Comforts of Grace

I pre-ordered this book today.  Sounds like a beautiful read.  Can't wait till the expected ship date of June 3rd. Be sure to head over to Bonnie's wonderful blog at www.faithbarista.com Her blog is always an encouraging visit for me.  Beautiful writing.  Nourishment for my soul.

Recently, all my daughters and I shared a fun and special evening together.  As I lovingly gazed around the steakhouse dinner table savoring the girl talk and giggles, I paused on the word ... daughters.  Wow.  That's daughters , now, with an "s". In that moment, a silent prayer I said.  Tears of gratefulness welled-up quickly and threatened to reveal themselves down my cheeks as I thanked God for His blessings of these girls.   A birth daughter, two granddaughters, a future step-granddaughter, and hopefully a future daughter-in-law ~ a mini-van load of all my daughters ~ gathered in one place, at the same moment, for an evening of dinner and shopping together. What a rare treat to coordinate with multiple households, work, school, and activity schedules!  And NO BOYS! I reached for the camera in my purse and when the waiter stopped by, he gladly captured the above picture for us.  A special picture marking a special moment in time because ... ...

Hearing God's whispers on my heart lately. I'm listening.  I'm trusting.  And I'm leaping.  Again. With fear in my head, but faith in my heart ... I have decided to leap from a long comfort zone (twelve years) of part-time employment in real estate to pursue a completely different work adventure in self-employment.   Mid-January, I gave notice to my employer that I would be leaving. This isn't the first time I've taken a leap and embraced a move outside my comfort zone.   There have been many small ones and a few HUGE ones in my lifetime.   Fortunately, with each courageous leap in the past, I can look back now and see His plans  for me unfolding with purpose and clarity.  I am so thankful for His guidance and grace. "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."                       ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chris gracious...

I tucked a mental note away first thing yesterday morning as I pondered the Joy Dare suggestions for January 10th. Almost immediately, without a conscious effort of my own, a mental rewind button was activated and quickly stopped at a memory nearly twelve hours earlier. Yes, there in the kitchen, I saw myself busy loading the dishwasher when one of my adult sons approached his mama. "Here Mom," I remembered his deep voice saying while handing me a tiny green foil package.  "You'll really like this." I paused briefly from the dirty dishes for an interruption that seemed important to him. "Uh... thank-you," I replied politely as he paused to soak in my reaction.   "I'll eat it later."  I placed it on the hutch and turned to stuff another dirty plate in the dishwasher. I remembered thinking to myself as my son left the kitchen ... "I don't want chocolate.  I'm still trying to shed those pesky Buckeye and Christma...

As a new year begins, I'm inspired by a beautiful video from Ann Voskamp I'd like to share. Won't you consider a Joy Dare this new year and begin counting your One Thousand Gifts along with me? Click on the link below for yesterday's inspiring message from Ann: http://www.aholyexperience.com/2014/01/how-to-know-gods-will-for-your-life-the-art-of-fully-living-giveaway-for-dslr-camera/ Here is a January list of daily Joy suggestions Ann has provided.  Just pick an easy one to get started.  Then work your way through the list and/or simply record your own 3 gifts each day. I would love to hear about YOUR gifts in the comments below.  Please don't hesitate to share! Happy counting your way to a Joy-filled 2014!

The Ramsay Christmas Tree - 2013 A family tradition we've enjoyed the past 32 years is decorating a live tree for Christmas.   If the family's schedule was especially hectic or kids were sick, we purchased pre-cut trees.  Other years, we braved the challenges of cutting our own tree with kids in tow.  Oh what fond and funny memories have been made over the years! This year, two of our grandkids joined Papaw and Nana for a road trip to Booth's Christmas Tree Farm in Orland, IN to select and cut a tree. Horse drawn wagons carried us to various fields of pine trees planted by size and species on the Booth Farm. Papaw,     Haylee-age 11,     Nana,     Kayne-age 9      Enjoying the wagon ride. We were dropped off at the 9 foot Scotch Pine section to begin our search.   We learned that pine trees typically grow one foot per year. ...