Wednesday Worship - Lifesong

Engrafted by His Grace--

Memorial Day

I hope we, the American people, can take a moment today to pause and reflect thanking God for those men and women who have served our country. Men and women voluntarily give up their lives for us to live free lives.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You today for the many men and women who fought bravely to protect our freedoms in America. Lord, I pray You bless their homes; bless their families. I ask You to comfort loved ones of those who sacrificially gave up their lives so we can live in freedom today. Lord, I thank You. In Jesus name, Amen.

If you or you have a family member who has served or who is serving our country, I want to personally thank you.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Bleeding?

Teaching my sixth grade son to write, he methodically outlined the topic he chose to write about. After writing out his outline, I asked him to narrate to me in complete sentences what he planned to write on the paper. After a few short, choppy sentences and phrases, I stopped him.

"Chase, think of your outline as the skeleton. Your job in writing the paper is to put flesh on the skeleton--"

"Oh yeah, Mom, so you can make it bleed."

Engrafted by His Grace--

Mercy Came Down by Del Way

Last Saturday at a Women's Ministry event, Jolee sang the special song. She sang this song Mercy Came Down by Del Way. The words ministered to my soul.



You can visit Del Way's website to learn more about his music and ministry.
Del Way Ministries

Engrafted by His Grace--

Mercy Blessings

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. ~~ Matthew 5:7

Are you inclined to give mercy? I found myself recently not so inclined to be merciful with those who live with me. I demanded acts of mercy from them, yet I acted harshly to them. I wanted them to follow this three step plan to me:

1. Acknowledge their offense toward me
2. Repent of their offense
3. Make restitution for their offense

But no one in my household followed this plan for me and I certainly did not feel I needed to yield to it myself. I wanted some respect from the others. In all honesty, what I wanted was control. But I’m not in control; God is in control.

The unmerciful servant found in Matthew 18 begged for mercy from his king. After he received mercy, he went to a fellow servant that owed him so much less and forced the three-step plan on him. When the fellow servant did not make restitution, the unmerciful servant had him thrown in jail. Because people talk and spread news quickly, the word got back to the king. As a result the king took back the mercy shown. The unmerciful servant lost the mercy he initially received. Jesus warned us that is how our heavenly Father is with us. I saw the warning signs flashing.

I decided to toss out my three-step plan, repent and obey the scriptures. Scriptures tell us God is a God of mercy. Deuteronomy 4:31 states, “For the LORD your God is a merciful God.” Since our Lord is a merciful God, he requires us to be merciful. Zechariah 7:9 reads, “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.”

Therefore, according to the Word of God, I’m to show mercy and compassion to those I love. I am challenging myself this week to stop barking orders, stop demanding my way in every situation, stop showing harshness with errors, and instead, showing kindness and compassion in all areas of my home.

I believe as I am merciful, I will be blessed. Blessed with what? Others being merciful to me? I don’t know, but I believe the blessing that comes with this act of obedience is peace in my heart and peace in my home. I think the enemy would love to get his foot in my door, but I’m not letting him in my house. I will guard my heart and my home through obedience to the scriptures. Being merciful to others will protect me from bitterness, envy, jealousy, and anger. Acting in mercy will bring blessings.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Mercy Came Running

Engrafted by His Grace--

New Thing

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. ~~ Isaiah 43:19 NIV

New things are happening in my life. This post is an update of the exciting activities taking place in my life.

I am overwhelmed by God's grace and goodness in so many areas where I see His favor flowing.

First, I've home schooled my youngest for five years and have enjoyed every minute of it. Okay, every minute? Alright, yes there have been some tough times, but in those times I've grown more in my character. God uses my children to show me where I need to correcting. Oh how these boys have been so much more to me. But the home schooling season is coming to a close. My oldest son graduated last summer from our home school and since then, Chase has been my only student. His athletic abilities are demanding and his goals are lofty. He's ready for the public school environment. I've visited with the schools and have made arrangements for him to start junior high this fall. Chase is so excited about it as he loves to be where the action is. God is doing a new thing in our lives.

Second, last May when I attended CLASServices speaker training and the CLASS writer's conference last October in Glorieta. I had no idea the doors the Lord would open for me. Now, I recently attended CLASSeminars Personality Training Workshop and so more seems to be unfolding for me. So much more than I ever thought or imagined. (Ephesians 3:20) It's been one my heart's desire to become a Certified Personality Trainer. This month I feel pleasingly overwhelmed with the requirements it takes to achieve this title. I have lots of respect for those who hold a CPT title as I am working the process it takes to achieve it. I'm in awe and amazed at how the Lord is leading me through this demanding process and opening up opportunities for me. I just love it! I never imagined four speaking engagements all in a five week time frame this month. God is doing a new thing in my life.

Third, I never imagined having a title of "co-editor." Never. Last year I sought for hours on end for a Christian women's website to write and share devotions. I kept submitting, emailing and asking. Then the Lord put Take Root and Write in my path and He opened this door for me to write a bi-monthly column called Totally Transplanted based off this scripture:

"The godly are transplanted in the Lord's own garden and are under His personal care." ~~Psalm 93:13 TLB

Then after two months, I was asked if I would consider assisting with editing. I felt led to say "yes" as it was God's calling. Now I'm assisting in the editorial department and loving every moment of it. Then when seeking God's will about it, I came across the same verse in another version and it read:

"They will take root in your house, LORD God, and they will do well." ~~Psalm 92:13 CEV

How I felt confirmation from the Lord I am in the right place as one version reads "transplanted" and the other version reads, "take root" hence, the website and column names as led by the Lord. He is doing a new thing in my life.

All these changes are exciting for me in the speaking and writing ministry. I have more projects I'm working on, but will share about those at a later time as He continues to unfold new things in my life.

Please pray for me that I keep my priorities straight as all these new opportunities open for me. God and family first.

I'm praying for all the prayer requests that have come in. Thank you for entrusting me with your heart felt needs to take boldly before the throne. May the Holy Spirit bring you the assurance and comfort you need.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Happy Mother's Day

Here's to all moms--Happy Mother's Day

The Images of a Mother (received via email, author unknown)
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

Enjoy this video of Anita Renfroe singing the "Momisms" to the William Tell Overture



Have a blessed Mother's Day Weekend!

Engrafted by His Grace--

Mighty to Save

To the glory of the risen King--Jesus!



Engrafted by His Grace--

Four Basic Personality Types

Below is a funny video about the four basic personality types. (The video is not affiliated with the training I received.) If you have never heard these terms before, I'll explain them briefly for clarification.

Sanguine--the talkative, funny person who thinks everything is fun
Choleric--natural leaders, serious, desires control
Melancholy--organizers, deep thinkers
Phlegmatic--desires peace, avoids work



Engrafted by His Grace--