Gratitude Journey

       I have for a long time thought about 
gratitude  and have known that I have so much 
to be thankful for. So many  blessings God gives
me each and every day.

       They are like daily gifts from Heaven that
need  to be  opened and treasured. They come
in boxes of all sizes. So many times they are like
gifts left in a box unopened; unnoticed gifts of
God’s love and presence in my life.  I don’t “see”
them. They are there and have been there all 
through my life.

       I have read Ann Voskamp’s book: 1,000
gifts. Hers was definitely a journey to physical
and even more spiritual wholeness. A journey 
to find God in her life and see he was with her
even during the frightening  times of her life.

       As I near writing down my 1,000 gifts I 
know I will keep going; keep writing God’s
gifts to me. I miss way too many by not seeing
them; overlooking them. I hope  to notice and 
really see more and more of them; evidences
of God’s presence in my life.

       A gift is precious though and one of mine
lately has  been: a little boy in a picture as he
wears dirt on his face,  looking at it with such
joy and wonder in his eyes. Can I  be like that?
Can I be joyful and filled with awe and wonder 
at God’s gifts?

       August 14^th , in our Wednesday night 
ladies Bible  class we are going to start a 
journey in the Garden of  Gratitude and see 
the fruits it produces in our lives.

       Practice, practice, practice. I must write,
write, write down the blessings and write more
Thank You notes to those who God has put in
my life and tell them what a blessing they
have been to me. 

      

Eradicating the Weeds

        On my morning walk yesterday, I saw a neatly kept

lawn. It had beautiful flowers and the grass was cut. It

made me pause to reflect on our lives. Just as a person

is diligent about spraying their grass to keep the weeds

out and pulling weeds out of their flower garden so we

also must be diligent to pull the weeds out of our hearts.

        We know if we let weeds keep growing they just

seem to take over and the roots grow deeper. It is the

same in our lives. Those weeds (sin) can take over when

we go from day to day without making time to reflect on

our lives and without praying for God’s guidance and help

to see the weeds (sin) and ask His help and forgiveness.

        In our daily prayer how many times do we ask God’s

forgiveness and repent (turn away from our sins). Most

of the time if you are like I am, I ask God for help for

other’s health or my own needs. I forget to look deeply at

my heart and my life to see where sin is either creeping in

or has a deep root. 

        I have decided to watch more diligently for those weeds

in my life; to pray more for God’s help to remove them from

my heart so I can be more like Jesus. I challenge you to also

watch for the weeds.

A Lesson Learned From My Granddaughter

Hope spent the night with me and it was
bedtime.Like most children she didn’t 
want to go to sleep.She said, “Ma Judy, 
I’m hungry.”  I got some crackers for her.
Then, of course, she was thirsty. She
finally said she didn’t need to go to sleep
and she wasn’t sleepy.

By this time I was half asleep. I muttered
“everyone else is asleep and it’s time for 
us to go to sleep.”

Then Hope looked at the wall behind the 
bed and saw a scary shadow. She said:
”What’s that, Ma Judy?”“It’s a shadow”. 
I then picked up a big red Clifford

stuffed dog and showed her that even 
Clifford made a shadow.

Hope then laid down her head, grabbed
 my hand, and went to sleep holding it.

If only I would remember to go to my
Father whenever I’m scared; to hold on
tight and cling to Him. To realize I can 
sleep in peace knowing He is watching
over me. I can put my trust in Him.

His Nail-Pierced Hand_0001

His Nail-Pierced Hand

There’s a hand reaching out to the weary and the sad

A hand which comforts and consoles

It’s our loving Savior’s hand

His nail pierced hand’s reaching out.

Chorus: There’s a hand……there’s a hand….reaching out…reaching out.  There’s a hand …there’s a hand…reaching out….reaching out… There’s a nail pierced hand reaching out.

There’s a hand reaching out to the guilty sin sick soul

A hand that was nailed to the cross.

He frees from the shame of sin

His nailed pierced hand’s reaching out. (Chorus)

There’s a hand reaching out to the lonely and the scared

A hand which gives them strength and peace

Their name’s written on His palm

His nail pierced hand’s reaching out. (Chorus)

There’s a hand reaching out to the hearts filled with despair

A hand that imparts hope and joy

Since our Savior bled and died

His nail pierced hand’s reaching out. (Chorus)

According to His Plan

Beyond the rippled tides which roar

There is upon a distant shore

A loving face I long to see

Who’s waiting patiently for me

Oh, what a crimson price He paid

An awesome sacrifice He made

This glorious gift of God’s grace

Each day I’ll treasure and embrace

In my Savior I’ll put my trust

I, the one He produced from dust

I’ll step out of my comfort zone

Leaping into the vast unknown

I will trust Him when life is sweet

As if all is an easy street

But even more my faith will grow

When life deals me an awful blow

Whether my life is rain or shine

I’ll stay connected to the vine

From whom all blessings daily flow

He keeps me safe from any foe

I’ll live according to His plan,

With His guidance I know I can

My faith in Him grows day by day

Walking along the narrow way

Judy Wood