God's Grace

Lately I've been thinking a lot on the grace of God.

Routinely I'm reminded of my need for God's grace.

I think about all the voices in my life. Some voices bring condemnation. The voice of others as well as my own.

This past Sunday the voice in my mind was one of condemnation. The Holy Spirit convicted me of how I was being judgmental and God reminded me of Galatians 6:1-5 (See November 4 posting "It's easy to focus on fixing others when I need to fix me").

I read a post where the writer was condemning some preacher who'd been seeing prostitutes. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that this is sick behavior on the part of that pastor and made more horrific by the fact that he's supposed to be a spiritual leader. But what really hit me was that the author of the post actually made a statement to the effect that while he sometimes may make small errors he never makes moral mistakes - he doesn't do big things that he thinks are wrong because he has self control. I basically told him that I sure can't say that about me. I've done things that I believe are wrong. When it comes down to it I believe that we all have.

I read another post that was condemning Christians and saying that they are dumb, pushy and deceived. While pushy is not a term one would use to describe me; I can remember times I've behaved stupidly and I can remember times I have been deceived. I just keep thinking how much I need God's grace and how grateful I am that He gives it.

Today I've been thinking about that famous account of Jesus in John chapter 8. It's the one where the religious leaders brought a women they'd caught in adultery to the temple so they could humiliate her in front of her friends, acquaintances and Jesus. The typical punishment for her behavior would have been to have her stoned. I've always loved Jesus' response. He suggested that those who were without sin could cast the first stone. Scripture tells us that Jesus actually was without sin, but he didn't stone her. No one else stepped forward to cast a stone either. Jesus pointed out that no one condemned her and neither did He. He encouraged her to go her way and not continue to sin.

I'm so grateful that while God convicts us of our wrong doing he does not condemn us.

Bob Sorge, in his book Secrets of the Secret Place, explains the difference between conviction and condemnation this way:

"The purpose of the voice of condemnation is to push you away from His presence - that which is the very source of your victory. The purpose of the voice of conviction is to press you into the face of Christ."

I'm so grateful that God by His grace convicts me of my wrong doing but does not condemn me.

What attribute of God have you been thinking on lately?

The soul and Family

I'm captivated by the book I'm currently reading, Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore.

In his chapter "The Myths of Family and Childhood", Moore makes some points I've never really thought about. One of which he states this way:

" What if we thought of the family less as the determining influence by which we are formed and more the raw material from which we can make a life?"

What a liberating way to look at life!

Instead of seeing the misfortunes that may have come our way in our families as the reason we have specific problems, we can see all events as leading to the the person we can become. As I read this I'm reminded of a beloved bible passage in Romans 8:32; The Message paraphrase puts it this way:

That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

Moore also had an interesting reflection on the place of family in reference to the individual's soul:

"The soul prospers in an environment that is concrete, particular, and vernacular. It feeds on the details of life, on it's variety, its quirks, and its idiosyncrasies. Therefore, nothing is more suitable for the care of the soul than family, because the experience of family includes so much of the particulars of life. In a family you live close to people that otherwise you might not even want to talk to. Over time you get to know them intimately. You learn their most minuscule, most private habits and characteristics. Family life is full of major and minor crises - the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce - all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories. With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality. It's difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul."

"If we don't grasp this mystery, the soulfulness that family has to offer each of us will be spirited away in hygienic notions of what a family should be. The sentimental image of family that we present publicly is a defense against the pain of proclaiming the family for what it is - a sometimes comforting, sometimes devastating house of life and memory."

For me these words of Moore brought recognition that I have definitely had a "hygienic notion" of what family should be. Neither my family of origin nor my current family lived up to the sentimental image. But Moore's concept here if full of acceptance. It offers a paradigm that allows me to look at the reality of life, memories, & family in a similar fashion to how I look at myths; archetypes to illustrate lessons I can grow from and be nourished by.

Very interesting food for thought.

How do you think family nourishes the soul?

Presidential Candidates

I've become convicted lately of how little I know about the current potential presidential candidates.

Because, most likely just like you, I don't have unlimited free time, I've searched for a simple way to find out where these people really stand on the issues. I mean, let's face it, everyone's political campaign you-tube/infomercial makes them sound awesome. Basically I believe that's because they all love our country and want to do a good job. But I want to find out what these candidates believe and how they will act in regard to issues I think are important.

I've found a great starting place for my inquiry: ontheissues.org. This site provides an unbiased, purely informational outline of where the candidates stand on issues of importance. The site uses quotes from the candidates and their voting history to arrive at their conclusions and you can follow back the quotes to the source information such as an interview, talk the candidate gave somewhere, etc.

As I'm looking into various candidates, I'll be posting what I like/dislike about them. These posts will always be labeled "Presidential Candidates". So if you're interested, you can find these posts to check them out via the Labels section on the left side of the blog.

It's easy to focus on fixing others when I need to fix me

Isn't God merciful and good?! Aren't you glad for His patience with us? I am!!

I have this propensity toward noticing the faults of others. I sometimes find myself focusing on other's problem areas, especially if the person is close to me and their problem affects me. This morning I was doing that with my spouse. Not that I directly spoke with him, but in my mind I was contemplating this problem area of his and feeling poorly toward him because of it. In fact, most likely I wasn't even being all together too wonderful toward the poor guy because I had my mind on this problem area.

I went into church for Sunday worship and asked God to change my heart and help me focus on Him instead. A few times my mind came back to the subject and I'd pray for help for my husband. But then the Holy Spirit began working in my heart and I realized how ridiculous my focus was. I became convicted of how there are things in my life that I need to focus on cooperating with God to change in me. I began to remember how I'd learned the need to be responsible for myself, verses everyone else. I remembered how in times past it's been a pattern of mine to focus on fixing others when I need to be allowing God to work on me.


Just about a week ago I'd written here that God's shown me an area of my life that He wants to do a new work in. An area where I've had a stronghold for years. Somehow this week I never managed to get around to spending time meditating on some verses the Holy Spirit had led me to in the Word to deal with my problem area. It's as if I've not only been avoiding talking with God or being in His Word regarding this problem area of mine, but I haven't been able to get myself to look at the situation. Interesting that now here I am on a Sunday choosing to focus on some problem area of my poor husband and to obsess on that.

The Holy Spirit brought the verses in Galatians 6:1-5 to my mind; here they are in The Message paraphrase:

1-3 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.

4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

Don't these verses speak directly to me?! Sink myself into what He's given me to do instead of focusing on others and take responsibility for my own life.

Are you like me and find that it's easy for you to focus on the faults of others, when you need to cooperate with God's work on you?

November 2007 Pay it Forward Book Exchange

A reminder on how this works.

To enter, just post a comment here and include the title of one of the two books described below. Leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. You can enter until midnight November 29, 2007. On November 30, the last day of the month, I will randomly pick a winner. (Please note that all that is meant here by random is that I'll write all the names on small pieces of paper, put them in a bowl, mix it up and choose one out.) I will contact the winner to obtain a mailing address to send the book to.

I will post the name of November's Pay it Forward Book Exchange winner by December 3, 2007. The winner will be mailed the book chosen from the two choices below. There will be one winner chosen each month.

November's choices:

The Goose in the Pond by Earlene Fowler
If you're into cozy mysteries, this is a great read. She's one of my favorite mystery writers. The book is written in the first person style and holds your attention to the last page. As in all her books, you find yourself liking the main character and immersed in the mystery.



The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
This is a long time favorite of mine that I re read periodically. It's about a senior demon's letters to a junior demon. It's an interesting fiction read that makes me aware that I need to be of sober spirit and on the alert because our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring llion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Pay It Forward Book Exchange

I got this idea from the overwhelmedwithjoy blog. I liked it so much that I decided to do the same thing here.

Most all of us love to read and get “new-to-us” books, right? And if you’re anything like me, you love winning things (what a rush), not to mention getting fun stuff in the mail! So here’s what this book exchange is all about:

1) Starting in November 2007, on the first day of each month I'll post an entry about a book to give away to a lucky reader (you don’t have to have a blog to enter). The books will always be from my two favorite categories of books: Cozy mystery or Spiritual Enhancement. There will be two books, one from each category, to choose from each month. These are all books that I've read and enjoyed. Should you win, the book you receive may be a book that I’ve purchased new or used and will probably be a paperback, just to make things easier, but no guarantees.

2) Details on how you can enter to win will be listed below.

3) Just post a comment under the blog entry on this site for Pay it Forward Book Exchange for the current month, with the title of the book from that month's choice that you'd like to try to win. Then, on the last day of each month I will randomly choose a winner. (Please note that all that is meant here by random is that I'll write all the names on small pieces of paper, put them in a bowl, mix it up and choose one out.) So, for each month you can enter the drawing until the second to the last day of the month and then on the last day of the month I will pick the winner.

4) If you’re the lucky winner of the book giveaway and you have your own blog I ask that you in turn host a drawing to give away a book to one of your readers, after you’ve had a chance to read it (let’s say, within a month after you’ve received the book). If you mail the book out using the media/book rate that the post office offers it’s pretty inexpensive. If you're a non-blogger who has won the book, please consider donating the book to your local library or shelter after you're done with it.

5) If you’re really motivated and want to host your own “Pay it forward" giveaway at any time this month, feel free to grab the button above to use on your own blog. Just let Overwhelmed over at http://overwhelmedwithjoy.blogspot.com/ know so she can publish a post on her blog plugging your giveaway and directing her readers your way! Please also leave a comment here so people can go to your site from this one.

So there you have it, the Pay it Forward Book Exchange, designed to encourage people to read, to share good books, to possibly get you out of your reading comfort zone, and to get fun stuff in the mail instead of just bills!

I love to read

I love to read.

Recently I read about a "Baby steps" reading challenge to read 3 books during October - December 2007. I found out about this challenge at : nattiechallenge.blogspot.com

I already had a list of books I wanted to read so I picked 3 from that list that I have on hand and these are my reading list for the rest of this year. You can read all about this challenge on my side bar to the left.

These is my 3 book list and why I chose them:

Duty First by Ed Ruggero
I started reading this book in October and am just about finished. The subtitle of the book is "A year in the life of West Point and the making of American Leaders". My oldest son is in his second year at West Point and I found this book and wanted to learn more about what he's going through.

Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore
My husband gave this to me last March for my Birthday and I've been meaning to read it. I started it last month but found I do better reading one book at a time so I set it aside until I finish the first book here.


Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
My husband's daughter and her husband gave this to him for his Birthday in September. The husband said it's one of the best books he's read. Since my husband and I always have a book we're reading we decided to read this one. I haven't started it yet but the plan is to read it by the end of this December.