Grace Given Grace Applied

“You will say the wrong thing if you talk too much— so be sensible and watch what you say." ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭10:19‬ ‭CEV “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. I remember singing that as a child when someone would say something mean to me. It was supposed to be a way to act as if what was said couldn’t hurt my feelings. But sometimes words just stick. No matter how old we are we have the potential to carry the scars from words that were spoken to us. Truthfully, words can and DO much harm. Sometimes, what is being said was intentionally malicious and other times it could have been true but it was said without love. Then there are times when what’s said is spoken flippantly because the person is “just talking”. If we’re honest we can see ourselves in one if not all of these scenarios as well as on the receiving end.  I can remember 2 instances in particular in my adult life that caused private heartache and questioning if I had s

“I will bless you with a future filled with hope—a future of success, not of suffering.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11‬ ‭CEV “I’m not getting a new phone”! “I can’t pay the 5”! “I’m not buying a new phone”. These were the phrases I shouted repeatedly one day; let’s be honest for the past several weeks every time I heard the notification sound go off on my phone or when I couldn’t hear the caller on the other end when I tried to answer a call periodically.  My iPhone was making a weird busted bell sound,    similar to a rotary telephone. As annoying as it was I was unwilling to be moved by the small warning signs that something was wrong. I was trying not to be impulsive with a new purchase but as the past two months have gone by things were getting worse. I had concluded that cell phones were WAY overpriced and I’d make do until I absolutely had to get a new one. Especially, with me being a stay home mom I like to justify my spending because I never want us to be short becaus

Can you handle being in the background? Galatians 1:10 GNB Does this sound as if I am trying to win human approval? No indeed! What I want is God’s approval! Am I trying to be popular with people? If I were still trying to do so, I would not be a servant if Christ Can you Handle being in the background and not being seen? That’s the question that God posed to me one day while I was cleaning up after my boys for what felt like the millionth time that day. I answered after hearing that question like “come on God YES, I am at home with my boys, aren’t I? I haven’t been in the corporate workforce since May 28 th , 2015. You know I am good with that”.   I thought that conversation was over but if you have ever had a conversation with God, you know that’s likely to not be the case. Later that night I was in the shower and He showed me the ways that I wasn’t comfortable being in the background. The things he showed me I thought were innocent enough and totally not out of o