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Here Comes Grace





Everybody loves a thankful kid.  To be thankful and have a heart like a child, that’s my desire!  Papa God has blessed me with so much in 2014; I want to pause and mention some of the things that make me smile as I look back over the highlights of the year:


  • Our newest grandbaby’s arrival in the spring.
  • Celebrating our 43rd anniversary in Mexico and enjoying an afternoon sightseeing, stopping for lunch and being serenaded at a Mexican Cantina.
  • It took all summer, but I was able to paint my kitchen cabinets white!  I think I know the words to every Rod Stewart song on my IPod. 
  • Fun days of preparation, cooking, planning and choosing costumes for our daughter’s birthday bash last fall when she turned the big four-o.  It was wonderful to celebrate with family and friends traveling by far to be with us!
  • The beauty of attending a six-week seminar at church with my spouse called “Cleansing Stream.”  The experience was the catalyst to communicate better for us and love more deeply ridding ourselves of soulish patterns that make us stumble.
  • Our neighborhood make-over, not only in maintaining our country road but maintaining friendships as well. 
  • Keeping current with fellow bloggers, interacting, reading and learning from them how to write better!

2014 was a year I learned to rest.  Not in “like a nap” but in letting go when I can’t maneuver  the final outcome.  Often throughout the year, I felt like I was in a hammock with God.  Matthew 11:30 says:  “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The coming year is ushering in a new understanding of God’s Grace.  I’m seeing it already.  My promise calendar arrived, the one that has a scripture for the start of every day.  The theme this year is no surprise:  “A Year of Grace.”  It confirms what I heard in my spirit. I look forward to all that I am going to learn about God's grace.

I read a beautiful devotional this week about grace.  It ended with this question:  “Name the thing I’m hoping for this coming year that can only be accomplished by God’s grace.”  I’d love to hear your answers!  Think big; we have a big God!  

 My post today connects to Monday Musings
and to Beauty in His Grip
and Three Word Wednesday

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 29, 2014 at 6:50 PM

    I have been thinking about grace...a LOT. I was reading Ann Voskamp the other day, and she said,
    "Grace isn't a mere Pollyanna feeling. It's a force. It's a powerful force. As startling as the power of electricity.
    Grace is the power of God pulsating with this passionate Love of God, this
    jolting,
    blazing,
    dangerous Love that pierces all of humanity's pitch-black.
    Grace always shocks.
    Grace always stuns.
    Grace is ALWAYS what we need."

    ReplyDelete
  2. SharonDecember 30, 2014 at 11:28 AM

    Mary, I enjoyed reading your *recap* for 2014. Indeed, the Lord has brought many blessings.

    Grace is a wonderful word, and I know that God will teach you many new things about that awesome word. I know He expanded my understanding of the word JOY last year. Next week I'm talking about my new word. Whatever He teaches us, we know that He is a God of good surprises, and I will enjoy sharing the journey with you!

    GOD BLESS!

    ReplyDelete
  3. NancyDecember 30, 2014 at 7:10 PM

    What a blessed year you have had and I pray 2015 will be filled with so many blessings that you can hardly hold on to them....God is truly wonderful to His children in all ways. Happy New Year sweet Mary....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Simply BethDecember 31, 2014 at 7:02 AM

    What a wonderful recap. The "Cleansing Stream" seminar sounds rather interesting. I am hoping to find some kind of marriage seminar for my husband and I to attend together in 2015. We will be celebrating 25 years together. :)
    Where does one find this promise calendar you mentioned?
    And the question you leave us with . . . I will be pondering this one. It's a good one.
    Visiting from Three Word Wednesday.
    Blessings.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownDecember 31, 2014 at 7:38 AM

    In a hammock with God! I love that image. I'm not the best at resting - so I may need to use the image to remember what is best. :) Thanks for linking up at #ThreeWordWednesday.

    ReplyDelete
  6. FloydDecember 31, 2014 at 3:32 PM

    Excellent analogy. We too should be grateful like your grandkids…

    I appreciate the wisdom and heart, as always, Mary. May God smile upon and bless your entire family.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mevely317January 1, 2015 at 2:32 PM

    You're so cute! I can just imagine you rocking out to Rod Stewart. (Love Rod!!!)

    When I first read this (via phone) I must not have been paying close attention ... and thought you and Tom had ANOTHER g'baby on the way in 2015!

    Love the way you've embraced Grace and urging us to do the same. Your challenge is going to take some pondering, but what a lovely way in which to use my imagination!

    Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete

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