.:Thoughts on Grace:.

I finished reading the chapter amidst the chatter of a little girl talking my ear off. "Mommy, I'm praising God with a marker". Random. She's very random these days. But I can't help but giggle when I hear those kinds of sayings. I wonder where she picks up these quips and of course I already know that answer... however, have I praised God with a marker this week? ;)

I've been trying to be consistent with my reading of this "One Thousand Gifts" because I really do want to learn Eucharisteo... Thanksgiving in ALL things. I've wanted to savor every chapter and just exactly how Ann words things. She says average things in beautiful ways. Inspiring.

This chapter was about Grace. She tells the story of her son, Levi's, farm accident which left him with a badly injured (tho spared) finger. I loved and connected with her "mom thoughts" about the what-ifs? and could've beens. Whew. While I won't type out the entire chapter - I did want to share a few spots that stuck out for me - in hopes to encourage some of you, and, continue to challenge myself personally with THANKS at all times... even the hard ones.

"Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand."

Isaiah 14:24

"All God makes is good. Can it be that, that which seems to oppose the will of God actually is used of Him to accomplish the will of God? That which seems evil only seems so because of perspective, the way the eyes see the shadows. Above the clouds, light never stops shining."

"Who would ever know the greater graces of comfort and perseverance, mercy and forgiveness, patience and courage, if no shadows fell over a life?"

"And emptiness itself can birth the fullness of grace because in the emptiness we have the opportunity to turn to God, the only begetter of grace, and there find all the fullness of joy."

Of course those are out of order... pages in between each one - but, I love how the Lord linked them together just for me. As my mind swirls around different things going on in my own life - questions I'm asking, situations I'm working through, etc. Grace. Do I really understand it?