Chipotle and God's Lavish Grace

I finally experienced the Mexican fast food restaurant Chipotle this past weekend.  As my sister guided me through the line, the Chipotle lady said, "Sour cream?" to which my sister's reply was something like, "Heck, yeah!"  Being that I have several sour cream lovers in my house, we actually have to try to conserve sour cream or I'd be buying an embarrassing number of shamefully large sour cream tubs per grocery trip.  I was expecting the Chipotle employee to dribble on a token amount of the tasty white condiment.  No-siree.  The young lady took a huge serving spoon and enthusiastically dolloped on the biggest splat of sour cream I've ever seen on a respectable Mexican dish this side of the Mississippi. 

That dollop of sour cream stuck with me all weekend.  "That's how God is," I thought. 

We expect God to conserve.  We expect Him to be stingy.  He must be an ogre or a miser, right?

But He isn't like that.

"In Him we have redemption through His blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of His grace

which He lavished on us."

 

Ephesians 1:7-8 NASB

We are redeemed from sin, bought back from satan's clutches, receiving the forgiveness for the sins we've committed.  He isn't stingy about His forgiveness.

Friend, you aren't barely forgiven.  You don't squeak into God's Kingdom when you surrender to Him.  Nope.  This is all according to the riches of His grace. 

 


We don't have to stand on the outskirts, shyly hoping we're truly "in."  He is a bountiful Father, ushering us into this love. 

This mama/wife/life drives me before God daily, petitioning for the grace I need.  Grace to parent.  Grace to submit.  Grace to swim upstream.  Grace to choose the harder things.  And I keep thinking about how He freely gives that grace when I ask.  He isn't guarding the "grace container," rationing how much grace I should have for today.  He's got gobs and gobs of grace, which He rains down on me in a beautiful flood.



That sour cream splat kept my thoughts churning on the beautiful character of my Heavenly Father.

 

Tired, stressed out mama, those gobs of grace are for you.  Just ask.   



Friends, that forgiveness, that redemption, is for you.  It isn't barely there; it's fully for you.  Surrender to Him today.

Pinterest Fail or Parenting Win?

What a cute idea!  Use leftover maps to wrap presents. 

 

 

Since I rotate the maps in our school room often, I thought why not?

 

And then the Littles "helped" me.

 

And chose the ugliest part of the map to wrap with. 

 

But hey, at least I can cross "wrap the gifts" off my to-do list...

 

and we did it together.

 

#pinterestfailbutparentingwin

Thoughts on Autumn, Friendships and Courage

The last quintessentially autumn days are becoming more and more sparse as November begins. 

I was thrilled just the other day to be able to snag just one more supper out on the new porch.  What an unexpected treat!  As I write, the girlies are outside, playing with their rabbits, riding bikes and undoubtedly scheming something.  The warm temps make their hearts go pitter-patter. 

Also, the warm temps have made pleasant days for gym class at the local parks.  I've enjoyed checking out the tennis and volleyball courts at various locations around our small town.  While one of our fantastic moms has spear-headed gym class, it's been super satisfying to sit down and have meaningful conversations with my own friends.  The conversations are always thought-provoking and encouraging.  I realize this:

True fellowship is invaluable. 



It's becoming obvious to me that God uses people to speak to me in palpable ways.  Things He wants me to learn sometimes hover a bit in my peripheral vision until some friend says that one word, so fitly spoken,

It's golden. 
(Proverbs 25:11)

Then, it comes into focus.

That's what I desire ~ cut the fluff...

I want real. 

Real relationships that are more than a passing conversation. 

Real friendships that make me want to love God more, more, more every day. 

Real bonds that go past surface niceties. 

Real conversations where there's constant giving and receiving ~ encouragement and exhortation to keep running this race.



I'm finding those things in places I never expected.  You really can't limit where you find fellowship.

God can forge friendships through the most unique divine appointments.  Several years ago, I brashly knocked on a door to find out if the basketball hoop near the side of the road was free.  It wasn't.  I survived my embarrassment and discovered like precious faith in the woman who answered the door.  It was the beginning of iron sharpening iron.  We laugh now over the beginning of our friendship.

Perhaps you've limited yourself to only the friendships of those you meet in the foyer.  Maybe you're frustrated by conversations that never go past the weather.  Maybe your circles haven't grown in a decade or so, now resembling stale bread, rather than the life-giving, iron-sharpening relationships God intended.  I'm learning not to be discouraged by any of those things.  Our God is capable of astounding divine appointments, leading me to forge and foster friendships that glorify Him. 

I continue to reach out in the love of Christ, but others must reach back.  My job is to love.  My job is to pray.  My job is to listen intently.  My job is to care.  My job is to be Jesus to whomever I meet.

Today, reach out and when someone reaches out to you, reach back.

Field-Walking

We ambled out into the fields last night, pushing supper to later in order to take advantage of the diminishing daylight and the delightful temperature that only autumn can offer. 

 

It's been a while since we've been field walking.

Field-walking is more of an autumn sport.  It's easier to walk when the corn is down and it shows respect to the farmer and his work, by staying out of his fields and off of his crops. 

 

We are trying to teach our children to respect all property, whether it belongs to us or not.

 

The Rugged Mountain Man says there's nothing more maddening than going hunting, only to find another hunter left a pile of litter.  No wonder people post their land.

 

The mission of this hike, aside from simply enjoying God's Creation and getting fresh air was to find a path to a friend's house that won't involve walking on the road.

 

This would allow the children to trek to each other's houses in relative safety.

 

When I told Blossom1 this, she was thrilled.  Unfortunately, we had to turn around because we interrupted some inline hunters.  Oops. 

 

 

 

I liked the above snapshot of Blossom4, as it seemed to show just how small and helpless she is.  She was finding out how good wide open spaces are for the soul.

 

Blossom1 was trying her hand at some artistic photography of HikeMon and HikeWoman. 

I think she did pretty well!

 

We're looking forward to more field-walking this fall.

 

Rails to Trails in the Autumn

There are so many tasks on a mama's to-do list, even on a beautiful autumn Saturday.

I'm thankful that the Rugged Mountain Man wrangled us out of the house on that glorious autumn day not long ago. 

We love biking our local Rails to Trails. 

Here's the great thing about Rails to Trails.  It's F L A T because they were once railway beds.  FLAT.

Flat is good for all parties involved.  I've done marathon biking with my dad, registering fifty miles on this particular trail.  (I love shadow pictures.  Oh, and here's another one.)

We went for a mere nine miles as a quicker "Let's Enjoy Fall" and still get a few things done on Saturday. 

As you can see, I thought the pump was picturesque. 

I'm almost surprised there isn't a verse in the Bible about fresh air being medicine for the soul,

though there are plenty of verses of God's splendor and glory in His creation and maybe it's just assumed that it ministers to your soul soaking it all in.

The Rugged Mountain Man and I were happy to note that the Blossoms are getting strong enough for longer rides, as they didn't want to be done after this ride.  They were "pesting" for a longer ride!

Blossom3, who is 6, was all over the road, almost running into every member of the family.  This caused a few chuckles. 

I'm glad I didn't let the to-do list keep us in.  I'm happy to tackle the tasks of home life, but sometimes family time in the outdoors is just more important.