Grace Lavished {and other favorite things this week}

This past week has been one full of answered prayer and unexpected blessing. Ephesians 1:8 says that God lavishes grace upon us and that has been so evident this week in our lives.

If you are ever doubting what God is doing, just wait. He is working things out for your good in His time. Trust it. It is true.

Some favorite things this week:

1. This pic of my little gardener tending our very skimpy garden. I keep telling my kids that little ditty: “He that plants beneath the sod, and waits to see, believes in God.”

Great lessons in gardening: tending the plants whether you feel like it or not, looking for bad fruit and nipping it off, supporting what is good, faithfully watering and checking. Gardening is so much like parenting, don’t you think?

2. This quote from my friend on Facebook from Jim Berg’s book “Quieting a Noisy Soul”-

“There are people in our lives that we won’t even talk to. There are family members that we have bitterness toward…Some of us have a black belt in verbal karate, and we know how to get all of the jabs in and say all the right things. We say all that and the next day we act as if nothing ever happened. That’s why we don’t prosper. Because that kind of defiance against God and His ways separates us from God. We cannot prosper believing the lie that we do not have to repent.” –Dr. Jim Berg from “Quieting a Noisy Soul”

I once heard one of my favorite teachers give an example of someone who had come to him for help because he was angry with his brother. It had been two years of angry thoughts, one-ups and the cold shoulder towards the person who wronged him. He wanted to know what he should do about it. The preacher said to the guy “You’ve been bitter for 2 years? That is how long your prayers have not been answered and you have not been forgiven? Two years?”

It is easier to blame. It is easier to accuse. But when you hold on to a wrong that someone committed against you, YOU ARE SINNING, destroying yourself, your testimony and your own walk with God.

As Christians we are commanded to forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. That is not optional. Read through Ephesians 4 if you think you are exempt.

3. This article by my friend Toni about her childhood desires realized in her call to missions. “The Unexpected Path of a Little Girl and an Elephant.” here 

With my own daughter away on a missions trip, this was an enjoyable article for me. Wherever we are, we need to be thinking of the bigger picture of what God is doing.

4. I am slooowly reading/reviewing these books: 

Grace for the Good Girl by Emily Freeman (Loving it so far!)

The Truth about Forgiveness by John MacArthur (I was sent this book to review. So good so far. And it was free. What could  be better? :))

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Paul Tripp. (Good so far, like anything else he writes. Very much a worldview kind of counseling book.)

5. This Grilled Pineapple Recipe was so delish. Peter made it the other day on the grill. Simple. The dash of hot sauce made it so nice!

6. I got to Skype my oldest on her birthday from Germany.  THAT was my favorite thing of the week! Her team mates made her bday special by giving her some time to be online with her family. They also gave her German Chocolate Cake and a ticket to an airplane museum in Germany, which she reported was “Awesome!”

How about you? Do you recognize God’s goodness in your life on a daily basis. Do you believe that grace has been lavished on you? Or do you feel like you’ve been shortchanged? Even thought things don’t happen on our timetable, they are working out for our good if you are loving, trusting and following God!