of tea" statement as a reaction to someone else's news bugged me. I was thinking/praying about it and I found myself visualizing an actual ladies tea party.  Imagine if instead of each lady enjoying their own cup of tea, they spent their time arguing (or perhaps just thinking negative thoughts to themselves) about what everyone else was drinking. "I can't believe you like decaffeinated, how unfortunate!" "What, you take yours black?  That's disgusting." "That caffeine is killing you, you know!" "Tea isn't even tea if it doesn't have at least 3 tablespoons of sugar." I don't know about you, but I wouldn't w...