What if?....

Hey ladies, I don't know about you, but I was very inspired last night hearing Dr. Jerry Pipes speak. Everything he says is encouraging and helpful. One thing that really stood out was his dedication to memorize one verse a week for the last 35 years!!! Wow! I love how he emphasized really learning God's word verse by verse. I am afraid it is an almost lost discipline for many of us. But knowing this alone does me no good. So here's my idea: what if we all took this seriously and learned a new verse every week. We could even do this with our kids and/or husbands. Wouldn't that be an awesome way to spend time together as a family?!! And if you're like me, I learn much better when I speak something, which is always more fun when there's someone listening and learning with you. We could even take this and share with each other the verses we are learning when we get together for coffee or whatever. That would be great accountability.

Here's our verse for the week:

1 kings 2:3 "Observe what the Lord your God requires: walk in His ways, and keep His decrees and commands His laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go."

Growing in His grace!

Drum Roll Please...

And the winner is... Jill!!! I really wasn't sure if anyone would've known this. I read the quote in Ruth Bell Graham's book It's my turn. Yeah, for you. Now, we just have to find time to get together for coffee...hmm... sounds like an excuse to get together.

Guess Who?

The following is an excerpt from a journal I've read of someone famous. I was surprised that this person could have felt this way (on motherhood), as I envision this lady to being someone who must be practically perfect, (no, it's not Mary Poppins) due to the fact of who she's married to. Furthermore, I admit and confess to feeling exactly the same way at times. Anyway, thought it would be fun if any of you could figure out who it is. If you can, I will treat the first right guesser(?) to coffee ASAP. Here goes:

"I am a weak, lazy, indifferent character; casual where I should be concerned, concerned where I should be carefree; self-indulgent, hypocritical, begging God to help me when I am hardly willing to lift a finger for myself; quarrelsome where I should be silent, silent where I should be outspoken; vacillating, easily distracted and sidetracked. There it is. All that I am not, He is; all that I am and should not be, He forgives and covers. But this remains: I am not big enough for the job ahead of me. Not big enough, or strong enough, or wise enough, or loving enough, or selfless enough, or anything enough."

I love this!!! Thankfully, Jesus is big enough to cover all of us in all areas!

Blessings for your day!!!

Tea for Three!

Merrily and Cassidy each received a china tea set from my mom for their birthdays this year, so one of their favorite things to do is have a tea party. Today was one of those days. Merrily asked if we could have a tea party for lunch before kindergarten. I hesitated and thought to myself, "no, I really don't feel like doing that now. It's more work for me than what I feel like doing" but, I decided it was worth it. What mom wouldn't be honored to have such a special time with her girls?! They really do love it and enjoy practicing their "tea manners" so, I set to preparing lunch and tea while they set the table special for the occasion. It turned out to be a sweet moment with my daughters, and one I hope they will remember when they are grown.

So, what do you think?

I decided to change my blog name to something more sophisticated and more closely reveals my heart. (For now, my address will remain the same, as it's too complicated for me to change now, at least in my mind.) I make so many mistakes every day, that if it weren't for the love of Jesus, I would have no hope. But praise God I do and you can too, if you trust Him as your savior. All my love as we journey together into ... graceful living!

Living for God

My devotional today struck me today as being very applicable. It started with the question," Are you determined to have your own way in living for God?" How's that for an opening! Pretty much straight to the point, huh? So, it made me think. I want God's will, but how many times do we want to live for God in our own way? Let's face it, most of us have an idea of what WE think our lives should be like; what we do, where we live, who we hang out with, but do we really give ourselves completely to God to live for Him His way? Well, it gives me lots to think about.
How about you?

Back on track...I hope!

Well, I am back, I think!?! Actually, I was going to post this a couple of weeks ago, but since I was planning a trip away, I thought I better take care of that business instead of spending time here. We watched a video from Pastor Jim Cymbala at the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in NY and it was very moving. He read the scripture where Jesus overturned tables and said that His house should be a house of prayer. Wow! I must admit, I never thought much about it really. To me, God's house is where I go to worship and praise Him and fellowship with other believers (totally Biblical, right?) But Jesus himself referred to His house as not these things, but a prayer house. So, why don't we spend more time there praying? Why do I not feel the need to attend our own prayer meetings? Why do I not even tell my friends how they could pray for me or vice versa? Well, it made me think anyway. So, here is what I propose: why don't we call on each other more regularly with our prayer needs, whatever they might be. It doesn't matter that for the most part my needs are not physical (the easiest and most heard requests). No mine are definitely more spiritual and emotional and dare I say, mental. Afterall, the battlefield is the mind. How about yours? Please join me in praying about this. You can start by lifting me up for guidance with my girls, one of which has been struggling with turning in assignments on time, and by praying I will be a great wife, even though I would love to have my husband home everynight and not travel (by the way, there might be a new lead in this area!). As I speak, colds are going through our home, so I do pray we will all be well so we can go to church together.

I know you all probably do pray, but the reminder to pray specifically always helps, doesn't it? And I will return the favor. I can picture each one of you right now and pray can't I ? Let me know specifically how I can pray for you and I will consider it an honor.

With Christ's love, Tricia