My daughter says that I should write again...so here goes.

Sometimes life is really hard. 

There are so many things around us that can so easily elicit a bad response....a grace-less response. We have so many reasons to be angry, disgusted, justifiably outraged. 

My hubby and I have been thinking very deeply about Grace lately. What does it look like? Where do we apply it? Are there limits to how much grace we show? Where do we draw the line?

It occurred to me today, (you'd think I'd remember this more often) that my name means "Little Ann" or "Gracious One" and what if God led my parents to name me as they did so that I would be inspired to be just that? 

God's brand of grace is "freely given, unmerited favor".

That's not the way I've lived. I've expected everything I give to be deserved. It's a sad way to live. It breeds bitterness, dissatisfaction and loneliness.

Jesus, in the face of unfounded, rude, disgusting, sinful responses......loved. He quietly listened, answered wisely and sacrificed everything so he could save those who ridiculed him.

I am at a massive crossroads in my life...my kids are all grown up, my schedule has changed drastically, my purpose in life has been turned inside out and upside down, and I often wonder how I got here and what God has in store for me?

Sometimes we are placed in really tough situations and we wonder, if it's so tough then maybe it's not where I belong? But. What if we are put in difficult circumstances so that we are refined? Or so we have a chance to show sacrificial grace to someone else? Or so we become stronger? Hey, what if it's not for us at all but for someone else? 

Our culture has given us such self-centered, prosperity based views that we always try to escape trying times. We skirt around the needs we see, avoid the awkward people or the weird situations that make us squirm, all the while forgetting that we might be needed there. We seek out comfort like ostriches, our heads buried in the sand of denial and pride. We judge at first sight, forgetting that people wear facades and their real needs are more like internal bleeding than visible emergencies. 

I want so much to love. To love like Jesus did. But I have failed. Over and over and over.

I wish I could go back to the places where I failed.....my kids (thank God for grace), my husband (thank God for grace), my family (thank God for grace), my friends and neighbors (thank God for grace). Without him filling in the gaps for me I would be nothing. 

We are so eager to receive but so reluctant to give. 

If I expect God to give so freely to me but not give to those around me in return, then I am no different than the servant who owed his master money and so selfishly demanded payment after he had received grace so freely.

There are never limits on how much we show grace. There was no limit on the cross. I can give in humility. I can give at the expense of my reputation. I can give unmerited favor because it would be to the glory of God.

I've been reading a book called "And It Was Beautiful" by Kara Tippets, a collection of memoirs she wrote through her cancer journey....my goodness! What a beautiful, sacrificial life of love and grace! We really shouldn't wait for the "cancers" of life to wake us up to the need of the world around us! Let's live deeply now!!

1 Cor 10:31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

By Grace.....a gift of God.

Anita

Thanksgiving Day in June

     Thanksgiving in June?! Yes! Thanksgiving every day! But for me today, I share with you a special "thanksgiving".......
     As I have been struggling through what the outlook might be for my "Familial Drusen" or Macular Degeneration, as some may understand better, I have spent every six month appointment waiting in agony and fear of what they might find next. When will I find that there has been a hemorrhage or a huge change, will I have to have injections? ...or worse yet, begin to lose my independence?! As many of our close friends and family know, we have been proactive with my eyes, seeking all the information we can get our hands on, taking every supplement out there, cleansing my body of toxins and of all things training our dog REALLY well, just in case. I have found some moments of freedom and trust in the Lord, to only find myself once again wrapped in the "what-if's". Yesterday, I went to my next check-up. Totally at peace. What a blessing yesterday was! I am usually freaking out, thinking the worst....(I know, you all are thinking, "don't you mean...NOT trusting God?!") Yes. Exactly, not trusting God. Yesterday, I left it completely in His hands.
     Over the past six months, a dear friend who shall remain nameless, has showed up at my door at the beginning of every month, with a bag full of an expensive vitamin regimen that I could not afford. What do you do with that??!! You waffle back and forth between absolute gratefulness, obligation and awkwardness. Today, I praise the Lord for His provision! For the insight He gave this lovely person! My doctor wants to know what these vitamins are....what is in them....where did I get them, etc. well, I really can't say on this blog, because that might make that person a lot less anonymous!     
Last December, I was not able to be corrected to 20/20, yesterday, I WAS! Everything looked so good, my Doc didn't even order the $500 scans! Woohoo!! Praise the Lord! I don't know what this means for the future, but I know what it means for right now.....a burden lifted, renewed understanding of trust in my Lord, renewed joy in cutting flowers in my garden, being glad I can see the crinkle of a smile starting in your eyes, seeing how grateful you are for a simple cup of coffee on Sunday morning, loving the beauty of all those hearts beating in one room, for one Savior, loving that I can SEE the tear that drops on the desk in front of me today.

     I know this may seem simple, but my loving Hubby bought me a shelf for my (early)birthday, so that I can set up a coffee/tea station in our kitchen, and the joy that it brings to pull together bits from around the house and garden to make it look like it belongs, to think of the friends who will choose their tea there and to love the days ahead when I can be free to love and care for those around me........THANKSGIVING DAY!!!!!!!

     Some have asked where my email and blog name "Simply Scrumptious" came from.....well, remember the girl Simply Scrumptious from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?? I named my cheesecakes Simply Scrumptious, when I really wanted to start a business.....but really, this is now my name for this life, in Christ, when every day is Thanksgiving Day!
    P.S. I am adding this a little late, but what was on my mind as I wrote and never made it out....is the love and gratitude I feel for those who have labored in prayer for me! Those prayers are felt and effective! We have a good and Great God! I love you all and thank you!!!
I hope your day has been Simply Scrumptious!!
Psalm 37:4-6

Aaaaahh! The joy of realizing an accomplished goal! Alright, so it has only been a week and a half, but I have met my two week weight loss goal in that time! I have been reading the book "The 17 Day Diet" and adapting his methods to my lifestyle....a kefir and frozen fruit smoothie for breakfast, a large salad for lunch, and salad and protein for dinner, fruit or cheese, etc for a snack. I really wanted to see gi-normous results instantaneously, but when I calculated how much I would lose in 6 months if I lost 2 pounds a week, well I was excited to say the least! By the time I leave with my family to go to North Carolina in May, I could have lost 42 pounds! My goal is to lose fifty, but forty two is awesome for shock value for my extended family! Lol! I know, I know, those of you who know me are thinking, "fifty pounds? How could she lose fifty pounds? She doesn't look bad to me!". Well, there is a lot that clothes and height can hide, and fifty big ones will get me near (not all the way to) my ideal healthy weight.
How many times have we promised ourselves that we will dig in and do this? How many times have we wished we could move faster, hurt less, and sleep better? I just gave up most times, saying that it was to hard, not worth it, or who cares anyway?! I don't know why I have the motivation now, but here is my theory. Sometimes God lets us get to a place where we are more ready to listen to Him, and then he gives us the tools and the willpower we need to accomplish our goals. Do I think health and fitness have any spiritual connection? You bet I do! My laziness, my cravings, my lack of control, my bingeing, my don't care attitude......okay maybe you get the picture....selfishness, lack of self control, greed, gluttony...these all sound like some Bible verses I know of that hammer home the need to lead a spirit controlled life!
So here I am being accountable to the world for what I need to be, and the results I know God will bless me with each week! I may not exercise like a maniac , but I will control my appetite, by the Grace of God, and he will bring the blessing!
I would love to here what your New Years resolution was and how you are faring at accomplishing it!
Have a Simply Scrumptious Day!
Psalm 37:4-6

How on earth do I keep up?!

I have recently discovered that having semi-self-sufficient nearly adult children, does NOT slow down the pace of life for a stay-at-home Mom! The opposite is true....schedules never mesh, our always full dinner table is almost always lacking 2-3 of the usual 7 mealtime attendees, and the chances for a family photo can be snuffed out in an instant!
So how to keep up with healthy cooking? Easy cleaning? Fun ideas for the in-between free moments? Friends, FaceBook, Blogs and Pinterest! What great resources for easy, healthy and quick ideas! Of course, sometimes I do get sidetracked and spend too much time reading and looking instead of doing....but all in all, I love the way us women can feed off each others creativity and frugality, to help each other produce foods and atmospheres that relax and nourish our families. After all, isn't that a huge part of our calling as moms and wives?
I have long been overwhelmed with recipe hunting (especially the ones I printed out, and now store in ridiculous piles of mayhem), wanting but never achieving perfect organization (unless it is under the duress of the "uh-oh mom is on an insane cleaning bing" insanity), all the while wanting to perfectly home-school my children, perfectly love my Hubby, and perfectly decorate my home on a perfectly maintained budget!!
With the wonderful birth of the electronic age, I have decided to make use of a very few wonderful resources and find ways to make small changes, to reach less perfection more consistently instead of more, very inconsistently. (You know...the crazy cleaning binges, painting binges, throwing and giving away binges)and to instead choose a very few things to begin to do well. For instance, I need to work on a devotional time in the morning...solution; find something easy to read, ask hubby to wake me up, just do it...no huge expectations, but lots of consistency. Second, go to flylady.com and get moving on her simple one-step changes to keep my house cleaner. Third, pray for strength to keep my better diet!! I have started The 17 Day Diet, which has been really wonderful for the 3 days I have been on it, but you know how diets go!
So, I am going to spend more time looking for accountability, and easy ways to keep doing what I should be so that our house is a special place to come home to! For my Hubby, for my away-son, my semi-away-son, and my stay-at-home-daughter and 2 stay-at-home sons! Thank the Lord for great friends and great online tools! May He give me the strength to overcome all obstacles!!
May your day be Simply Scrumptious!