Family and Scripture

Sing your Song…

Procrastination… This is something we all do! We procrastinate grocery shopping, cleaning, running errands, finishing projects, doing laundry (laundry.. my all-time personal favorite procrastination amongst many). Disposable clothes would be awesome! Sadly we also procrastinate loving and making time for people. The dirty dishes will wait, the unwashed laundry will not be sad. The errands never end. People on the other hand, don’t always wait. They feel sadness. And… their lives here on earth do end. We get so comfortable in our procrastinating lives. We put off dreams and relationships even though we know we are not promised tomorrow.

“Tomorrow, you promise yourself, things will be different, yet, tomorrow is too often a repetition of today. And you disappoint yourself again and again.”
― James T. McCay

I like this little clip from Phil Stuts

THE PRICE OF COMFORT

“Whatever a person’s comfort zone, they pay a huge price for staying inside it. It’s a shrunken world where ideas, opportunities, and new relationships can easily pass us by. Worst of all, procrastinators squander the most precious asset a human can have: time.

Our time on earth is limited. Every moment is an opportunity we’ll never have again. Procrastinators act as if they had all the time in the world. But deep down, they know they’re wasting parts of their life. The trouble is, most of us don’t know how to free ourselves. That’s why, in the words of Henry David Thoreau, most people “live lives of quiet desperation and die with their song unsung.”

We want you to sing your song before you die.

-Phil Stuts


I pray that I will sing ( even if I can’t carry a tune in a bucket)!

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“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” -Psalm 90:12

You are Enough…

“Lord, Thank you that I am enough because you are enough.”

Have you ever thought, I am not enough? Fill in the blank. I feel like I am not ?? enough.
I’ve thought it. I am not good enough, smart enough, talented enough…and so on.

In God’s eyes, we are enough because he is enough. When we give out lives to Christ, we become new creations( 2 Corinthians 5:17). We also gain access to all he has to offer and have everything we need for life and Godliness. – Gods Heart for You

We feel as if we have to strive for love and acceptance. Yet God invites us to come to him and believe that no matter what the world may try to tell us, no matter which lies have wounded our hearts, no matter how inadequate we may feel at times, we are enough. You are enough- Gods Heart for You

Know this:
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– Gods Heart for You

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Stretch your Heart…

” For those of us who serve Christ, Freedom means being able to give and receive love. It means embracing and passing it on to others. It means following God’s path and purpose for our lives rather than being held captive by fear” – God’s heart for you

It doesn’t sound so hard, to submit to Gods love and the love of others, then in return, pay if forward. It is very tough, more so for some than others. We keep ourselves in bondage. We may be in a “hard time” but at least it is familiar and seems “oddly comfortable”. God did not create us to keep ourselves in bondage and he does not want our hearts to be restless. He wants us free to love and be loved.

“We move from prison camp to His house, where he gives us the hope, peace, and joy we need” – Gods heart for you

” God understands your fear. He doesn’t condemn you for it or tell you to snap out of it. Instead he takes you by the hand and speaks to your heart words of courage, love and grace. Lean in and listen to his voice until its louder than fear.” – Opening the door to your God- Sized dream

A heart warming little quote:
fear quote
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If hurts had hairs

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As I was reading today, I came across this verse.

  “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1.

 It made me think about all the different seasons of life I have been in over the years. I can’t help but to think, no matter what season I have been in, whether it be a sweet or sorrowful time, God has always put just the right people in my life. He taught me to trust and let others help me during the rough seasons, share joy during sweet seasons and put the compassion in my heart to do the same for others as well.

 It really saddens me to see people trying to manage on their own. Hiding behind walls of hurt, never letting people in. God created us to help each other. In the “Grace” chapter I’m reading there is a section that reads:

  ” If hurts were hairs, we’d all look like grizzlies. Even the smooth- skinned  beauties of magazine covers, the composed pastors in the pulpit, the sweet old lady next door. All of them. All of us. Furry, hairy beasts we’d become. If hurts were hairs, we’d be lost in the thick of them.” -Max Lucado

 Maybe hurts should be hairs…? This way, nobody could hide behind smooth skin, composure and fake smiles. We may accept grace, love and compassion from other “hairy people” because we know that they have hurts too…

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A little prayer I found:

Lord, I am so grateful for keeping those around me safe and loved. I hope that you provide me with the ability and sense to show them every day how much they matter. I hope that you give me the ability to give to them the same kindness they have provided to me. I am just so grateful for all of your blessings in my life, Lord. I pray that you remind me of just how lucky I am, and that you never allow me to forget to show my gratitude in prayer and returned kind acts. Thank you, Lord. In your name, Amen.

When you don’t feel worthy…

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Day 7 of  “Opening your door to your God-sized dream”.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion never fail. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. -Lamentations 3:22-23

It is funny that I’m studying Grace and this devotional ends up going right along with it! No matter what each day brings us, we always know we need grace. The word “grace” appears 170 times in the Bible. Gods job is Grace and our job is Faith.

Some highlights from this chapter that I love:

“Because God has this funny tendency. He chooses messy, broken people to do extraordinary, God-glorifying things”. Yea for me!

“The real danger to your God-sized dream is not failure. God took care of that on the cross through Christ. No, the deepest threat to your God-sized dream is that you will believe the lie that you must be worthy. Let’s settle that here and now. You’re not worthy. I’m not worthy. A God-sized dream isn’t something we are qualified for- it’s something we’re called to in spite of ourselves.”

 

Isn’t it nice to know that God uses unworthy people? We can fall over and over, but he always picks us back up and gives us another chance.

Blessings,
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“I am fearfully and wonderfully made”

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I have been reading a little daily devotional called “Opening your door to a God sized dream”.  It is 40 days of encouragement. I have been posting little highlights of my favorite parts of the book each day. I am on day 6, “Embracing Your Gifts”. There are so many good points in this short little 4 page devotional to just pick one.

This chapter stood out to me because for years and years I always thought… “I don’t have any gifts worth sharing”. No Godly gifts for sure!  I always thought, I am not knowledgeable enough about the Bible, I am not holy enough, I don’t have anything worth sharing and so on, then I studied a little bit about spiritual gifts and realized, I may actually have one or two…maybe.

In this chapter is says: Your strengths and skills are gifts God has placed within you that you can offer to the world. They are the heart of your God-sized dream. Because without them your dream would forever remain an idea. I’ve heard many women say, I can’t focus on who I am. It’s selfish.” But actually choosing to understand and embrace who you are is one of the most unselfish things you can do because it maximizes your ability to serve others and bring glory to God.

There is also a prayer in this chapter that I love.
God, thank you for creating me with gifts. I’m grateful for the strengths that you have placed within me and the ways those are expressed as actions through my skills. I humbly acknowledge that I do have something to offer and that you have made me to make a difference. Amen.

Have a Blessed Sunday!
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“You just need more wrinkles”

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See yourself as God, your friends and loved ones see
you…

Song of Solomon 4:7   You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is
no flaw in you.

Ok, a little confession. I do not like pictures of myself at all, somehow I
turn into a gremlin in front of the camera. I am so not photogenic. I
always ask my husband, do I look that bad in real life?! When my friends
compliment me, I feel my nose crinkle up and I immediately get the urge to
“excompliment” myself. That’s not even a word is it?! Well, It’s a new one
created by me I guess!

Why are we so hard on ourselves? Beauty goes so far beneath the surface. Have
you ever met someone who is so physically beautiful, then you get to know them
and their attitude makes them look ordinary after a while. Or, you meet someone
who looks ordinary and their inner beauty just makes them look beautiful to
you? The latter of the two happens to me all the time! All of my friends are
beautiful to me, and the things they dislike most about their features are
sometimes my favorite part of them.

I once read a story about a little girl who loved her white haired wrinkly grandma so much,
she would sit on her lap and stroke her face. One day she was sitting on her mom’s lap and she said
“mommy you are pretty but you need more wrinkles”. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
All that “silver and crinkle” was beautiful to that little girl!

Being truly beautiful has to do with your heart and your soul.
It has to do with having a beautiful spirit and that is
what makes you beautiful. When you feel good about yourself as a person,
your inner beauty will shine through.

beautiful
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beauty sketches, click below to watch!

http://realbeautysketches.dove.us/

Love and Compassion…

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“Go and do likewise.” Seems so simple, yet we struggle to do so…

What does compassion mean… “to show pity, ” “to love, ” and “to show mercy,” “to be loved by, ” “to show concern for, ” “to be tenderhearted, ” and “to act kindly”, to name a few. We all need compassion at times. If you have ever have been on the receiving end of compassion, you know how much of a blessing it is! Christ wants us to “pay it forward”. He wants us to show the same compassion he has shown to us…

“I want to strive to have a Christ-like heart, full of compassion and of great mercy.”- my prayer

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. -James 1:22-25
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With all your Heart…

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“With all your heart you must trust the Lord and not your own judgment.” Proverbs 3:5

I know that sometimes I get wrapped up in the things that I think make me happy and I think I know what is best for me. Then I realize what I want isn’t always what God wants for me. More than I care to admit sometimes, I struggle with “handing it over”…all of it.

When you finally get the point where your head and heart are in the right place, you may still not completely be there . It’s hard and scary. Trusting God can require that you to let go of all your “idols” that you think bring you happiness.

You have to accept the truth that God knows what’s best for you. You have to go from knowing to doing. Trusting him over ourselves and what the world is saying is best for us.

You have to understand that God knows you better than you will ever know yourself, he will give you what you need. It may not always be what you want. He is patient, he will let you take little steps. He will keep you from falling. He will rejoice with you when you surrender.

When you trust in God, The weight will be lifted off your shoulders and put on his…. and he can handle everything just perfect! God’s got this, but he needs you to trust in him.
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