Season of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving blessings! :)

In honor of this Thanksgiving weekend I am simply going to recount my blessings here:

1. My dear husband
2. Stable, and mostly fun job
3. Loving and supportive family
4. Thoughtful friends
5. Almost a year in our first home
6. Silly puppy
7. 10 pounds lost and counting
8. God's love and mercy
9. Renewed interest in cooking and menu planning
10. Awareness of the small blessings, and hope for future blessings.

I hope your Thanksgiving revealed the things you are grateful for in plenty. Feel free to post the things you gave thanks for this weekend.

Learning to pray

I've been raised with prayer, I've prayed before, but when it comes down to it, I'm not sure that I'm really confident that I am good at prayer. I understand He wants us to speak to Him as familiar as possible, to be personal, heartfelt, and honest...and most of all faithful. As I develop a more personal, or a renewed personal, relationship with Him, I am learning to pray. Pray more often, more habitually, in good times and in bad. So why is it that prayer does not come easily when that is simply what God wants...sounds so easy!

I am learning to trust that my soul knows what He needs to hear when I pray. I also try to just talk with Him as if He was at my side physically, like a friend in the car you talk casually with as you get where you're going. I admit that I think my own personal inhibitions and insecurities play into my prayer, and I have to fight the tendency to worry what He'll think if I say something wrong or not good enough. Why is it that of all creation, God is certainly the Master of unconditional love, and it's even hard to trust THAT?

I will keep learning to pray and learning to trust that my heart and the Holy Spirit know what I need to say. I expect like talking or walking, this is a skill that gets better and easier with use. I keep recalling the verse that says 'when I am weak He is made strong" and thinking that I am like spiritual steroids for God---I am certainly giving Him plenty of opportunity to become stronger. :)

Even Mondays have blessings

I know sometimes Monday's can seem daunting, especially for a work week, but even Mondays have blessings to count. Although, sometimes it is sort of relieving when a Monday is "survived" and the light of Tuesday is around the corner. Mondays are like ripping off the band aid, a bittersweet beginning to the week. Mondays mark the end of the weekend, but they also offer the availability of time left in the week to be productive and prepare for another weekend. :)

Here are the blessings I count tonight:

1. Spur of the moment dinner plans with friends and fun kids.
2. I'm feeling much better with my sinus bug/allergy thing of late.
3. My puppy snuggled all cozy this morning and the air was crisp and chilly.
4. A dear friend helped me AGAIN to complete a project I began.
5. My new lifestyle continues to be rewarding and I'm finding renewed energy and a positive outlook as a result.
6. God forgives if you ask nicely. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Romans 5...Perseverance = Hope

I often feel humbled that indeed the Bible has the right things to say for almost any situation. However I've been learning that while many passages have words of encouragement, discipline, direction, or assurance, sometimes one clicks more than another.

Recently I have been exploring Passage more casually, finding the words I need to be reminded of the person I should be and how life can be. Several verses felt "right," but one that seemed to fit well for my life recently was offered out of Romans, in Chapter 5.

Romans 5, in whole, is humbling because it reminded me that people have had trials and challenges throughout time, and that all of them are worth it and pale in comparison to Christ's sacrifice for our eternal peace and God's mercy. However one particular part of the chapter offered me explanation for why it is that God wants us to see our challenges through with faith:

"Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we exult in the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5: 1-5

...I always wondered where hope came from. :) I will persevere, I will build character, and I will continue to have hope. Thank God!

Making my way through...

I have not forgotten my 'post' responsibilities, but needed time to take care of my life offline. :) I'm beginning to feel renewed, thanks to a few friends and the Word, and felt that today I would finally post...I can't believe it's been over 4 weeks! oops!!

I've discussed before how it seems so much easier to journal privately about negative things I am coping with in life, as opposed to journaling the blessings and positive things that happen everyday. In contrast, I find it harder to blog about negative things, and easier to share the blessings here, which I suppose has to do with my own internal issues (what will people think, etc), but nevertheless, it's good for me, and encouraging to others when I post about blessings in my life.

To begin a new month of posts I would like to list the blessings that have been present in my life, even in the darker times:

1. I am not ever alone, even when it feels that way. I have wonderful, good-hearted, and wise friends, loving family, and a loyal puppy...not to mention a husband that always tries to be supportive, and of course God and His mercy and grace for me.
2. I have a flexible job that allows me to do my work in the peace of my own home, and that is supportive of my personal life's well-being.
3. I am able to read. This may sound sort of simple and plain, but lately I've been realizing I'd be no where if I couldn't read inspiration in the Bible or in other books...let alone positive emails and instant messages from friends who hold me accountable.
4. Even when it's a huge challenge, I am able to see the silver lining, and my faith remains true that there is a plan for my life that will make sense, in the near or far future.
5. I have the luxury to have resources to help me when I'm down.

These might seem vague, and I admit that in writing them even I am still feeling a bit 'exposed' sharing them, but I'm glad to share them and I know they are true. I look forward to sharing more with you and appreciate the couple readers that have asked me 'where I've been' on my blogging... I hope to be back to my blogs more regularly because they are a special outlet for me, that I never realized I needed.

Many blessings!~