The One About Grace

"There's only grace. There's only love. There's only mercy and believe me it's enough. Our sins are gone w/out a trace. There's nothing left now, there's only grace."

I woke up with this song running through my head this morning. It struck me that this is the season where SO MUCH grace was given to us! So much grace was poured out on behalf of us... each of us. I keep thinking about how Jesus died ...DIED... on the cross for our sins. Imagine you have 5 children. Imagine 4 of them are so naughty they are constantly causing trouble. Imagine you punish *only* the one who isn't naughty for all the naughtiness the others are doing. Seems so unfair and so wrong.... yet, that's what God did. Ultimately he punished Jesus... the only perfect person to walk this earth... because of the things we do wrong every day. And what thanks does He get? Really?

I'm not claiming to be a perfect Christian (Is there such a thing?) I don't read my Bible daily. I pray daily, but often it's "Lord, help me not to kill my kids today!" I know I've missed opportunities to share the gospel. I certainly don't give God the thanks He deserves in my daily life.

But I am thankful. I am thankful for that grace He chose to give to us. I'm thankful that He saw us worth enough of receiving that grace if we just ask for it. I'm thankful that He chose to bless us and give us such a wonderful gift of life if we choose it. I'm thankful for His grace.

The One With Priorities

I haven't had much to say recently. My life has been incredibly busy between homeschooling, soccer, music lessons, job training & well... life with 5 kids.

My priorities are askew lately and I've found myself tuning the children out because of the stresses in my life. The few moments I have at home I've not wanted to deal with giving them the attention they need, rather turning to my computer or TV to 'veg out and destress'. Not surprisingly this has caused MORE stress because the children always act out more when they aren't getting the positive attention they need & deserve. I didn't even realize what I was doing until recently. It actually took the death of an old family friend to make me realize that my priorities were way off base. It's sad that it sometimes takes that to wake us up, isn't it?

So I need to re-prioritize my life and realize what is really important and what isn't worth even giving my time to.

1. God
2. Family
3. House
4. Non-family relationships
5. Job

Now... I need to stick w/ that list.