When my days don’t go as I had planned, I can usually roll with the punches, usually. To be honest, I am not a huge planner, so I tend to go-with-the-flow, most of the time.  Planning and organizing is lots of fun, but I find myself caught up in the details and miss the beauty of living when I focus intently on the plan ahead. I need to learn to find the balance of both worlds, I know. I am a work in progress.

 I am thankful for grace through each day, often using the word as if it is a timepiece to measure the day. Measuring graces, I say, to myself, “I am measuring the grace moments”.  As if I could adequately accomplish this task, yet, I find myself keeping track.

Most of the days, I can get through the day counting.  Except for when grace seems so far away. Then  I feel like a row boat out on the ocean, without an oar to row myself ashore and the life jacket is floating away.

Today was one of those days.

I had plans this week, a lot of them.

Plans for my blog like:

  • This amazing Table of Grace Party that God is stirring in my soul and all the fun things I am making to share with you so you can have your own party there … right where you are.
  • A review of a book that has taken my heart captive and blessed me with a wisdom that energizes my soul so you that you can take a chance on the promise of hope within its pages.
  • Regularly placed posts that would bring encouragement and share grace so that I can connect with this growing community of hearts that I am falling in love with.
  • And… and….and…etc.

Plans for my home, family, and fun:

  • Cleaning the refrigerator.(Does anyone else struggle with keeping that big box of frigid-air clean, or is it just me who finds an allergic reaction rise up at the thought.)
  • LAUNDRY!!!!(That pile of clothes waiting to be put in its proper place. ) … well … many things waiting to be put in their proper places.
  • The lunch date that is about a year over due. ( Fellowship and Food.. who doesn’t want more of that?)
  • And, of course, the appointments that have been rescheduled already, more than once, because life just seems to Get. In. The. Way.

Life seems to get in the way, but it is something that we are called to effectively navigate.  Psalm 23 says that surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Mercy certainly does seem to follow me, as I call out after it on a daily basis. Yet, there is one thing I know to be true, no matter what. God is Always Good. His goodness is a continual feast upon which we can bask and it is here that I am reminded of the mercy of grace.

 

Grace, in all its forms, covers us like a veil that protects, shields and blankets our living… and it is vastly deeper, infinitely wider, and undoubtedly larger than we can fully comprehend. Grace is like the ocean, whose depths and volume is unfathomable. We are not supposed to figure it out, we are supposed to dive deep within and swim in its cool embrace.

 

Grace is tied to mercy, for it is out of His goodness that we are found enveloped in the clutches of grace’s hold.

After quite a shake-up of my week’s plans today, and a bit of wallowing in the tide pool of self-pity, I was reminded of a verse that doused the purpose of grace’s intent over my head like a  cold blast of arctic ice, quickly followed by the cocoon of love’s blanket of warmth. It is a reminder that in all things, and in all circumstances, I need to revere this gift of grace and live in a spirit of thanks. It is a gift and it has been handed to me freely, not because I have earned it.

Remembrance brings thankfulness back like a wind blowing across the landscape of our lives, reminding us that Christ is our sufficiency is fully able to meet us in the middle of what we lack.

And then I remember, and I am thankful, once again, because grace is also faithful to show up at the right time, all of the time, in abundant proportions. I remember that I am marking grace moments because through Christ, the abundance is metered out in sufficient doses. And in all I encounter, it is through Christ alone that I can navigate the daily journey, no matter how well-intentioned my plans may be.

I know how to be abased and live humbly in straightened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance.  I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. – Philippians 4:12-13

 

We need to remember that in all of our moments, when we are weak or when we feel strong, when we are quiet or loud, when we are fearless or afraid, when we are tired or prepared for the battle… that our source is only found in one location… CHRIST.

Today as I pondered all I was unable to accomplish as my plans were changed, He brought me back to the reality that much of my living is out of my control. I can choose to dwell in that, or I can rejoice in the promise and hope that leads me to the place where sailing grace’s ocean, with Christ at the helm, leads me on.  Guiding me through the storms, plundering the waves, and arriving at the place where I can float upon His hope and find my buoyancy is dependent upon the grace markers  that hedge me into the safety of His goodness and mercy.

Not only can I see the boundless ocean of grace but the beautiful landscape that He is creating in the midst of my living.

Thankful for the reminders of grace today,

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More to come….

  • I can’t wait to share what God is showing me is possible at the Table of Grace! I am so excited at what God is working out in my heart for both the blog and for my ministry here right out of my home.
  • The book review for, Pure Eyes Clean Heart by Jen and Craig Ferguson, will be up this weekend along with a giveaway! You don’t want to miss it.

 

 

I am joining up with friends who are writing counting their grace moments as well. Please take a moment to consider their offerings.

MADM Link Up,  #TellHisStory,  CoffeeForYour Heart, Wednesday Prayer Girls,  Winsome Wednesday, Word Filled Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Serving Joyfully, Thoughtful Thursdays, Missional Women, Fellowship  Fridays, Blessing Counters, Essential Thing Devotions, Faith and Fellowship Bloghop, Saturday Soiree