“Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans” – John Lennon (Beautiful Boy)
We were watching “Marley and Me” and toward the end of the movie, I stopped watching the movie and watch the people around me.
The kids were curled up in their blankets, one between me and my husband,the other on the floor, the dogs were curled up with each other snoring, and we all (except for me right then and the dogs), were staring with intent at the movie.
Time froze.
This was my high point.
I was happy to get a good bargain on food and if I could get the clothes that we needed, the bills paid, and just stretch that chicken for one more day till payday, I was thankful.
Friends we have connected with and made at our church had left after an impromptu dinner; What started out was a visit to pick up something they had left at the house from having dinner the other night, had extended to four hours of a potluck dinner we all threw together, the kids play, we gather at the kitchen counter,to laugh,to cry, to just swap stories over ice cream.
Now….this moment….me and my family, including the dogs,were all snuggled together…on the coach,to watch a movie and I took a step back inward, to see what in that simple moment, God had blessed us with.
I am not and will not be the greatest writer in the world.
I may never get the chance to go out of country to visit a land I would love to see one day.
My hair will never be the condition I would love it to be.
I’m lucky that my daily life isn’t hectic that I’m able to blog or catch up with friends.
Yet,in this single moment, my youngest between me and my husband, the dogs asleep and we all, were together…..this…this was worth all the unexpected blessings that I never asked for and God gave to me.
I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world-I’m grateful to God that my life isn’t easy which makes all He has done and gave all the more worth it.
I am thankful for the kind people that when I had that silent need that only God knew and heard, sent my way to help meet it without me even saying a prayer.
I am thankful that I am not perfect, I will never be perfect but HE,HE has blessed me and my family and that is enough.
The word “gratitude” shares the same root word as “grace.” Yes, grace – the free and boundless mercy of God. The same grace that filled a Father’s heart and led Him to send to earth the greatest treasure in His life – His only begotten Son, Jesus. But there’s even more to this little word study. The word “thanksgiving” is from the same root word as “think.” Now, let’s put this phenomenal insight into one thought. When I am filled with a spirit of gratitude, I’m filled with God’s Spirit of grace. In describing grace, Charles L. Allen noted, “In the Bible there are three distinctive meanings of grace: it means the mercy and active love of God; it means the winsome attractiveness of God; it means the strength of God to overcome.” I want to add a fourth meaning to this fabulous list. Grace also means I’m permeated, every fiber of my being, and filled with gratitude to my God. Every time I think, I thank.-From Transformational Garden
God has sent unexpected blessings in my life and what made me grateful for each and everyone of them…are the trials and tribulations that comes with it.
The house is quiet.
Everyone is asleep….the youngest finally-completely falling asleep in my arms-As I lay my youngest to bed, I give her a kiss and whisper in her ear-”I love you” and think how much God loves you,me…all of us and whispers that in our ears but for many of us…we are so caught up in everything else…we don’t let ourselves hear Him.
Life is…life.
All we do…all we go through…just mere passing of sands in time.
From Marley and Me,
“”A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see.”
— John Grogan”
I did it…I have found all the success that I need in my life.
It’s not going to pay me money or bring me fame and glory, but I’m saved and loved by no other than the grace of Almighty Father,Himself, through Jesus Christ, I am saved and though imperfect-forgiven and THAT is everything…That is success. That is something I hold close to my heart.
I wake up each day and go to bed each day with people I love and care for.
Each day, the laundry is barely done, there are bills to be paid, I have to figure out how to make hamburger meat last another day, and Praise God, I love and am grateful for each and every moment, because it is a moment close to a living relationship with Jesus Christ and a moment of love and memories with my family.
Divine love is perfect peace and joy, it is a freedom from all disquiet, it is all content and happiness; and makes everything to rejoice in itself. Love is the Christ of God; wherever it comes, it comes as the blessing and happiness of every natural life, a redeemer from all evil, a fulfiller of all righteousness, and a peace of God, which passeth all understanding. Through all the universe of things, nothing is uneasy, unsatisfied, or restless, but because it is not governed by love, or because its nature has not reached or attained the full birth of the spirit of love. For when that is done, every hunger is satisfied, and all complaining, murmuring, accusing, resenting,revenging, and striving, are as totally suppressed and overcome, as the coldness, thickness, and horror of darkness are suppressed and overcome by the breaking forth of the light. William Law
I use to be so hard on myself because I thought I needed this to be happy, I needed to accomplish that to be happy, or I needed that to be happy but I don’t know how to describe it or what it is…but I’m happy and just for some reason…took that step in my heart to go…I couldn’t ask for anything more.
I’m so happy and I’m satisfied and I can’t think of nothing more I want in life.
Everything I could ask for in life is around me…It’s in the relationship with our Heavenly Father, the laughter of my kids, the kiss and hug from my husband, and the company of good friends; It’s in the storms of lives that come my way, it’s the blossoming fruit of the tomatoes; It’s the fear of tomorrow and the comfort of eternity….
It’s that moment in time, when I stop and look at all that I think I don’t have, only to see, I have all that I want around me and nothing more I could ask for.
The tragedy is that many of us are living...desperate Christian life. Sunday comes and we get some strength, and then we lose some on Monday; a good deal is gone by Tuesday and we wonder whether we have anything left. On Wednesday it has all gone and then we exist. Or perhaps refreshment comes in some other way, some meeting we attend, some friends we meet...Now that is the old order of things, that is not the new. So our Lord goes on to put it like this: 'Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life' (verses 13-14). He puts a well within us. We are not always drawing from somewhere outside. The well, the spring, goes on springing up from within into everlasting life. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
If Jesus Christ was to return today, I would tell Him, thank you for everything, I am happy with my life that HE has decided and bless me with.
Don’t get me wrong…life hasn’t change.
Bills are still due.
There’s a load of laundry that I have to get to and I have homeschooling, pick up some more plants (Praise God for sending them our way, it is a big help with grocery bills to have more vegetables to grow).
My mother in law’s foot is hurting.
Friends I love and pray for are hurting.
The economy is still bad.
My dog chewed my strawberry plant before I could move it to a hanging basket.
Still have to figure something good but economical to make for dinner.
Did I mention that I wish I had movie star hair?
The kids rooms have to be picked up big time.
I still haven’t looked over the next few weeks lesson plans.
Don’t get me started about the hole to China that the dogs,then the kids, then the dogs dug.
But………………………………………………..I am grateful to God for all that.
Really.
I couldn’t ask for a better moment in my life…except well…when I was saved, that was worth it all there.
I love how crazy and busy life gets because that tells me…something is working; God is cooking up something for my life and I can’t wait to open the oven and see what HE has planned for me.
Not me planned for me…but HE has planned for me.’
That’s the life I want.
I couldn’t ask for anything else.
I’m tired, I worry, I pray, I cry, and I thank God for each and every moment.
We struggle, we relax, we play, we are tired; Days seem so frustrating but yet so wonderful and through it all…I just thank God for the unexpected blessings,He sends our way that I thank God I don’t ask for, because they wouldn’t probrably have mean twice as much if I had…Instead…He challenges me, He convicts me, He grows us, He stops us, and I love and sing praises,EACH and every moment He does that because HE reminds me that we are LIVING and EXPERINCING faith and just not proclaim it.
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”-Galatians 6:9
It’s that feeling of security and love as only my youngest could describe it best,climbing up the stairs to reach the top of the slide, and rather than hanging on and trying to scoot down…just letting go…placing faith in God and letting Him have free reign of your life, and rather hitting bottom with a thud, falling into the safe embrace of His perfect peace.
Sometimes…living life, is just having that leap of faith and saying,”I’m not in control and won’t be in control and completely trusting God with all your life; Take that leap of faith and let Him do what He will and accept where He leads….You’ll be surprised at the unexpected blessings will be the very things you were seeking,but not as how YOU see it or want it, but as HE wills it and wants it.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things , and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” ~ Matthew 6:28-33
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