Oh Grace

My heart is yours, but my mind can sometimes wander

Something is trying to pull me away from Grace, back to fear
and exhausting effort
to judgement
rather than mercy
strain
rather than peace
dread
rather than hope
worry
rather than rest
doubt
rather than love
chains
rather than wings

Something ugly and dreadful
without heart or care
spews out sulfur darts toward a tired soul

while Christ all along fights mightily
for his grace to be established
deeper
in this wondering heart

Oh, he is so much greater
oh lavish Grace
that covers me
even as I stumble or fret
as I break and bleed

Oh the grace that holds me
and will never let me go
Oh, I look to him
but he looks more at me, for me
His love I can not fathom
deeper and wider still

Deeper and wider...

And all I must do is trust, believe
rest in His work and His life in me.

No more striving or straining in vain
If I cry, then because he also cries
If I fly, then because he also flies
if I sing
because he also sings
In me, with me

Oh Grace
I sing
Oh Grace
you pick me up
and I sing

~Manuela

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29-29, (emphasis mine). So I believe we also walk by faith and belief, not our own effort. More on this later ( hopefully!)

For more good stuff on grace, visit http://blog.graceroots.org/

Change the title?

I want to sort of change the title to the poem below. Walkin' in the Spirit doesn't quite fit because it's not necessarily true that by walking in the Spirit we will have a good-everything-fall-into-place day.  So many times walking in the Spirit, or attempting to, means lots of opposition and problems and heartache, down here.
The words were more about a good day, when God granted a restful day, full of peace and content, like a gift. Yeah, of course we wish every day was like that. But it just can't be that way it seems, this side of heaven.
But maybe our days can have more tastes of that within them. Maybe there is more peace and content to be experienced in all the mundane and all the to-do's and all the obstacles and problems. I think so. Only by abiding in him can I find that restful place in my soul, no matter what is going on. It seems tricky sometimes as my feelings pull at me, as do my moods and certain circumstances and even people. But I so long to keep my eyes on Him and seek him in all things.
That is my prayer always, that He alone would be my strength and stay.
I have to set time aside to spend with him and just ponder him, enjoy him (and tarry there, see hymn below). And from there I can go and face what I need to. It's not an easy road, we shouldn't fool ourselves. But we can have strength and joy in measure, like it says in the hymns. The old hymns are so good for meditating on. They have so much wisdom.... Their uplifting songwords can help us fly to a more secure place and remind us who that place is.
Just reading them like poems can be encouraging...
 Here's a good one about all this-

IN THE GARDEN
I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear,
Falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.

And he walks with me
And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am his own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

I'd stay in the garden with Him,
Tho' the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go;
Thro' the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

``````````````
So I'm unofficially changing the title from Walkin' in the Spirit to - A Gift of a Day

Walkin' in the Spirit

The night doesn't last forever. Trials come and go. Though they pile up, the light does break through.
There is so much grace... In the darkness it can't always be sensed.

God delivers. We have been redeemed. Truly welcomed through his great sacrifice.
When it hurts, we can so easily forget. When we sleep, we get blinded.
   We need him.

We can walk in the Spirit. We can trust amidst all the unknowns. We can leave it uncertain, it's alright. We can trust the hand that holds. We can move and let him lead.
   We can let go

Sometimes it all falls into place. The light breaks powerfully through.
Is it just a taste?
Will it last forever?
Someday it will

Laundry beast

 

 Sometimes the laundry piles up from here to the moon... and I need to be satisfied with just chipping away at it, once I can get out from under it. That's not really me in the picture, but metaphorically it definitely is.
It's a mountain that can only be climbed a little at a time.
The good thing about having to go to the laundry mat is that I can do many loads at one time. But I don't like to do more than three, plus it feels like I'm hogging the laundry mat if I do more than that!
Today, it's definitely laundry day- no escaping it. The beast has taken over. Why oh why do I put it off so....? It's always last on my priority list.
I've also noticed I go shopping more because it seems like there's no clothes (because they're all dirty!) Geez. Truth is, I don't like going to the laundry mat. I do covet having my own washer and dryer again... But I'm not sure I was any better when I did...  My husband has been doing his own laundry for quite some time. I'm really not the best house-wife, truth be told. Health problems have been part of the issue; having limited time where I was well enough to do things. But still, I always think there's better things to do with my time, until my daughter has no clean underwear.

I prefer to sit here and write about laundry than go and actually do it. Well, I rather write than do a great many things....

God give me the grace to fight this beast and WIN!
Can I accept that house work never ceases? (I always think it will magically cease one day, and often act as though it has, when all evidence is quite to the contrary) 


Okay, putting on my mama-cape, here I go!
Well, after breakfast! Can't do laundry without any protein!

Thanksgiving

Hope you had a good day.

Our daughter learned this poem, which I got from a friend, and said it as our prayer for the meal. She also dressed up as a little pilgrim : ) We made this cool turkey craft you can see on pic. We had fun creating the feathers. We got the idea at http://familyfun.go.com    

Blessings, Manuela

"Give thanks to God for God is good.
Give thanks to God for all Creation.
Give thanks to God for family and friends.
Give thanks to God for food to share.
Give thanks to God for sending Jesus.
God's love lasts Forever."

AMEN

Tribute

Wow, I can't believe I wrote the last post a month ago. How time flies.
I was sick for two whole weeks between then and now, and honestly I didn't know if I would ever get better, despite what the last post said...( I have been better for several days now, PRAISE GOD) I am AMAZED at how sickness can blurr perspective, how it does mine at times. But at the same time I'm seeing, once again, how grace from our friends can get us through. I know an amazing group of ladies through an online support group who pick me up, everytime. And so I see God's deliverance and overcoming come also through those who earnestly pray for us. These wonderful ladies have struggled with chronic illness ( as I have) and some have a few decades over me and their love astounds me, because they pray passionately and with love. So this is just a short tribute to them.
I tell some of them they are my "slightly" older sisters, not that age is that important...But years (and years of suffering) can teach many things. So I honor them for the lovely giving spirit they have. We have never met face to face, but I feel we know each other and are cut from the same cloth. What a blessing!

EXCITED

I'm excited- Excited that with God I can overcome anything, ANYTHING! The cheer I have comes from him.
I take my spoon (and ears and eyes and all of it) and feed on him, slowly, and he fills me and satisfies me, yes he does ( I need my daily bread). Nothing else can.
All props are removed so I can feast on the source of real life. Yes, I am excited! Who knew...!

"... be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" John 16:33