Labor Day 2022

September 4, 2022 Gracie

Happy Labor Day 2022

Do you have any Labor Day plans?

Hopefully, you have the day off to celebrate with your family or friends.

My husband will be firing up the smoker to make something delicious.

He’s a famous grill master (at least at our house).

I’m in charge of the “side” dishes.

Seriously, an entrée without sides is like a day without sunshine, am I right ? 😉

Beyond those eagerly-looked-forward-to menu items, without question, we‘ll be flying our American flag at our front door.

With that in mind, on this Labor Day 2022, we’d like to express our thanks to the American workforce.

Hard-working men and women who labored for years to build this country from the ground up.

Brick by brick.

Stone by stone.

Their efforts, and more importantly, our Judeo-Christian heritage and faith in God are what made America great.

As we learn in the Book of Ecclesiastes, verse 9 and beyond, God is sovereign and He has set eternity in our hearts.

⁹What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰I have seen the task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Mankind

¹¹He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; ¹³moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

– Ecclesiastes 3:9-13, (NASB).¹

As we relax with family and friends this weekend, let’s also remember and rejoice in “His” work in our lives

Happy Labor Day!

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Our Exceptional God

When Life Throws You A Curveball

August 23, 2016 Gracie

Please, Make It Stop

Have you ever said that?

I have.

Recently, in fact.

It’s actually funny now, looking back.

My husband and I decided to buy a new car. The SUV that I was driving was a gas guzzler and difficult to get into the garage.

life throws you a curveball

After some searching and a couple of test drives, we finally found the right car.

I couldn’t wait to pick her up.

After filling out the mounds of paperwork, the salesman and I got into my new car so he could brief me on her finer points.

I loved the fact that she would remember my seat setting.

How convenient is that? No waiting, just get in and go, go, go.

It’s Time to Set the Seat

Here’s where it got interesting.

With the salesman beside me in the passenger seat, he told me to get into a comfortable position and then hit “Set” and “1.”

That signal didn’t quite get to my brain in time because I hit the “1” before I was supposed to.

please make it stop What I didn’t know was that someone, I believe who is about four feet tall, had already set the seat to “their” comfortable setting.

All of a sudden, the driver seat started rising fast, pushing me forward into the steering wheel. I couldn’t stop it!

“Make it stop!” I said to the salesman who was laughing out loud at my dilemma.

After some button-pushing, we finally got the seat back down to the right setting.

I’m happy to say that I survived.

I was turning new shades of red, but I survived.

Life can get that way too, sometimes.

The pressure mounts and all you want to do is “make it stop.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a stop button to press when life gets out of hand?

When Life Throws You A Curveball

When life throws you a curve ball, please don’t despair and for heaven’s sake, don’t lose your faith in God.

Pray, and then pray again. Ask God for strength and peace.

^*12Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. – Romans 12:12, ESV.

Read Your Bible

If you don’t know where to start, try the book of Psalms. Let the Word of God remind you that He cares deeply about you.

In an article located on the desiringGod.com website, author Matt Brown offers a brilliant, unforgettable statement that has stuck with me since I read it.

Don’t say God is silent when your Bible is closed.
– Matt Brown, evangelist and author.

Ouch!

Guilty.

If that isn’t convicting, I don’t know what is.

Use Social Media

Don’t be ashamed to turn to fellow believers and ask for prayer for your situation.

I can pretty much guarantee you that if you ask for prayer on Facebook, your friends will respond and offer their encouragement.

It helps to know that people care.

God bless you this week.

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*Scripture quotation from the Book of Romans is from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Our Exceptional God

Serenity Now!

October 23, 2014 Gracie

Serenity Now

Ever have one of those days? When it seems like nothing is going right?

Stop it!

You know you have 🙂

There are a few ways I can get back into focus when that happens to me.

Here’s what I do: I say a prayer and then look at something beautiful that God created. I know it sounds simple, but it works.

Here’s one of my favorite photos for you.

serenity now

How I Get Serenity Now

I put Philippians 4 into action and get my mind focused back on God, whether it’s through music or something visual.

⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

– Philippians 4:8-9 ESV, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Here’s what happened on that day I’d rather forget:

I got on my computer to go into the writing directory I’ve been a member of since 2010.

Lo and behold I was met with an official message saying that the directory had been sold. I needed to make a decision quickly as to whether I would allow my articles to be republished on a new site (a site that I didn’t like) or all of my work would be deleted.

Wait – What????

It wasn’t just me that was affected by this behind the scenes sale. There were a million other writers who got the discouraging news.

All of my work was about to go “Poof!”

Never Giving Up

Out of all of my articles, the ones I really cared about were the ones about my faith in God. I was devastated.

As the deadline to either “move or terminate” my member account approached, I slowly started deleting my articles on the site and then re-saving them onto my hard drive. Each article removal hurt. Those articles represented a lot of work, but it wasn’t just the hours spent writing all of them.

I had put my heart into those articles.

It felt like I was being kicked in the stomach.

Why God?

After some initial tears and a pep talk from my husband and some encouraging friends, I picked myself up and started my own website.

Peace Through Jesus Christ

It’s nice not to be tied to a writing directory now, always subject to their conditions and potential to “sell out.”

So here it is, my new website.

I hope you are enjoying Delight in God.

Bad days will come and go, but the sun always rises and sets and reminds us that God’s love is as constant as the blessing of each new day.

Serenity is found through Him.

Be blessed!

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Our Exceptional God