I'm linking up today with Penny and Vanessa for Thinking Out Loud Thursday...take some time to go check them out today - they always have something great to share! I'm listening to Vanessa's vlog as I type this intro today! :)
And....here are my Thursday thoughts!
Grace - we hear the term randomly in our lives, especially if you're a Christ follower, but also in different phrases, like good gracious or she's so graceful for example.
But do we, or even can we, really grasp grace? It's one of those concepts that baffles me often. And sometimes we really just need to sit and breathe that grace in...and shut our mouths long enough to recognize God's grace in our lives, our marriages, our homes, and most importantly in our walk with God.
Grace is undeserved, unmerited and invaluable. We can't earn it, buy it, barter for it or even steal it. God gives it freely, not because He has to. Not because we had a good day. Certainly not because we are without flaws and it's a reward. And if you're blessed like me, and I sincerely hope you are, you have been given a husband who loves so unconditionally it's really a testament of God's grace given to me through His child, my sweet RC, to love this mess of wife,
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:4-10 (ESV)
That passage of scripture talks about how God's mercy on us, the same mercy He showed when He sent His Son to die for us...when we didn't deserve it. We deserved the fiery wrath, we are blessed to have the opportunity to be rich in His grace. Not because of our works our goodness, but SOLELY because of Him.
Do you have those days when you're speaking to your spouse and you hear yourself being fussy, saying crappy things and think "WHY am I talking to them this way?" Well I do. And often it's while I have my monthly cycle and PMS has overtaken my body and more importantly my mouth. I'm not sure how those hormones manage to manifest themselves through my big, fat mouth, but they sure do. And it ain't pretty.
Case in point...last night I was fussy for no real reason, other than I'm having this random pain in my back and it's made me a bit grumpy for the last week or so. I don't know what tipped it over the edge, but my poor sweet husband ended up with the load of stinky, crappy fussiness on his head. We have a to do list a mile and a half long, and I'm not a patient person in ANY way. I want it all done yesterday. Now mind you, my own list is sitting there, so many things on it, some that have been there for years, but I have my blinders on to it obviously and take it out the rest of the list on my husband.
He could get mad, he could fuss back, saying well how about this or how about that on YOUR list. But he doesn't. He gives me the helpless look of "I want to fix it, but it's 9pm and I can't do it all tonight", never once raising his voice or pointing his finger back at me. That folks, is grace. It's God's grace working in and through His child, reminding me that He loves me, He gave me His child as my husband for this reason (and SO many more)...to remind me and assure me that HE is there, even when I'm crabby, even when I'm wrong, even when I keep talking long after I should.
Now, I know I'm waaaaaay more blessed than many. I have been married once before, and it wasn't pretty, and it wasn't all my ex-husband's fault. Sin is ugly, you can't put makeup on it and cover it up. It's just nasty, vile, smelly and dark. But when you see God at work in your life, you begin to realize how His plans, His mercy, His grace all come together for our good. Not because of us, of anything we did "right", but because He created us, He loves us...we can choose to honor Him by living lives worthy of His praise, but we'll never get it perfect. I'll be fussy again, I'm sure. And maybe one day, my sweet RC will say "stop it" (although in four years it hasn't happened yet - that man, I swear y'all - I won the super grand deluxe version of the lottery with him) but until then, I'm going to apologize (which I have, a couple of times) and try to do better.
This was a heavy post for today, but it's what's on my heart. Be kind to those around you. Say thank you, I love you, you mean the world to me...let them know, make sure they know. by your words AND your actions that you do value them and are thankful that God gave them to you...they need to hear it!
To my sweet RC - I love you forever, the most and to the moon and back...
Hugs and love from SC,
Stephanie
PS - who can help a girlfriend out with a recommendation for PMS drugs for my mouth!?!?!
Great post! Thanks for sharing it on Thinking Out Loud Thursday today.
ReplyDeleteThank you Penny! I am glad to be back to blogging after a way too long break!
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