New...

339. New chances. Yes, Your grace is available to me. Though I mess up in just about every area, you always provide for me and grant me more opportunties to trust You and learn from my mistakes and sin.

338. A new blog to hopefully focus my efforts and record God's faithfulness.

337. A new year, a new month, a new week... opportunties to grow in trusting God and in seeing God at work!

Silence

214. Silence. Lord, thank You for granting me this brief period of SILENCE. You provide me with ALL I need. Even the little moments of silence that I desperately need to "regroup" and prepare my heart for the rest of the day. Only You know exactly what I'm talking about so I thank You, O Sovereign One, for knowing me so intimately that You are giving me a few moments to hear the ticking of the clock. The clicking of this keyboard. The sound gentle hum of vehicles passing by our home as they travel on the wet roads. Oh it is good to enjoy silence!

Exhaustion

212. Thank You, Lord, for how exhausted I feel right now. That seems strange but it's really quite beautiful. I am exhausted because it has been a full day of doing the work you have set before me: grocery shopping, cleaning, training kiddos, cooking, changing diapers, folding clothes, more shopping, attending care group, and more. So I am exhausted but will climb into bed with a smile tonight. I can smile and be filled with joy because I am fully aware of your sustaining power. You, Father, have sovereignly given me this day to live, experience, teach, learn, be challenged, work, laugh and I thank You for it.

You truly are the Giver of all good things!

New Box, New Binder, New Journal

211. Empty big boxes! Lord, what fun kids can have with empty boxes of all sizes. Thank You for the gift card we received that allowed us to get a new highchair and a new big box! The kids have enjoyed creative play and I see my need for You more as I try to be consistent in training them to play in a kind way together.

210. My coupon binder is such a gift, Lord. Having an organizational tool that allows me to file and quickly find coupons to save our family money is such a blessing. Lord, keep me very aware of the fact that ANY money I save through this venture is simply and completely evidence of YOUR amazing kindness and grace in supplying all of our family's needs and so much more!

209. Beginning a new journal and looking over the one I just completed is a big gift from the Lord. It is a log of what the Lord has led me to read and learn about Him. This morning as I began copying my prayer list to my new journal I just marveled at the blessing it is being able to pray for other people.

Thank You, Lord, for such a tangible gift that allows me to see the many ways You've moved in my life and the lives of others. How can I not sing Your praises this day!

Heavenly Father, thank You for so displaying Your love for me by sending Your only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins. Thank You that there is now NO condemnation for I wear the robe of Another. So, as I end a long stretch of not writing down the gifts I have seen I trust You to be glorified in my recognition of these gifts... all by Your grace.


Gifts received...

187. found out that I am not positive for that Group B Strep so I will not have to have an IV with those antibiotics at labor and delivery


186. sand and gravel from the church next door to help us continue building up the foundation on the other side of our home


185. time and energy to go to the grocery store without the kiddos


184. watching the clouds and then the rain with my hubby and kiddos before dinner and then seeing Joshua ride his bike in the rain and laughing


183. finding the disc with all my pictures from Jan 2007 through April 2007


182. a husband who lives with me in such an understanding way


181. being able to attend the first Training Up Your Child Seminar at our pastor's home this evening AND having a babysitter.

Another Thursday Arrives

Well, I have not been able to keep up with recording the endless gifts of the Lord lately but He certainly has been pouring them out and helping me to see His work!

The gifts I've seen lately, in no particular order...

155. being asked to share my testimony at the next Women's Meeting (Strands of Grace) at our church

154. being able to see just how lost I was by rereading old journals that chronicle my life before Christ and that transition to living for Him

153. being transformed by His power

152. more interactions with the girls next door and trying to build that relationship

151. asking Laura, a teenage girl who lives nearby, to teach me Spanish and having her excited to help me

150. not having to take the kiddos with me to my chiropractor appointments due to William's insistance on being home to relieve that small burden from me (thank you, Hubby!)

149. attending our church's weekly Park Day and allowing the kiddos to play with lots of kids

148. having Dad W. desire to get us a new camera after ours broke

147. having time alone with my hubby for 2 nights and being able to really talk and enjoy one another

146. being able to do some short term planning with hubby on our mini-retreat

145. having a Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer who loves me (though I continually sin against Him) and lets me come into His presence and be filled!

Dear God, thank You for giving me this brief time of reflection and remembrance. It is evidence of Your faithfulness and goodness. I pray, in Jesus' name, that You would be glorified through me, in me, and around me this new day and that You would continue to open my eyes to see You more and more and more! I love You...

Thursday Manna

In asking the Lord for manna today He graciously provided the following gifts...

Kia, you need to:

144. Draw near to Me and I will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

143. Humble yourself before Me, and I will exalt you. (James 4:10)

142. See what passions are at war within you. (James 4:1)

141. Do what you know to be right or else you are sinning against Me. (James 4:17)

In addition to receiving His instruction I was (and still am) the recipient of His blessings! Though my struggles were very real this morning/today, He has given me...

140. Energy to have Circle Time with the kiddos, despite my lack of enthusiasm

139. A body that was able to walk to the library and back with the kiddos, despite moments of having to slow down

138. Food to feed my hungry muchkins upon returning from the library

137. Time to read with Joshua alone

136. A constant awareness of my need to continue cultivating affections for my hubby as he, not my kiddos, is my priority after my relationship with my Lord Jesus

Thank You, most kind and merciful Lord for constantly reminding me of my deseperate need for You. As I grow in seeing my need for You I appreciate all the more these precious gifts. May I unwrap each one with a thankful heart that worships You more.

More Undeserved and Surprising Gifts

These are just some of the MANY gifts I've encountered lately. May God open my eyes to see even more!

Gifts...

135. That I can worship the Living God

134. Conversations with strangers in the chiropractor's office

133. Recounting my conversion and knowing without a shadow of a doubt that I belong to Him

132. Being humbled as I tried in vain to communicate with the two little girls next door in Spanish

131. Breakfast time sharing about quiet times and having children at the ages of two and three ask questions and desire to know more about God.

Insurance & Friends

Gifts from the Lord...

122. A friend coming over to allow me to go to the chiropractor without the kiddos. (Thank, Bethany! Seriously, thank you very much!!!!)

121. Health insurance that covers chiropractic care! I truly can feel a difference this evening after getting my 3rd adjustment. What a gift!

The Simple Things (i.e the stuff I take for granted)

This list by itself could reach 1000 gifts though I'm only going to document some. Lord, continually bring to my remembrance how good I've got it because I live in this country and how great I've got it because I'm saved by Your grace alone!

120. color - the different colors of people, trees, animals, foods, the sun, you name it! God sure does reveal His majesty through it!

119. access to the internet

118. running water

117. toilets, even those yucky public ones I refuse to sit on

116. the refrigerator in our garage which allows me to buy more things in bulk and on sale

115. cloth diapers - though I don't use them for the kiddos bottoms anymore, there are still so many uses!

114. a double sink in the kitchen

113. Priceline (We're having a Hubby-Wifey Retreat and get two nights in a hotel!!!)

112. seasons of life (not just Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. the seasons the Lord has us go through to grow us, refine us, mold us, rebuke us, etc. periods of ease and periodsof constant battling.

111. sweet endings (i.e. putting the kiddos to bed and just talking with them about the things they can thank God for or hearing the people they want to lift up in prayer)