Moments of Grace
The beginning of the week starts in a flurry of things to do, places to go and people to see. The middle of the week is the push to get to the end of the week and the end of the week promises at least some respite. It’s in this end, this temporary intermission between the week and the weekend that we can pause, if only for moment, and appreciate the moments of grace the week brought us.
They were there, these moments of grace. They may have been fleeting and the noise and demands of life may have tried to drown them out, but they were there. They were in the strength to do what we thought we could not do, to accomplish what we thought impossible and even to enjoy what we were afraid we may miss.
So take a moment to look back on your week and recall these glimpses of grace as they wove themselves into the flurry of your life. These glimpses can be a a gratitude list, a story full of rich detail, or a simple photo revealing the glory of God in a messy toddler, a dew kissed petal, a glorious sunrise or a magnificent sunset.
If you blog, share a blog post containing your gratitude list, grace story, or picture from the week. You could even choose one from your archives showing the movements of God’s grace in your life; encouragement doesn’t have a time limit. Link up here on Fridays for “Moments of Grace.” If you don’t blog, share your grace moments in the comments of Friday’s post.
Blog or no blog, take time to visit each other, look and listen to the grace stories, the mysterious and unique ways in which God moves and works and lives in each one of us.
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Moments of Grace
I am so very thankful God has blessed me with two sisters; one through the blood of physical birth and one through the blood of Christ. I know without a doubt these two women understand me and love me. They know my quirks and my fears. They share in my joys and my sorrows. They not only love me, they love my family. And that love is not only concerned with the here and now, it is also a love based on a heavenly home. We know this is not all there is and we are committed to helping each other attain our eternal joy.
I wish I had a picture of me with these sisters. I will make that a priority.
Look back over your week. Take a moment to pause, reflect and see the goodness of God in your day to day. He loves you so much and He takes the time to show you that steadfast love…where was it this week that He met you and loved on you?
Moments of Grace
There was no post yesterday and I’m not even sorry. I’ve got a grumpy baby around here. Leo the Great is not feeling so great. He’s cutting two, maybe three or four teeth and he’s caught a little cold. This means I’m in higher than normal demand.
There was a time, when I was a young mom, that I could sleep when a sick baby slept, you know, like all the books say. Then I was a mom with lots of littles and had to stay awake while a sick baby slept on me in order to make sure the house and children all stayed safe. And now I’m a mom with littles and some bigs and I can once again nap when the sick baby naps…or take a hot shower for the few minutes the baby is happy.
You know what I love about this picture? That’s my oldest and youngest together in the kitchen. I literally had no idea how to hold a baby when I was her age (really!) much less hold a baby and do something else at the same time.
My Moment of Grace…there are so many little ones: socks on my feet as I dance with Leo late at night on the cold tile floor, lots of hand made lap quilts by my grandparents to wrap me and Leo up in the middle of the night–so many, I don’t have to carry one around, there will be another in whichever room we go, older daughters who get up in the night when they hear a crying baby just to check on us, those few stolen moments when I do get to lay down in my warm bed.
Join us! Share your Moments of Grace from the week. Share your Gratitude List, a favorite moment captured on your camera or a story to share. Link up or leave it in the comments.
Moments of Grace
Well…let’s see…
We lost the election…while others claim victory.
We need rain…while others have had their homes washed away by too much.
I am uninspired to cook…yet my people keep wanting to be fed.
Grocery prices keep going up…yet my people keep wanting to be fed.
The baby and I share the same thighs and belly right now, which is cute on him…not so much on me.
But there is grace because there is God. <–Tweet this
A God Who is the source of my joy
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
†Romans 15:13
A God Who promises to speak peace to His people
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
†Psalm 85:8
A God Who is good and Whose love will last forever
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1
A God Who is compassionate
For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
†Isaiah 54:10
Come on ladies, share your Moments of Grace. Show us the way God–the compassionate God, the loving God, the peaceful God, the joyful and the forever God–revealed Himself to you this week.
Moments of Grace
There have been a couple of places this week where I just quietly said to God, “I don’t want to be here right now.” And He answered, “Well, this is where you are, make the best of it.”
My heavenly Father was forcing me to find the grace in those places. They were there you know…because He was there.
I thought of Jesus–kneeling, laying, praying–in the garden. I’m pretty sure if a situation makes you sweat blood…you do not want to be there. But He was. And so He made the best of it. He spoke intimately to God the Father. And so I did the same, while the toddler interrupted and the baby needed and my selfishness demanded. But God’s my Father and a Father knows how His girl talks to Him…through, around and in-spite of interruption. And then He did the unthinkable…He came down on the altar and made Himself physically consumable.
And we ate. Each one of us, dealing with our own stuff; we waited our turn to partake of the physically consumable Jesus…
Body…Blood…Soul…Divinity
Now I am in no way comparing myself to Jesus. I am showing myself–because most of these words that dance out of my fingers, through the keyboard and onto the computer screen are for me. I am putting my thoughts to letters so I can see them objectively–I am showing myself that my distaste for a particular place, situation and circumstances are not the Garden of Gethsemane. They may be the field of discontent or the pasture of inconvenience, but they are not the Garden and I’m not sweating blood.
I’m irritated, aggravated, sad and disappointed. I’m confused and emotionally bruised and spiritually battered. But I have the example of Someone not wanting to be where they were (even if only long enough to ask for the cup to pass Him by) and making the best of it…for me.
So I make the best of it…for Him.
Share your Moment of Grace this week. Link up or drop a note in the comments.
Moments of Grace
I used to take pictures, lots of them. I needed to. I had to.
The post yesterday about taking up a hobby so I could see, well…it was a necessity. Have you ever been overwhelmed with yourself? Well, I was a couple of years ago and it was not good. And I needed something to take my mind off of myself. So I chose a hobby that would force me to stop looking inward and start looking outward.
The beginning of this year, I began building Suscipio. I have prayed and thought, worked and worried over how to build an encouraging Catholic community for Catholic women wandering the web. This desire is as much a part of my everyday life now as it was in January. I love opening my email and seeing some wonderful-you submit a post sharing a piece of your grace filled life. I enjoy seeing God through your eyes, sometimes almost hidden through tears or scrunched up in a smile. And Suscipio will continue and, please God, grow.
But in the process of building Suscipio, I stopped taking pictures. Oh, I still grab my camera most weeks, but I don’t grab my camera most days. It is no longer an extension of me. And I miss it.
Suscipio is not meant to be about me, nor is it mine. Although I post here. Although I administer it. And yes, I even pay for it (which is why it is so helpful when you make amazon purchases through the side bar widget or the links here on Suscipio. I get a small kick back from amazon, at no extra charge to you. Please remember this as you begin Christmas shopping.) But I want this quiet place to be about you. I want it to be yours, without any of the pressure of daily blogging or maintaining a web site.
But back to me and my Moment of Grace…it’s coming, I promise. I don’t feel comfortable going back to my old blog to help force myself to take pictures daily. It’s too personal over there, you know? Like when you’ve just stepped out of the confessional and you run into the priest who just heard your confession and you still feel a bit vulnerable, almost naked.
So my Moment of Grace this week…deciding to open a personal blog for myself. Well, not really just open, more like design. The initial work on my new personal blog was fun and exciting and stimulating and I can’t wait to start taking pictures again. For some reason, if I don’t have a place to put pictures, I won’t take them.
So tell me about your week–the good, the bad, the ugly–but always so full of grace. Share your gratitude list for the day or week. Got a picture to share…we want to see it! Stories? Oh we love stories! Link up or share it in the comments.
**Ugh! So sorry about not having the linky in place. This week is quarter finals at my house and the computer has been bizzzeeee churning out a book analysis on An Old Fashioned Girl, a test on Lilies of the Field, math tests, reading tests, science tests, religion test (expected to last 1½ hours!), English tests and various end of quarter quizes.
Moments of Grace
Happy Friday to you Ladies! This has been a busy week and I’m happy to say ‘Friday.’ Actually on weeks like this, I don’t so much say it as breathe it out in one long collective breath I’ve been holding the previous four days.
My Moment of Grace this week? Listening to my boy read Frog and Toad 
So tell me about your week. [tweetherder]Where did you find God or where did He find you?[/tweetherder] Was He clearly hiding on your ‘To-Do’ list or in the many unexpected moments that attach themselves to the ordinary and make them quietly extraordinary?
Please share in the comments or link up. And then take a moment today, or over the weekend and visit each other–here in the comment box or on a linked up blog.
*Remember tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway for all the supplies needed to highlight and tab your very own Catholic Child’s Teaching Bible©.
Moments of Grace
Happy Friday!
I needed a picture taken and since I look so uncomfortable and uptight by myself, I grabbed a chunky baby to pose with me. {Photo courtesy of my daughter Bernadette}
Share your Moment of Grace from the week. It could be a photo, story, prayer or gratitude list. Take the time to look back over your week and find the moments God met you right where you were.
Link up or leave it in the comments. Share the marvelous ways God met you in the ordinary. And then go visit each other. Encourage one another. [tweetherder]You never know what you may mean to someone who may feel unnoticed.[/tweetherder]
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