Today's Thanksgivings

What if you woke up this morning with only the things you thanked God for yesterday? Admittedly... so many of the most important things in my life would vanish. We take privilege and act as if it is a right, like we are somehow owed these things in life. We have the privilege of many things we tend to complain about these days; the privilege of cleaning the roof that remains over our heads, the privilege of having to only walk 20ft to get fresh water from 10 different places in our homes, the privilege of feeling secure in a healthy relationship and most certainly the privilege of tending to the needs of the children we were able to have. These things don’t just come to everyone, they don’t just appear and we often are caught acting as if they do and then complaining endlessly about them. Don’t get me wrong, am I exhausted? Totally. Does my house have a way of exploding to disaster after I spend way too long cleaning it? Absolutely. Does my husband totally leave the towel on the floor after I just got a new, not smelly one out for him? You bet! But this house keep me warm, those children give me life and my marriage gives me everything. If I lost any of those things I would be broken, completely shattered. And guess what? Every single day someone loses those things. Whether they lose a loved one, have to leave an abusive relationship, foreclose a home, or maybe they have unexplainable infertility and are struggling to even be blessed with messy/crazy/wild/sleepless children at all! Friends, I encourage you as well as myself, take a minute every night and just say thank you. Thank you for the comfort bubble we have been blindly living within, because at any given moment it could all be stripped away. Wake up tomorrow surrounded by what you were thankful for today.

Originally published on Instagram by Tay @dirtydiaperdiaries

First

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

I don’t know about you, but I’m easily distracted. I walk downstairs to start the laundry and notice a dirty glass and saucer in the family room. I put down the laundry basket, pick up said glass and saucer, and take them upstairs to the kitchen, where I wipe the counter while making myself a cup of tea. While the tea is brewing, I remember a card I need to get out to the mailbox before the mailman comes. I grab the card, look for stamps, and then realize I never started the laundry. Or drank my tea. And so it goes …

Okay, so I’m not always quite that bad, but … almost! Isn’t it easy for us to be distracted? Our days are filled with countless tasks and duties—and then fill up with unexpected interruptions. If we don’t settle in our minds the priorities for the day, we can fritter it away doing bits and pieces without accomplishing our real priorities at all.

God is quite clear that He is to be our priority. “You shall have no other gods before me,” He states in Exodus 20:3. Jesus declares, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). These verses—and many more—make it clear that God is to be … first. Jesus modeled this when he prayed “very early in the morning.”

I’d like to suggest that early in the morning is the best time to meet with God. Here are my top five reasons why:

1. We can’t always predict (actually, we can rarely predict!) what a day will look like. Our best-laid plans are often overturned by the unexpected. To be absolutely certain that the first priority—spending time with God—actually happens, let’s meet with Him first before the day gets underway.
2. Waiting until the end of the day for a quiet time with God often means that our brains are simply too tired to focus. Yes, we are often tired in the morning, too, but morning is the time for waking up, and what better way to do that waking up than with a favorite cup of tea and the Word of God?
3. How do we show our love for God? One way is by spending time with Him at the very beginning of the day. It’s a concrete way of saying, “You are more important than anyone or anything else in my life, so I choose to meet with You first.”
4. I don’t know about you, but my days just go better when I don’t tumble into them bouncing from one activity to the next, but instead begin with stillness, seeking God’s wisdom for the true priorities for my day.
5. When we start the day with our minds fixed on the God who loves us, we start by feeling loved and filled and happy to be His. Emotionally, this prepares us to love those who come our way throughout the day.

Is it hard to get out of bed 15-20 minutes earlier in the morning? Yes, it is. Is it worth it? Yes, it is! The One who loves us best deserves to be … first. I’d love to hear from you, if you try this. I believe it will be life-changing and habit-forming in the best of ways, if you do.

Heavenly Father, forgive me when I allow myself to be distracted by lesser things and don’t pursue You first. Help me to know the best way to declare that You are my priority in the way I choose to live my life. I love You, Lord. Help me to love You more and more. Help me to give You first place in my heart and in my life. In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

Originally published by Sharon Gamble of Sweet Selah Ministries

O Worship The King

O worship the King all-glorious above,
And gratefully sing His power and His love:
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

O tell of His might and sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail.
Thy mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!

O measureless might! Ineffable love!
While angels delight to worship Thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true adoration shall all sing Thy praise.

***

Lyrics: Robert Grant, 1833; Based on Psalm 104
Music: “Lyons” Adapted from Johann M. Haydn

He's Not Through With us Yet {When Motherhood is Sanctifying}

Weary Mama, this is encouragement that might not sound like it yet:

Maybe one of the hardest things about parenting is the mirror it holds to our most blatant weaknesses and not-so-obvious sin. Maybe when we say, "Stop bickering over who's right!" we end up finding that same warring pride within ourselves. Maybe when we sigh in frustration, we're really wishing everything could just be perfect, right now. Maybe when we try and coerce and convince contrition, we're forgetting that it's God's kindness + mercy that led US to repentance. And maybe, in that little face that complains, shows defiance, apathy, or annoyance, is the reflection of our own heart attitudes before a merciful Savior: So quick to pout and despair when He doesn't allow things to go our way, stomping our feet at others having what we think we deserve...

So, weary mama, don't give in to pouting or despairing tonight if our children aren't "there" yet, if the house isn't quite clean "enough," or when our Father hasn't allowed things to turn out the way we had hoped.

He's not through with us yet friend, praise Him, and run TO Him and not AWAY when motherhood is sanctifying, because more than anything tonight (more than well-behaved children, empty laundry hampers, and checked off schedules)....He's after your heart after all. 

Because of grace,

Ruth

Written by Ruth Chou Simmons.

Ruth is an artist, writer, entrepreneur, and speaker who shares her
journey of how God’s grace intersects daily life through word and brush at
GraceLaced.com – the popular blog, online shoppe, and Instagram community that
welcomes thousands daily.
Ruth is an unlikely mom to six young boys and wife to Troy, with whom she leads
GraceLaced’s small but mighty team. When not painting, writing, and casting vision for
GraceLaced.com, Ruth is usually busy eating chips and salsa, sorting laundry, cooking
for large crowds, not finishing her sentences, and discovering off-beaten paths in the wild with her guys. She is a devotee of pho, a recovering perfectionist, a converted four-
wheeling enthusiast, and a believer in waiting upon her Redeemer through every season.
Her first book, GraceLaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart
with Harvest House Publishers released on September 1, 2017 and her second book,
Garden of Truth is set to release April 3, 2018.

Find her on Instagram & Facebook.