This week, I realized I am once again late to the party - the Friendsgiving party. It seems this festivity has been rapidly gaining popularity in our culture, and although I was initially among those so-called skeptics who surmised this was one more opportunity to remove God from the season, I soon came to realize it can easily be considered an extension of Thanksgiving. Friends are such a valuable and necessary part of life, and the gift of friendship is a rich blessing to treasure and offer up gratitude for. "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other is gold." For many years, a picture with these words hung on the wall, welcoming friends to our home. I'm not sure who authored this quote, but it's long been a favorite. Opportunities for friendship have Continue Reading
How Gratitude Broke the Chains of Perfectionism {Link-Up}
To the rest of the world, I was optimistic, the glass-half-full type of person. To me and mine, I was critical, honing in on what was wrong. I didn’t try to be this way…. I just was. Regretfully so! Which made me try all the harder to STOP being like this. No matter how much effort I used, breaking free from this pattern of thought/behavior seemed impossible. Perfectionism had its grip on me and it was like a vice! As a perfectionist, I tend to ignore the 99 good things and hyper-focus on the 1 bad thing. It affected not only me but my faith. Striving, worry, comparison, and discontentment marked my inner thought life. I felt like a failure to myself and to God. It seemed like I, we, lived in a constant state of neediness from Him. I almost felt embarrassed when I approached Continue Reading
Listing As an Act of Love
When I got engaged, the angels sang, Mom cried, Dad was relieved - “Finally, someone who can afford her!” (Thanks, Dad.) and I bragged to all who would listen: “Mark is a cross between Prince Charming and Jesus!” True story. I was a missionary at the time, and that line went in my newsletter to all my supporters. (They were relieved, too.) Then, I got married. Not that Mark wasn’t Jesus or Prince Charming. But we did think (before marriage) that we knew everything. And we did think (before marriage) that the other person was perfect and would love, perfectly. Well, well. What does this have to do with cultivating a heart of gratitude? Well, everything. One day while fuming over Mark’s non-Jesus-ness and where-did-that-charm-go-anyway, I knew I should call my friend, Deb. Now I knew Continue Reading
An Echo of Extraordinary Grace
Sometimes God chooses dramatic circumstances to point us toward his unfathomable grace. And in that moment, we are forever changed. When there is nothing we can do to change the outcome of our situation, He steps in and shows us how deep and immoveable His love is for us. Not because of anything we've done. But simply because He chose to do so out of His good pleasure. Extraordinary grace leaves us forever changed. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ It’s the first thing I see when I enter my office every morning. Even in the darkness of the room where just a sliver of light peeks through the blinds, the black wooden lettering spelling “REDEEMED” is clearly visible on the wall above my window. I remember the day this word became so precious to me... Join me Continue Reading