A New Ramble After a Long Absence

Hello, how have you been?  I hope you have been blessed.  In the three years since I last made a blog post (yikes!), Love bug became a full-blown toddler, and God added another busy little man to our family!  A blog post from three years ago came up in my Facebook memories, and as I read them I wondered, why did I stop when I just started?  I don't really have a reason really, but I do have a convoluted ramble.  When I was about 14 I remember hearing that a boy I liked though I was a really boring person.  Now, for context, I probably was to him because I am generally fairly quiet and reserved in person-I'm better on paper ;)

Fast forward to the adult me and there is still a great deal of trepidation when I encounter new people, new being people I haven't know for more than two years or so!  There is also a great deal of, who would want to read anything I wrote?  Now I say this not wanting to be full of self-pity, but to say to someone out there that, God loves you.  He chose you.  And even when you feel your most unlovable, even maybe downright despicable, He will never stop loving you. Growth is discovering who God made you to be, and being content in that.  Faith, in this area anyway, is trusting that God has a tribe out there just for you and He will provide.  In my reading this morning I came across this verse: "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write."  2 Thessalonians 3:17

This is the way God created you to be, rejoice in love He has for you.  He is the light in the darkness, and even when you're own your knees in the pit of despair, He is with you.  He sees you and He's not angry or disappointed, He just wants to hold you.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

For the Lonely Hearts

Music speaks to me.  When I become more consistent posting here, you will see music that touches my heart, makes me think, or is just plain fun!  This is a song I heard for the first time after our little family moved to big 'ol Texas; I was alone and very much pregnant with our Little Love Bug.  I usually listen to Christian music but sometimes I get in the mood fer some good old fashioned rock'n'roll so I flip stations.  So while I was flipping, balling, and trying to drive (yeah, not the best scenario but hey...) I found this:

 

Praise be to the Lord that carries me

A Lesson in Humility from a Six-Year-Old

"About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?'  Jesus called a little child to Him and put the child among them.  Then He said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.'"

Matthew 18:1-3

 

Let me begin by saying that I'm not a huge fan of summer.  I have come to the conclusion that God has decided to stretch me in this area, much to my dismay. 

For the longest time the air conditioner in our car would decide to not work if the temperature was too hot outside.  If it's in the eighties, the car is downright cold, but somewhere in the nineties a threshold gets crossed and bzzt!  No cold air.  We thought we fixed the problem last summer by changing out our often neglected cabin filters so, after three trips from South Texas to Oklahoma, we figured they needed to be changed again.  Alas, that didn't work this time.  Did I mention South Texas?  Yeah....it's hot...

 

That rant aside, I was extremely humbled by my daughter The Scientist last weekend in the aforementioned car when we needed to go into the our closest (big)city.  To drive into town we have to take the highway; heat + wind coming in four windows at 65 mph = grumpy mama. 

 

Shortly after merging on the highway I hear my little girl singing the lyrics of the last song on the radio.  The wind was loud and we couldn't even hear the radio anymore, I grumped about not wanting to turn the radio up even more.  She's back there singing and I'm grumping.  Then I looked back...this, this is what I saw:

 

My baby was praising her God, and I was complaining about the wind and the heat.  My attitude shifted dramatically.  It brought to mind everything we have been blessed with.  I begged Him for forgiveness.  My God, my God, forgive me for my ungrateful heart.  Forgive me for the times I see my bad attitude come out in my children.  Forgive me for not trusting in You and Your goodness.  By His grace I am forgiven, we are all forgiven.

Now, I'm not going to even try and say that things have been roses and dewdrops since then, but precept upon precept we grow.

"God saved you by His grace when you believed.  And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us an boast about it.  For we are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Chist Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago." 

 Ephesians 2:8-10

 

I try to keep His blessings in mind as I go throughout my day.  To shift my perspective onto the good.