FALLEN THROUGH THE CRACKS

Do you ever feel as though you have fallen through the cracks? 

Mostly my heart is full of gratitude for the many blessings in my life, but there are times when I feel like that—especially when something happens that triggers old painful memories of feeling overlooked, left out, insignificant, or “less than.” 

 Whenever that happens, I think of the wildflowers (called weeds by some) that bloom where they are planted and grow out of cracks in the road or sidewalk. It reminds me that even when I feel unseen or forgotten, I am never invisible to God. He always knows exactly where I am, and my identity lies in Him alone and not in how I feel I measure up to others or what they might think of me. 

Neither you nor I were accidents. God designed us to be Divine originals, created for a special purpose no one else could fulfill (Psalm 139:13-16; Ephesians 2:10). 

Even before the beginning of time, every single detail of your life was recorded in His book (Psalm 139:16-17). You are of great value to Him and He loves and cares for you. If you have any doubts about that, just think of the Cross. 

John 3:16 tells us that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." It is a gift that can only be received by grace, through faith. Salvation cannot be earned by good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Although it is not God's will for anyone to perish, He will not impose His will on you or force you to accept it. The choice is yours. 

Jesus stands at the door of your heart, knocking and waiting for you to let Him in (Revelation 3:20). If you have not already done so, I pray you would open the door now and accept His invitation to enter your life, forgive you of your sins, and make you a new creation. 

------------------------------------------ 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. . . . My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. – Psalm 139:13-16, NIV 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:10, NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV 

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, -- John 1:13, ESV

RESPITE

 

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--RESPITE

Five minutes to free write about it

----------------------------------------------------------

RESPITE: "A short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant."

RESPITE CARE: "Short-term, time-limited break for families and other unpaid caregivers."

At first this prompt did not bring anything to mind, but after I pondered on its definition for a bit it got me to thinking of a beautiful lady (inside and out) who is one of the most generous, caring, kind-hearted, funniest, warmest, loving, Jesus-like people I know. She has a big, big heart, and His love just flows through her.

She had been a caregiver to each of her parents, and after they both passed and she became the official owner of their home, one of her first thoughts was to use it to be a blessing. She named it after her mom, and created a special respite room for caregivers to use as a getaway for a night or a weekend at no charge.  They have an option to be alone B&B style or to hang out with a group of ladies and "do dinner, movies, games, (and/or) devotions" 

In the introduction to her Facebook page she quotes 1 John 3:18 --"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." And that she does with all of her heart. She's the genuine, real thing.

MY FIRST WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

SPOILER ALERT

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--SPOIL

Five minutes to free write about it

----------------------------------------------------------

My mind is still ruminating on thoughts from my last trip to the grocery store that I posted as an addendum to last week's prompt, Consumer. Thoughts of how spoiled we have become in my little corner of the world (me included), and how wasteful we are and quick to consider things spoiled and throw them out.

On a lighter note, as I was dumping my trash where all the spoiled things get dumped, I heard a bird loudly singing and other birds responding from other trees as though they were having a conversation back and forth. It took
me quite a while to spot it because it was so small, and when I did, was surprised to see that such a small bird could have such a big voice. 

It seemed strange for so many birds to be out and about, merrily chirping away, when the weather forecasters have issued a winter storm warning for tonight and into the weekend. 

Could it be they know something we don't? Are they singing, spoiler alert, spoiler alert. Spring is the only thing on its way?

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, AND AN ADDENDUM TO LAST WEEK'S FMF PROMPT "CONSUME"

The display of Valentine's Day goods at our local grocery store is so pretty. You can't miss it when you enter the door. I stopped to admire it before starting my trip around the aisles to do some much needed restocking after my No Spend January challenge last month. 

The child-sized "customer in training" shopping carts made me smile, but for some reason, when I looked at them today, I thought the sign said "consumer in training" instead.

That got me to thinking about last week's FMF prompt CONSUME, and of how one of the participants, Carole Duff, started out her post with the words: Consume: to eat, drink, buy, buy, buy, and use it up. That definitely seems to be the mindset in my neck of the woods. 

My gratitude at being surrounded by so much abundance and being able to come in here and freely buy whatever I want was tinged with guilt over how mindlessly and often frivolously I shop for food. Not everybody is so fortunate.

By God's grace, I have never had to go hungry, but according to recent statistics, 46.9 of the world's population lives in poverty, and as many as 828 million people (an average of about one in 10) goes to bed hungry every night.

It made me want to empty my shopping cart, go home, and start another no-spend month challenge right then and there, but I didn't. The thought did stay with me though as I unloaded my bags and filled the pantry and freezer.

We're in the middle of a month right now and I don't want to wait until next month to start, so given that tomorrow is both Valentine's Day and the first day of Lent, I'm seriously considering a no-spending-on-food challenge for Lent.

CONSUME

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--CONSUME 

Five minutes to free write about it

----------------------------------------------------------

This may seem like a stretch, but one of the things that came to mind when I saw this week's prompt was Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 6:12 -- You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is good for you. And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything (NLT).

Whether it be food or money or time, there is only so much of it you can consume. Consuming too much time on one thing, for example, may leave less or none to spend on something else that may be better for you. 

In January I participated in two challenges that helped me be more mindful of how I was consuming my time and my money.

The first challenge was joining my church family for 21 days of prayer that included a daily online devotional that was interactive for those of us up early enough to watch live. This wound up doubling and sometimes even tripling my daily devotional time and consuming a much larger portion of my day than I had anticipated. To make it work, I had to reset my priorities and give up some worldly pleasures, such as an hour or two of my sleep, my daily word games, and most of the books on my to read list. In return, the Lord redeemed the time I offered Him and enabled me to get a lot more done in what was left, and with a lot less stress.

The second challenge was to join No Spend January. What a great feeling to actually complete it without even making a trip to the grocery store except for one where I went to purchase something for someone else. 

My pantry and freezer were pretty well stocked going into the No Spend challenge, but it didn't take long to consume all the items needed for my same old same old easy-to-throw-together meals. Instead of going out and replacing them, however, I looked for creative ways to make substitutions. The end result took a bit more effort and consumed a little more time, but some healthier and more balanced choices were the result. 

REGRETS -- SO MANY REGRETS

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--WASTE

Five minutes to free write about it 

-------------------------------------------------

This prompt felt heavy. It came on a day when my heart was grieving over regrets about my shortcomings as a parent, and all the poor choices I had made in the past that led me to where I am today. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the slate really was wiped clean the day I accepted God's gift of salvation and invited Jesus into my heart to be Lord of my life.

And then in the midst of it, the prompt WASTE triggered many other regrets as well. Regrets of all the many things I've wasted during the course of a very long life -- time, talents, opportunities, education, money, health. If it weren't for the two children, seven grandchildren, and six great-grands who I dearly love and who it makes me happy to see are living out well the dreams I once had that never came to pass, I would add regrets over a wasted life as well, But having them was definitely not a waste.

My comfort is that from God's perspective, nothing is a waste. He sees the end from the beginning and I'm sure that His view of the tapestry He is weaving does not look anything like the tangle of knots visible on my side. I'd like to believe that all those things I now regret were part of His design,  and without them I would never have felt the need to turn to Him, which would have been a greater regret by far.

---------------------------

Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Your regulations remain true to this day, for everything serves your plans. -- Psalm 119:90-91, NLT

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. -- Psalm 139:16, NLT

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. -- Romans 8:28, NLT