Graced with Grace

What better day to write a love story than today. We met about three years ago. The exact details of our very first meeting I don't remember very well because it wasn't exactly love at first sight for either one of us. He was a young happy freshman while I was a sad despondent old junior. It wasn't too long before we became friends though. He started serving in the kitchen with me, and became a sweet fragrance of joy and youth in my weary sad drained life. It seems that the kitchen is a fitting place for two people to fall in love. I am sure he will never forget the many gifts of "love" I gave him as a dishwasher. Yes, I brought him so many dishes which I pointedly told him was "from the bottom of my heart...... where all the dirt lies." What could get more romantic than that? Right?!?!?! So we became friends. We played pranks. We did parties. We ate food. And we started sharing each others coffee drinks. (gross!) And I became madly in lo...

  This summer was full of new adventures, new beginnings, joyous celebrations, dreams coming true, hard work, and long quiet days learning to rest in Jesus more. My sweet friend from North Carolina, whom I have known since infanthood, got married in May. I myself, started courting a kind, godly, tenderhearted, young gentleman at the end of May. I worked landscaping during the month of June. Then went home for the month of July to spend time with my family before my sister, Priscilla, married the man of her dreams at the beginning of August. I started my senior year of college, while my middle sister started her freshman year. I turned 24 at the end of last week, which was actually quite exciting, but only because my sweet beau made it a very special day to be remembered forever, otherwise, 24 isn’t too remarkable. ;) Busy as this summer has been, it has also been a very special season to me. Starting a courtship relationship with one of my best friends of the last two...

  I said a kind word One day And I saw the light That it brought, The smile on his face, The joy in his eyes. I said a kind word One day And it seemed To change a life, Give life.   I tend to be a joker, a teaser. I love to laugh and I love to make others laugh, I can be really sarcastic and sassy. But when it comes to speaking affirmation, speaking an encouraging word, giving a compliment or saying a kind word to a friend, somehow the words always get stuck in my throat and a joke comes out instead. Or sometimes I can manage a nice word, but then just so the person knows I am not really that nice, I cover it up with a joke or a sassy comment. But a few weeks ago I gave a genuine encouraging compliment to a friend and was surprised by how much joy that brought my friend not to mention how much joy it brought to myself to see his joy. When I joke with my friends, I don’t really seem to be changing a life, but when I gave that one ge...

I am by no means a pro on knowing what kind of man to marry, but I believe I have an advantage to some extent, in that I am not dating or married and never have been, so I can’t be biased, but have instead gotten to observe much. Being single for almost 23 years now has given me lots of opportunities for watching the young men folk in my life and seeing pros and cons. Sometimes, I say “No way! I could never marry a man like that!” and sometimes I say “That is a beautiful characteristic and something to keep in mind for a future spouse.” Coming from a Christian perspective, there are some of the obvious things that a girl should look for in a spouse, but I want to mention some of the other things, assuming my readers already desire a godly spouse. 1.      In all my observations, one thing on the top of my list of approved men are the ones who help with the dishes or other mundane tasks, whether married, dating, or single. Yes, seriously! It seems...

Sometimes I wallow in self-pity and mope around because I still remain single to this day (although, honestly, I am really not that old and so am really not that concerned about it). I am that girl that has always wanted to get married and have children, but here I sit writing this post as a 22 year old who has never been even asked out on a date (and who also should be doing her homework right now and not writing blog posts at all. Ahem!). But as I was thinking the other day and most likely trying to comfort myself over still being single, I was struck with just how blessed I am to still be single. So many of my young friends (many of them younger than I) are either dating, engaged, or already married. As I thought about it, it struck me that some of these friends have hardly even experienced any sort of single life. Some of them have not even made it through one year of college without being in a relationship. Although it is by no means wrong to get in a ...

  Summer is close upon us. I only have one week left of classes and then finals week. After that I will be going home for a month to spend time with family. That part I am excited about, but not everything about this time of year do I get excited about. I have discovered that the end of another school year can also mean the end of special friendships, too. And it makes me just a little sad. It will be nice to have another year of school put behind me, but I also know that summer will be different. I won’t be seeing the same people each day. I will still be able to see some of these people, but some of them I may never see again. Being in college is an interest stage of life. Each year as the school year closes, there are some friends who graduate. Some friends move on to a different school, some friends move back to their home town, some friends just change.   Even the ones who do come back for the next year, are going to be busier or have other...

  He says give me your heart, But I run away Only to come back The very next day With a broken heart. In despair, I kneel before the throne of grace And say “My heart Lord, do I give.” But the battle is not over yet. Arrogant and proud, I run once more. I can take care of myself; I will do things my own way; I can do it alone, And so I push him away And I run yet again. A broken and a contrite heart He won’t despise. So when all else fails, As it always will, I return to the throne of Love And cry.   With tears of grief and sorrow I look into his loving eyes. God of mercy, God of Love, Hear my cry today, Calm my anxious heart, Give me your peace like a river, Give me your fullness of joy, And God above, Give me your love, That the Love in you, Would be the Love living in me. And so another day comes, But forgetting yesterday, And the stubborn girl I am, What did I do? ...

    Stare out the window Out upon the busy street. Cars stopping at red lights Than slowly moving on. Young ladies walk and chat. Music ringing within the coffee shop. Muffled conversation from nearby. There's a park across the street With laughing, running, playing children. Lady asks for money once again. Bikers everywhere and busses too.   These are some of the sights That cross my eyes. City life.   Lives that matter Walking quietly by. How often do I remember That each life is uniquely created And each is born with a soul like me?   God created that beggar woman Just as much as he created me. Why should my life be More important than hers? Its not.   God created her And God created me. God cares about her So I should care about her, too. But I turn and avert my gaze And try to ignore her pleading eyes.   Every soul that walks the street. God created eac...

I have been thinking a lot about love lately, I mean true Love. It’s easy to get an image in one’s head of love being this happy fuzzy mushy gushy feeling that gives one butterflies in their stomach. It’s all about meeting that prince charming and life being happy ever after or at least that is what a lot of the fairy tales tell us, right? Love is a whole lot more than that. Love is not just a feeling! Love is primarily action! You can read about it in 1 Corinthians 13 and all throughout the Bible. Love is the action of being patient, being kind, being forgiving, being a joyful servant, being longsuffering, being tenderhearted. It’s the action of not seeking one’s own, not being puffed up, not being rude. Love is an action and you can see it being acted out all throughout scripture. Love is the action of believing, hoping, bearing, and enduring. Nowhere, that I see or can recall, does the Bible ever talk about love being a feeling, whereas, everywhere does it tell of the ...

I was reading a book called Heart to Heart Stories of Friendship compiled and edited by Joe L. Wheeler and one thing that stood out to me in these stories of friendship is the power of words. You can use your words to kill a friend in a matter of seconds or you can use your words to save a life, but it’s up to you. One story tells of a grouch who always seemed to be in the worst of moods, never smiled, was disliked by all, and cussing seemed to be his only language, but he was also the most faithful at his job. After eight long years of laboring day and night, someone finally told him that he was appreciated for his faithful hard work and guess what happened? The grouchy man was transformed completely; began working harder than before, smiled at everyone, moved his way up to top position in his line of business, and became a much loved coworker. I was thinking about this and other stories I had read and began to think how I might be able to use my own words to change lives, as ...

Happy birthday to the most amazing Tara Kristen​ in the whole world! Tara, you are an amazing woman of God and I have been truly blessed to watch you grow in your love for him as you reach out and serve others. You also have an awesome sense of humor and are always making me laugh! You encourage me to conquer my fears and do scary things, such as, ride a dirt bike. ;) Or you introduce me to fantastic movies, such as, The Scarlet Pimpernel. I have been so blessed to have known you for the past 10+ years. You have been a wonderful friend. You are also a courageous and loyal friend to put up with me for so long and to endure all of my lame jokes. ;) Thanks for always laughing even when the jokes aren't really that funny. It is always nice to know that someone will laugh. ;) I love you, Tara, and am excited to see what God has in store for your life!  

Ever since I can remember being able to write, I have loved sending letters to friends from far and near. As a young girl, I always looked forward to and excitedly anticipated a letter in return which was part of my motivation for writing in the first place. But as I got older and those I wrote to got older, I knew that they may not have time to respond, but some how I knew that they would be blessed if I sent a letter anyway.  Writing handwritten letters through snail-mail may seem like an old fashioned, slow, and rather quaint past time communication. But I have been discovering, to my pure delight, that I am not the only one who wants to keep this old fashioned communication going.  There is true beauty, delight, warmth, joy, strength, and encouragement that can be found through simply writing a handwritten letter and sending it through the mail. There is beauty in the note card that was picked out for someone special. There is pure joy and del...

I've always loved a good story. If someone has a good story to tell me then I 'm all ears. I love to find out a little about the back ground of someone; where they grew up, what kind of family they grew up in. knowing the kind of life someone lived, helps me to understand that person better. It helps me to understand why they might think or feel or talk or act a certain way. It gives me a new perspective of that person. Yet not only do I love to hear peoples stories, but for a long time now I have had a desire to write down peoples stories. There are so many people who may seem to have lived such an ordinary life, but if you sit and listen to their stories then you will find that their life isn't as ordinary as one may think. The truth is, I really can't say that anyone's life is completely ordinary, because God created every life and every life is a miracle and every life is unique with each person having their very own unique story to tell. So today I woul...

Dear Mom, There are a gazillion reasons to be thankful for you this day and every day of my life. I haven't the time to list it all, but their is one thing that has particularly stood out to me over the years, that I will mention here. Prayer. You are a mother of prayer. I watched you pray fervently when Micah was sick. You never gave up and always held on to hope. I watched you pray in agony and tears when God took your son home to be with him. I know you did hurt and still do hurt, but even when you were weak and hurting you ran to God in prayer and found strength him. I have watched you pray for your children. You plead to the Lord that we all would walk in the fear of the Lord, because you know that he is the only one worth living for and you want us to know that too. You always take every problem to the Lord in prayer, because you know that he is the only one who can truly help. You pray for your husband and friends. You pray without ceasing for your non-bel...

Dear Elisabeth, Happy birthday!!!!!! You probably thought I had forgotten what a gloriously special day it is, but hey, I remembered! It makes me smile to think that God gave me another little sister 17 years ago today. Another little baby to hold, another little sister to play with, a sister who is willing to laugh at all my crazinesses even if no one else laughs, a  sister who brightens my life with her laughter and makes me laugh even when I don't want to or else the sister I can make laugh when you don't want to. ;) There are very few people who understand my humor like you do and are willing to laugh with me. Sometimes all it took was to look at each other in the eyes and then we would lose it completely and start laughing hysterically. You not only bring much joy and laughter into my life, but you have taught me so much in life as well. You have taught me that it is ok to be myself and to be different from everyone else by your own example. You never seem...