Grace, Thankfulness, Day by Day

New Year, new week, new word....living day by day.  I started a new devotional which is based off a best seller.  I have wanted to read this book for some time, and came across her devotional.  Day to day suits me right now.

I have a birdhouse right out my bedroom window and as I am having my devotions each morning, I see the tiny sparrows alighting and eating.  Yes, this is for me right now :)  It's all about grace and thankfulness in each day.  In every moment.  Day by day.

Just a few thoughts...and I am quoting Ann Voskamp :

"Eve's thanklessness for all God does give and her resentfulness of the one fruit He doesn't give, this is the catalyst of the fall."  In typing this, I realized I read it wrong the first time; I read her 'restlessness of the one fruit'.  Still rather fits, I think.

"Our fall is always a failure to give thanks."

"All the wickedness in the world begins with an act of forgetting."  (Mark Buchanan)

In the proverbial nutshell - When we FORGET, we don't THANK GOD.  Paul begins his letter to the Romans with "First, I thank my God..."  Romans 1:8

Thankfulness.

Day by Day.

Not forgetting.  God tells the Israelites OFTEN to write it down, write it down, write it down, lest they FORGET.  This is why.

I love journaling.  Going to do it even more this year.  Day by day.  Lest I forget.  Not a difficult thing.  I can do this. Not just in November.  Day by day.

In the mess of the day....in the busyness of getting ready for a month of intense ministry....in the joys and in the struggles.

"First, I thank my God...."

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2014 One Day At A Time

2014...Wow!  Not sure how this year snuck up on me but here it is staring me in the face and I am expected to "welcome" it.  I do welcome the year, with open arms, but I kind of feel like when you open your door to a guest, knowing they were coming, but they showed up an hour early.  "Hi, come on in; I'm not quite ready, but have a seat, I'll only be a minute."  So, as soon as I wipe the shocked look off my face and gather my thoughts, those arms will open wide and 'come on in 2014'

I always look forward to a new year.  New beginnings.  New goals.  New ideas, plans and visions.  A fresh page to write on.  Leaving the past behind and moving on to the new.  But when that clock struck 12:00 a.m. January 1, 2014, my book hadn't opened to that first page....yet.

Closing off 2013 was not as easy as past years for me.  Disappointments, unfulfilled expectations, and the realization that I did not accomplish all I had set out to do in these last 12 months. Some things I could control and others totally out of my hands.  Not a terrible year, but one I would like to let go of and move on.   And yet, in the middle of each and every moment of those 365 days, God was right there, holding, supporting, encouraging and making his presence known when I stopped long enough to acknowledge Him and His truth in my life.

Sometimes the "big picture" and the "visions and plans for the year" can overshadow the moment of each day and we, or I, can get overwhelmed.  I love plans, goals and writing down those resolutions for the new year.  However, when you look back and see what you didn't do, the to-do list for the coming months can become disheartening.  Not necessarily fresh to-do, but the same things which hadn't yet quite reached completion.

But in the early hours of a brand new year, God shows up and reminds me not of what I DIDN'T DO in 2013, but WHAT HE DID.  He reminds me of His goodness and faithfulness.  His constant companionship, even when we don't "feel" it.  His plans according to His timetable.  His day-to-day friendship, which by the way, is the life source of which all my/our plans should flow.

Day-to-day.  One day at a time.  One dream at a time.  One moment at a time of His goodness being revealed to me, so that when I look back, my days are literally overflowing with dreams, plans and desires being fulfilled....one day at a time.  Seriously, friends, if I look at the year in total, it kind of scares me.  But if I take today, and then tomorrow, and the next day, life gets done.

A month-long ministry trip ahead, continued support-raising for the life He has called us into, one still in college, and one returning; one living her life thousands of miles away,  And our newest exciting news of the year, our youngest daughter getting married in August!  Just the wedding plans can intimidate me :)  Heart dreams....writing...teaching....photography....big deep breath.

Jesus is calling me to...

One   Day   At   A   Time

One day at a time....to rest in Him; enjoy Him; walk, talk, dream with Him; feed on His Word...one day at a time.  One day at a time.....to enjoy family.  One day at a time....to give to others....feed others....give time, energy, resources, life to others.  

One day at a time....BEGINNING and ENDING WITH HIM.  I can't go wrong with that.  I won't wear myself out.   I won't become overwhelmed.  One day at a time...to dream. I can still plan, still write down ideas and visions....but the tackling of them is.....one day at a time.

This post is probably not 'practical' with a lot of how-to's in setting up your year; yeah!  I don't need practical right now, I need breathing room, space to dream and think through ideas, time to process and take on only today.

JOY awaits us in 2014.....that I firmly believe is my WORD for the year from the heart of GOD.  

My friends, let's not just "do" 2014, let's plan, dream, hope, rest and live

one  day  at  a  time

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