Coming Boldly on a Rainy Sunday

I love rain...gray days and thunder and lightening makes me so very happy. I've always been this way. My favorite days in school were the ones that we stayed in the classroom and played board games because we couldn't go outside. Today is like that. It is all the more special you see because I have 3 of my sweet ones under one roof.

Isn't it so good that when our children need a break from it all, and need a good rest, that they can come home and climb into their own bed and know that they will be taken care of? I love to do the laundry that has been dropped at the door and make their favorite meals and watch whatever it is that makes them happy! This must be how God feels when we come to Him. He loves when we leave our needs at His door and know that we will be taken care of. After all, He says in Hebrews 4:16 that we are to come boldly to His throne...The exact wording is this: "Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."

Today, I feel I need it most. I am walking through a season of hard and somedays I want to crawl in His lap and close my eyes and wake up when the season is over. But He gives me what I need to walk through it, not just trudge, but find the joy in the hard and to remember to praise Him all the way. With grace from a Gracious Daddy and His mercy and love, I can do anything. And today, I need to be a mom that makes a home of peace, where His presence is known and felt, and to give grace to them when they make a mess.

I hear the leak dripping in the sitting room and I feel His love raining down freely...

Wild...but not quite free

I've been so restless lately...sighing, breathing deep and standing in one place instead of sitting down. My world is upside down, as I know it. Everything I have based my security in is being challenged and the things that have made me "happy" or should I say at ease have been stripped. Now what? Oh yes, I have had my fits, my temper tantrums, pity patties etc. but no one is invited. See, I haven't let anyone in.

But God knows....so He sends a friend and I let it out, controlling it and only giving bits and pieces. Then one day I reach out and ask for prayer and wow! Peace comes and floods the places that were so dry and I once again feel free! So this morning, I wake up without that anxious feeling and I read His Word first.
"Restore to me the joy of Your Salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit." Psalm 51:12

Crazy how He knew exactly what I needed to hear...to be brought back to the basics of my faith and for that to be enough! That Salvation is enough and joy is mine because He saved me! He loved me enough to come near my mess and shower me with grace that I didn't deserve. I had forgotten to be grateful. And gratitude always comes before the miracle!

See, this relationship with God is wild! It is awesome and full of His Spirit! I need Him. And if I am going to be free, I need to continue to hand it all to Him.

So I will pray and seek Him and He promises He will hear me. And I will continue to believe that life will turn around and I will soon be sharing about His radical rescue!

When It All Seems Too Much

The Cross...isn't it beautiful? Daily, I lay my burdens down at the foot of it, because my Savior is able to bear them all...isn't that just so amazing?

So it's more like a Monday really. And life is hitting from all sides...from the checkbook to the fridge that won't keep things cold to the sweet one that is sick, it all feels a bit much. And I remember that I'm not made to do this alone and that He is able to bear it all and put joy in my day and a skip in my step! He can heal the illness...He can provide when things are tight....He can direct me to solutions for broken things...for He is the solution for all broken things.

What do you need to lay down at His feet today? Remember that we weren't made to carry more than a day share of a load...that yesterday is gone and tomorrow will worry about itself...but today is a gift! It is to be celebrated! So I am going to make some sick day treats and enjoy the precious time I have today and soak in His love for me...

Happy Tuesday!