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How Much Grace Do You Have?

21 Sep

These words on grace by Annie J. Flint really spoke to me today:

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

I have recently exhausted my personal supply of strength and resources. My peace evaporated in the heat of daily stress. Trials seemed to loom on every side. But guess what? His limitless love came racing back to me when I read these words above, reminding of how freely God wants to give to me, again and again and again.

I also love what Roy Lessin had to say about grace: “Recently, I have to come to understand God’s grace to mean this…Jesus Christ will be to me all that I cannot be; He will do for me all that I cannot do; He will work through me all He calls me to be and to do…not once in awhile, but always; He will give it, not in tiny measure, but abundantly, over and over again.”

This is the God I know, but so few people seem to know this one. The god they know is chasing them with a to do list that never gets done, with a check list of all the things they are doing wrong, and another list of things they must accomplish to make him happy. My Abba God is not like that. Not at all. He loves me. He loves me when I get everything right. He loves me when I get everything wrong. He just loves me, period. This may not be the God you know, but He and His Son are real, and they love us with a never ending, never rejecting, never condemning love. I want to love like that. I want to remember He loves me like that too, especially on the days the walls are falling in on me. His grace enables me to experience the truth of His love. I’m glad of Annie J. Flint’s words reminding me of this. Grace is a beautiful part of love and hope and happiness.

Thanks to these reminders, my week just got better! Hope this will help improve yours as well. Talk to you soon! Angela

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Posted in gratitude, Ponderings

If I Only Had a Brain…..

02 Sep

If I only had a brain.....

The Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz is one of my hero’s. Actually I truly love all the characters from the movies and the books. During my life I have often identified with the each one of the characters. Currently, it’s Tin Man I understand the most.

I and all the people around me are currently dealing with my problem: I have menopause brain. Now, you would think that means that I still have a functioning cerebral cortex, but….you would be WRONG! I too sadly sing the song of the Tin Man, “If I only had a brain…” Why you ask? Well, let me answer that query for you….

Long long ago in a place far far away Little Miss Angela had to have a hysterectomy, at 25 no less! No gory details, but suffice it to say some of the parts had to go, a couple of small parts stayed. So I didn’t immediately begin ‘pausing’, but the surgeon told me I would experience it a little early probably. Not sure what early means, but now I find myself in the throws of the blasted thing at 48. Joy unspeakable, just ask my family and friends .

I’ve spent all these years praying for a ‘mini’ pause, nothing too dramatic. I have found if I drink soy milk every day I don’t have the wonderful hot flashes. Mine did not cause me to sweat. I felt like the upper third of my body had been plunged into an oven and Iwas slowly being broiled to death. I understand all the comedic scenes in movies and TV where the menopausal woman is running screaming through the house, yard, mall, whatever, yanking off all her clothes. You just can’t take the heat. So thank God for soy milk. I do quite regularly. But, what was I writing about, oh yeah. This post was about a brain…

I have been researching this menopause thing. Come to find out one of the symptoms of menopause is problems with memory. Problems with memory. No one has ever mentioned that to me. At least I don’t think they have. Now, thanks to my Dad I have a family trait already of being slightly forgetful (my daughter is guffawing at the slightly I’m sure). If I don’t put things back in their designated spots, I won’t remember leaving them in the other odd spots we find them in. Thus ensues a search that can last for days. Really. Sometimes weeks. Then there are all the faces I remember collectively in said brain. Faces of schoolmates, old work companions, teachers, former bosses, family that live very far away, current customers of mine that work in the vicinity of my office. Faces, but no names. None. I will know that I know you, and try to stumble around to remember your name, but everyone usually figures out that I can’t recall it, and they obligingly offer up their own name for me and whomever I am trying to introduce them to. So, seems like I already have enough memory issues, right? Well, let’s just see about that. Let me explain my life with the current additional memory issues.

with creme and sugar, perfection!

I love coffee. I have discovered that it is one of the great loves of my life. Boyfriend has acknowledge and accepted this fact (at least I think he has). I have been making coffee since I was 15 or 16. As I stated earlier I am now 48, so that’s a long time. How hard is it really? Wee-ee-eel…..let me tell you.

This morning I’m at work and decide it’s time to have a good hot cuppa. Put filter in basket. Scoop out desired amount of coffee. Pour in sufficient amount of water for brewing. Turn on pot, walk away, wait. A few minutes later, we have coffee. I am sitting at my desk, really enjoying the wonderful aroma of fresh coffee wafting around me. What a pleasure it is to have coffee in my life. Sigh. Just another minute or two, and I will be imbibing on my cherished drink. Hold on there kiddies! Houston discovers a problem. What the frail? Urp. Ahhh. Oops. Where’s the pot? I neglected to place the coffee POT under the spigot for the coffee that was brewing. So, coffee slowly built up in the basket, with the filter and the GROUNDS, and then proceeded to pour out and all around the coffee maker, all over counters, down cabinets, into the floor…..need I go on? It took almost a full roll of paper towels to clean up my mess. Why would I not remember to put the POT on the coffee maker? One day I didn’t remember to turn it on, and I sat for quite a while waiting for coffee that was not gonna happen. Oh well. I finally figured that part out too. So, again, I sing the song of the Tin Man: “… if I only had a brain.”

Guess I will write out the instructions for making coffee on some sticky notes and put them on the pot….ummm….huh? what were we talking about? Lunch, oh yeah. That’s it. Lunch.