GraceLaced Monday: Little Big Things

Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 

James 1:16-17

Here's the mini-sermon I preach to my kids (and myself!) when things aren't ideal to our human hearts and minds....

Girls, we must remember that hard times, confusion, pain, discomfort, disappointment.....these are all gifts from God's hand to us, just like the happy, fun, easy things are. He's allowed this or that because it's best, because in his loving sovereignty He knows it will make us more like Jesus or draw us to Him for salvation...He knows what will bring Him glory. Every gift is from Him. Will we see it as such when it isn't pleasant? Will we believe He is doing what is good and loving? Can we trust His kind control?

By His grace, yes, we can make that choice to receive it all as a gift. Doesn't mean it feels good necessarily, but there is the peace that comes from a growing faith in God's perfections. I think we can grieve the hard things that come while still trusting Him more and more in the unpleasant circumstances.

So on Grace Laced Monday, I'm counting mercies/graces, the little big things, and in that discipline, taking one tiny step toward trusting Him more fully...
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Little big things...

EG's 11 precious years - what a deep-thinking, perceptive little friend she's become...always had this unusual ability to see the world around her through different eyes, like when she was two and we were at Sears. She saw a tiny stepladder and demanded we take a look at the "A" she'd found...

a day to move slowly, quietly

long conversation with a needy one

meals....in making birthday favorites for EG, Sunday's meals were taken care of, except for supper, for which I had some frozen leftover soup I was able to revamp in the crockpot

the way LC plays with my hair when we do her reading time

that LC's reading skills have blossomed - we realized she needed nearly daily, supervised reading sessions of 15-30 minutes. Her text: the Bible (she's gone through Esther and most of Job in the couple of months since we began our efforts).

two sisters, who frequently struggle with relating lovingly, playing together all day Sunday...pretending plane flights and flight attendants and a two-girl game of Ticket to Ride

lots of rain

blue sky after

pressure

CA, running in circles around the loveseat, lost in pretending, red and white gingham fabric cloth she'd pinned around her neck, fluffly pink and red tutu...all while we played a game with the big 4 - such a blessing: her sweetness and imagination, and her happily occupied during our long play with the bigs

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bummer: no photos today because I have to learn to use my new computer! Uploading photos to blogger doesn't work the same way as before, and I've not submitted myself yet to a lesson from Tech Support (that would be BB) on how to do it the new way...soon, I hope, soon!