Celebrating my jubilee year...

So, I'm turning 50 this month...November 21st to be exact.

I'm embracing it.

No, really! I am totally embracing this, my 50th year on this planet.

To celebrate, I plan on doing 50 random, yet intentional, things for others between now and my birthday. (I originally wanted to do 50 things on my 50th birthday, but logistics and travel plans got the best of me!) So, for the next three weeks, I'm keeping track, being intentional in acts of kindness.

I've been inspired by the concept of "jubilee." In the Old Testament, every 50th year was consecrated as a "jubilee year." The 50th year was one of liberty, remission, respite - of returning things (in those days, land) to the original owners. (Leviticus 25)

I want to celebrate my liberty and abundant blessings by returning them to my Rightful Owner -- by passing on the gift and blessing others. I want to claim the promise God made to Abraham - "I will bless you...and you will be a blessing." (Genesis 12:2)

So, I'm launching into this jubilee with some ideas for little ways I can be a gift - to those I love and those I just happen upon...

Here are a few already in the works:

-- I ordered a pair of super-cute Toms for my daughter and daughter-in-law...I figure this counts as four things, because the two girls are getting gifts and two little children in need of shoes are also getting some! (Full disclosure: I actually ordered a pair for me, too. Hey, it is my birthday month!)

-- Sending a gift to another young friend who just returned from Afghanistan. No, really, thank YOU!

-- Ordering flowers for my mom to be delivered on my birthday. (This is already a tradition of ours - inspired by Wayne Watson.) This year, for my 50th, I figure I'll send my dad something too. Probably something along the lines of a Sonic gift card, because that's how HE rolls!

-- Donating a book to our church library. (A copy of 1000 Gifts - which we're currently studying!) This book also has inspired me to count gifts...and to become a gift:

"Spend the whole of your one wild and beautiful life investing in many lives and God will simply not be outdone. God extravagantly pays back everything we give away and exactly in the currency that is not of this world but the one we yearn for: Joy in Him." -- Ann Voskamp

-- I have plans to write a few heartfelt notes to some random wonderful folks who have impacted my life in ways small and large...

-- We'll be taking a college student to supper this week (Hi, Norm!)

-- And supporting a couple of young missionaries planning international trips.

There are more plans in the works - plans involving cookies, homemade bread, flowers, meals, smiles and children and goodness!

You're invited to this jubilee - a month-long celebration of love, joy, faithfulness, blessing and hope for the future...(you don't have to wait until you're 50 to join!)

Over-driving...

So, the alleged blogging has been pretty sporadic lately. What can I say? Life is good...busy, but good. I've gotten a little lazy in my studying discipline, which has led to laziness in the writing/processing discipline, but I think I'm about to turn over a new leaf (somehow the first day of any month fills me with a sense of purpose!)

I also had one of those mornings on the farm filled with revelation in the simplest things. For example, I rarely drive a tractor. I can only barely drive a car and I am really uncomfortable behind the wheel of a huge, deadly, costly piece of equipment by John Deere. But, on occasion (the occasion being when the driving requires speeds of less than two miles per hour) I am pressed into service. This is usually when we're rolling out irrigation pipe and someone has to keep the tractor driving along a line, very slowly, through the field while the guys unroll pipe from the tractor like a giant roll of toilet paper, making sure it's lying properly in its trench.

Jesse had a short "trunk" run to roll out this morning - a replacement section, really. Seems the first pipe wasn't quite tough enough for a little uphill push of water that was required. It burst a time or two, the guys repaired it, but Jesse ultimately decided to replace that short section with a thicker, more durable pipe.

Lessons there, right? Maybe about being too "thin-skinned" and quick to burst anytime life gives you a little "push." Or maybe the need to toughen up for the rough spots in life - or better - the fact that we can't do anything about our pitiful torn places. It's up to The Farmer to repair - and when necessary, completely replace the broken places. Hmmm.

But working today, what really struck me was a tendency to "over-drive." My instructions were super simple - I was supposed to keep the huge front left tire directly on top of the existing pipe we were replacing. The path was very clearly laid out in front of me, about four feet into a tall, beautiful cornfield. But as you drive across rows, the tractor does a slight bob, a little dance, and I quickly over-correct on the wheel. Jesse usually tries to gently coach me (not today, but often), "Just drive straight, baby." But I weave, not trusting the tractor to stay on the path. How often does this apply to other parts of my life, I wondered, mournfully plowing over the outer edge of the cornfield. (That's a whole 'nother lesson - sacrificing the few stalks along the edge of the field to bring life-giving water to acres and acres of thirsty corn. But I digress.)

I definitely tend to "over-write," in case you haven't observed that by now. And I'm quite sure I've "over-parented" through the years - smothering, attempting to wrangle and control when all I really needed to do was drive straight. In teaching, even in my own spiritual development, there has been the tendency to "over-drive" - wresting control, not trusting the equipment, so panicked over doing something wrong that I over-compensate and veer off anyway.

Well, the pipe was successfully rolled out, reconnected to the line and water will be flowing through it this very evening, bringing life to the crops. And the experience has left me pondering a few questions. So much to learn on the farm.

------

I realized when I opened this up that I never posted my Scripture memory for the last half of May. So here are those verses:

"But you are a chosen people,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
God's special possession,
that you may declare the praises of Him
who called you out of the darkness
and into His wonderful light.
Once you were not a people,
but now you are the people of God;
Once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy."
1 Peter 2:9-10

(I tried to type this from memory and fell way short. Need to work on it some more.)

For the first half of June, I'm working on a passage that is familiar, but not committed to memory -

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55:8-9

I've always loved these verses, but my appreciation was renewed when I watched this video by Francis Chan recently. What a gracious, wise person he is! So thankful for good teachers!

Turn north...

I had a hard time "landing" on the right scripture to memorize for the first two weeks in May...I've been blessed, encouraged and challenged by a lot of words while searching for the right "Word" for right now...then I read something by Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries and author of Made to Crave. She was writing about giving advice to her son...and taking her own advice. She shared several verses, but one Scripture in particular pierced me with strange, specific practicality:

"You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north."

Deuteronomy 2:3

I'm a chewer, a worrier, a replay-a-conversation-over-and-over, think-and-re-think kind of girl. I'm also a girl prone to wearing a path deep...same steps, missteps, same mistakes, excuses.

"You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north."

I think I'll try climbing out of a rut or two and point my feet north. How about you? Tired of circling a mountain? I'm so thankful for God's Word...

Also thankful for...
255. Woods, lovely, dark, deep
256. The intensity of the green of spring
257. Dappled sunlight through thick trees
258. Honeysuckle - thick with blooms and luscious scent
259. A convenient bathroom
260. A cold drink
261. A "crisis" averted
262. Comfy jeans
263. An air-conditioned truck
264. Holy days
265. Pretty green streak of new cotton
266. Lightning
267. My kids (Yes, thank you, Lord!)
268. "Riding and looking"
269. Unexpected encouragement from a teen (wow)
270. Miss Christine's hamburgers
271. The grace of an overcast day
272. The garden's first carrot
273. Sunrise service, breezy, joyful
274. Pancakes made by church guys
275. Sweet peas, raw, crunchy, fresh off the vine
276. Baby feet
277. The ability to irrigate thirsty crops
278. Jesse's amazing shovel skills
279. Jesse's astounding math skills
280. Wind in trees
281. Wind rippling across water
282. Cypress trees rising from the bayou
283. Diet A&W and Cheez-its
284. Old (ancient, even) equipment that still works; is still useful
285. Spiritual lessons in irrigation chores...

Becoming less...

I was drawn to a simple verse to memorize this two weeks...simple, yet...not.

"He must become greater;
I must become less."

John 3:30

This declaration by John the Baptist speaks to my ever-present quest for true humility...not self-loathing, but an accurate assessment of self (not thinking "poorly" of self, but just thinking less of "self" altogether!) John the Baptist made the statement in response to some of his indignant followers, who apparently were feeling that the upstart Jesus was edging them out of prominence.

But John knew his role - he knew exactly who he was - a voice crying out; one preparing a way; the best man -- the one who rejoiced at the entrance of the bridegroom and then cheerfully retreated to a place of less prominence.

Yet how can He, Jesus, "become greater?"

He is I AM...
greatness personified...
completeness...
the way...
truth...
life...
love...
He cannot become any greater than He is and always has been. But He can, and must, become greater in my view...fill my vision, my heart, with His greatness so that my only response is overwhelming gratitude and love.

Eyes off self. Filled with Him.

We are all vessels. We can only hold so much. For Him to increase, to become greater within me, I must pour out self and give Him room.

He must become greater; I must become less. How He even continues to have patience with my striving, I'll never know...but I am so thankful!

Counting this and other gifts today:

• Michael, softly singing, strumming,
in the late hours...
• Jess, blossoming in her new life...
• Gorgeous skies, strong breezes...
• The preacher, fist-bumping a 9-year-old
during church...
• Beautiful future bride, opening gifts, blushing,
exclaiming thanks...
• Vintage milk bottles on my window sill...
• Encouraging notes from teenagers...(wow)
• Round steak in the crockpot...
• Eating cheese nips with Jesse in the tractor...
• Ernie (the dog)'s miraculous recovery...
• The...I don't know, relief maybe?,
of each other's presence...ah.
• Early morning walks and conversation...
sharing life with a friend
• A timely rain...
• A day at home...
• A convicting Word...
• Sleeping with windows open...
• Waking to birdsongs...
• Changing out the heavy quilt for the light bedspread...
• My favorite pillow...

I'm so thankful for the gift of counting gifts...thankful for the inspiration for this journey...which can be found here:

Busy...thankful...

It's been a crazy-busy couple of weeks and while I've been frequently overwhelmed with gratitude, I haven't been consistent with recording gifts...

Here's an attempt to reconcile that and get back on track...

I'm thankful for so many things...

...promises, plans
...my family, growing
...my son, grown (!)
...sweet Maranda
...crops, growing, green
...the comfort of Jesse's nearness
...talking with Jessica about everything
...unexpected affirmation, so encouraging
...the challenge of study, questioning
...the unmistakable power of a thunderstorm
...the mystery of the garden


When we planted these sweet, green peas, the seed packet said they needed some type of trellis to climb. Jesse, ever the problem-solver, decided to plant the seeds at the base of the corn stalks left from last year's crop...


...and it's working. They are growing, thriving. The mystery to me is that these plants, knowing they need the support, send delicate tendrils...reaching, curling, holding...



...everything in creation knows we need something to hold on to in this crazy world...what a beautiful thing...

•••••

Memory verse for the first two weeks of April:

"Be on your guard.
Stand firm in the faith.
Be courageous. Be strong.
Do everything in love.
I Cor. 16:13-14

Giving thanks with a full heart...

Counting gifts after a weekend which saw my home filled to overflowing with wonderful, crazy, delightful teenage girls! Sitting here now, in the so-so-quiet, it's hard to believe it was just a few days ago! We hosted eight girls (six teens and two college-age leaders) as part of a Discipleship Now weekend, and it was wonderful. We've also been planting corn and enjoying the absolutely gorgeous sights of spring...so here's my list for recent days...

...anticipating a houseful of girls...


...girl stuff all over my house...


...getting ready for a trip to the nursing home...precious cards, handmade, with hearts poured into each word...


...sweet girls praying for others...


...a visit to a beautiful garden, tended with love...







...True beauty...Braiden's wisdom and kindness...Amber's loving, joyful spirit...Faith's wide-open heart...Anna Grace, quiet, sweet...Makayla's faithful heart...Kristin's compassionate heart...Tessa's love for Him...Carley's tender heart...

...and more beauty in the every day...freshly planted fields...

Cory's first crop...

A neighbor's beautiful wheat field...



...a catch-up visit with closest friends...diet cherry limeade...honest, searching prayer...a tractor ride with Jesse...cold water...a new, light-footed tractor, easing over wet farmland...giggles on my stairs...

thankful.

Holding fast...

New memory verse for the second half of March:

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for He who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23

In these uncertain days, when we are bombarded with images of brokenness; things and lives swept away, I am comforted by the picture of holding "unswervingly" - steady, constant, unshakable, resolute. And not holding onto something flimsy or unsubstantial, but to the hope we profess.

I love the Amplified Bible's translation of this verse:

"So let us seize and hold fast
and retain without wavering
the hope we cherish and confess
and our acknowledgment of it,
for He Who promised is reliable (sure)
and faithful to His word."

This hope is not a vague, fuzzy, wishful feeling, but a firm belief, an expectation based on the reliable, sure and faithful God. What is that "hope" - that expectation?

He is God.
He is always good.
And we are always loved.
Always.

Praying that in these dark days, God's presence will be made manifest in the lives of those hurting in Japan. (If you're looking for a way to give, here's a wonderful group that is already on the ground and providing relief in the hardest hit areas.)

Holding fast, unswervingly, on this day.

Thankful...on this gray day...

...on this gray, rainy day, I am thankful.

I am also heartbroken with every picture and devastating bit of news from Japan. How can I reconcile these terrible pictures with my safe, comfortable world? Although I am not promised tomorrow, on this day, my children are safe, my home secure. There is no swift, horrible current bearing down on us, ripping our lives to shreds. Two things come to mind:

• The song we practiced in choir practice last night, one of my favorites -- Blessed Be Your Name, by Matt Redman. Here's the second verse: "Blessed be Your name, when the sun's shining down on me, when the world's all as it should be, blessed be Your name. Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name."
And the chorus (or is it the bridge?) gets me every time:

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say,
"Lord, blessed be Your name."

(Job 1:21)

• Also, a devotional quoted by Ann Voskamp in 1000 Gifts:

"Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world round me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?"

There is a fatalistic streak in me that can't help but wonder why I have been spared when others are suffering. And yet, I know this to be true - I must give thanks in everything. To withhold thanks for the everyday graces does not lessen the suffering of others. If I can find the gift, give thanks, receive the grace, the joy, the gift will pass from me to others. That is the small - and huge - thing we are called to do: receive God's blessings...and pass them on.

So, determinedly, feeling oh-so-small on this day, I am thankful...

...for Lent...for remembering
...a new baby, perfect
...new parents, nervous, happy
...new grandparents, ecstatic
...a spontaneous road trip with my daughter
...conversation, meaningful
...mama's kitchen...and her table
...a hug from Matthew
...friends who know me...and still love
...a difficult phone call, made
...Deuteronomy...finished!
...the planting that is completed
...the green shoots, just-emerging
...women, gathered to study, to share life
...quiet time in a quiet house with my quiet husband...
...believing He holds everything...He always loves...He is always good...

Incline my heart...

It's March 1 (who can believe it?), which means it's time to start memorizing a new Scripture.

(Quick confession: I'm kind of behind. I keep choosing Scriptures and moving forward, but I haven't nailed down the last couple. Just keeping it real. I plan to knuckle down and get after it!)

Anyway, the verses I've chosen for the next two weeks were inspired by the new Bible study we're doing at FBC Wisner - Jonah - Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer. In the video for Session 2, Priscilla was talking about our "want-to," our feelings, and how we let them keep us from obedience when God "interrupts" our lives. Jonah just plain didn't want to go to Ninevah. He was probably looking around at the other prophets and wondering why their call seemed easier. He was comfortable where he was. (Ouch!) And he flat out ran away. Even though we don't always physically run, we sometimes delay obedience (also known as "disobedience") or grudgingly go through the motions while our hearts and minds have boarded a ship bound for Tarshish.

One of the Scriptures Priscilla used was Psalm 119:36-37:

Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.

Priscilla said David turned his "want-to" over to God. Knowing full well the inclination of his own heart, he ask God to turn it...to incline it toward Him and away from selfishness. I love that we don't have to fake a "want-to," a desire to do what is right. God knows the inclination of our heart. We can ask Him to shape it, to turn it, to make it right. When we lack the will to "turn our eyes away from worthless things," we can ask God to do it. Hmmm.

"Preserve my life" is translated in other versions as "revive me in your ways" and "restore to me vigorous life and health in your ways" and "give me life in your ways." I want that. Right now.

And I love how many times (in Psalm 119 especially) David asked God to do something "according to your word" or "according to your promise" and "according to your steadfast love." Knowing God's word, knowing how well we are loved, can give us peace and assurance when we ask Him for anything "according to His word."

I'd love to know what you're learning in God's Word this week, or what you're memorizing and why!

Thankful today...for beauty

Numbering some gifts
on a beautiful almost-spring day...
• Hiking along an ancient creek
(with dearly loved ones)

• Cooking with Jesse and Jessica...

• Close friends crowded around a table
filled with good things...
• Words that bring conviction...
• Enough...
• And in my backyard...a pear tree,
blooming white...a promise of spring...

• And bright bits of yellow...

• And lush, soft green...

• A bright new rug, welcoming at the back door...

• Cut flowering branches,
bringing spring indoors...

...wishing you a grace-filled almost-spring day...

Counting gifts on the farm...

It's almost-spring and in addition to getting ready to plant hundreds of acres of corn and cotton, we're experimenting with a little garden spot. On this gorgeous almost-spring day, I counted gifts...

119. The good, dark earth.

120. Jesse...every day...

121. The promise of fresh veggies...


121. A beautiful tree...budding...

122. Gorgeous blue skies...

123. Unexpected beauty...in the weeds...

Yes, these are weeds. Hen bit to be precise. A very bad weed when it's encroaching on your crops, but, when you take a closer look...

...it's really beautiful. Finding beauty in the weeds...like looking for the gift in the not-so-beautiful times of life...


(Oh, and one more for fun!)


124. A soft, gray, sleeping farm cat...

Counting gifts...

Still working on counting gifts...receiving all as grace. (See this post for more explanation!) On Mondays, I'm joining a group of others in sharing some of the gifts I'm thankful for in this season. I'd love to know what you're counting today!

104. Young mothers.
105. Baby slobber.
106.Cool, smooth sheets.
107.Wisdom for the moment.
108. Truck naps.
109. Velvety soft cat paws.
110. Breezy days, open windows.
111. Church potluck.
112. Sweet goodbyes...

"Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are...a divine choice..." Henri Nouwen

"Count blessings and discover Who can be counted on..." Ann Voskamp

*Confession - I feel compelled to confess that I'm struggling somewhat in this discipline of practicing eucharisteo - naming gifts, giving thanks, receiving grace and joy. I have a tendency to rack up a spiritual "to do" list, as though checking boxes off a list will please God. (Crazy, right? Is this a firstborn thing or a Type A personality thing? I do not know!) Anyway, I don't know who is reading this or why I felt the need for a little "full disclosure," but I don't want to give the false impression that I have a "handle" on anything...I'm just struggling...looking for grace in the moments...trying to be fully present, truly thankful, resting in God's wildly unreasonable love for me...

One thousand gifts...

I've been putting off this post...intimidated somehow. I've read a book that is so poetic and so life-changing that writing about it makes me feel completely inadequate.

The book is One Thousand Gifts - A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp and it has taken my breath away. In a nutshell, Ann, a Canadian farm wife, accepted a dare to record 1000 things she loves - 1000 gifts from God. The process became a hunt for the beautiful in the every day - and a deepening awareness of God's love expressed in the microscopic and the magnificent.

The heart of the book lies in discovering and understanding eucharisteo - a word used to describe Jesus' giving of thanks hours before his death. "He gave thanks" - eucharisteo. The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning grace. As Ann writes, "Jesus took the bread, and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks."

Ann continues, "Eucharisteo - thanksgiving, includes the Greek word for grace, charis, but also holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning joy...is it that simple? Is the height of my chara joy dependent on the depths of my eucharisteo thanks?"

The entwined threads of grace, thanksgiving and joy form the refrain of the book - a deep searching for deepest communion with God by simply receiving all as gift - the beautiful and, sometimes, the ugly-beautiful, because...well, life is hard.

So, I accepted the dare, took up pen and began my own hunt for the gifts - not always profound or poetic or spiritual - but gifts -- all gift, all grace. It's a discipline, this search for grace, this giving of thanks. Ann quotes Erasmus (as I...um...often do...) "A nail is driven out by another nail; habit is overcome by habit." The habit of ingratitude - or just inattention -- must be driven out by a habit of eucharisteo.

I love her repeated refrain, backed up with Scripture after Scripture - "Eucharisteo precedes the mirace." So, in the middle of a mess, in the middle of chaos or tragedy, can I look for the gift? Can I accept all as grace and expect the miracle? The miracle of joy...of love? Recounting the gifts is receiving God's love and returning it in thanks and praise - the joy results because this is what we were created for.

Far too often, I have (as Ann says) "slapped a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life, which left me deeply thankful for very few things." In the naming, the counting, we experience the joy.

"Do not disdain the small. The whole of life - even the hard - is made up of the minute parts, and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole," Ann writes.

Okay, I could quote the whole book, but I won't...I encourage you to read it. These are just glimpses of the first three of eleven startling chapters. I leave you with one more passage, then a few of the gifts I'm thankful for...

"And this, this is the only way to slow time: When I fully enter time's swift current, enter into the current moment with the weight of all my attention, I slow the torrent with the weight of me all here. I can slow the torrent by being all here. I only live the full life when I live fully in the moment...Giving thanks for one thousand things is ultimately an invitation to slow time down with the weight of full attention...it's not the gifts that fulfill, but the holiness of the space. The God in it...thanks makes now a sanctuary."

My list (now at 87) includes...

warm bread, fresh from the oven (and real butter!)

...coffee, prepared by Jesse...

...flannel pajamas...and a freshly-made bed...

...family...and family photos, sweet company in an empty nest...

...a favorable wind...texts from my kids...rain-soaked fields...stars in a clear, black sky...empty laundry baskets...a fragment of time to read in the truck...rain on tin roof...leftovers...

My Scripture memory for the first two weeks in February reflects this season of learning:

"Pray diligently.
Stay alert with eyes wide open in gratitude."
Col. 4:2

For the rest of February, I'm also focusing on thanks:

"At all times and for everything,
giving thanks
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
to God the Father." Eph. 5:20

I find myself literally adopting a posture of hands lifted, open, as I look with new eyes for the gifts all around me. I'm accepting the dare to live fully, right where I am.

Pure grace...

I love Philosophy skincare products. (This is hardly a paid endorsement - Philosophy does not know who I am!) I have sensitive skin and have tried dozens of different products. The Philosophy products suit me. Plus, the packaging and promotion is clever...for example:

This is the cleanser - Purity (made simple).
Lather, rinse - purity. Ah.
And how about this little jewel?


Hope...in a jar?
Yes, please. I'll take some.
Then there's this...


When hope is not enough...This cracks me up...we women of a certain age can relate to this when it comes to a skincare regime! Then it may be time to turn to this:


Ah...a miracle! That should do the trick!
But my favorite Philosophy product by far is not a cream or lotion, but a lovely light scent:


Pure grace...in a bottle! It has a clean, pure, soap-and-water scent that I love. And while none of the skincare products has resulted in anything that can be remotely described as a "miracle," I find spritzing on a little "pure grace" can remind me of a miracle - the miracle of grace. It has not been spritzed, but lavishly poured and I want that scent to emanate from my life...to fill the air around me. I brought that bottle to my Sunday School class and spritzed it around while we talked about one of my favorite verses, 2 Cor. 2:14:

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphant procession in Christ Jesus, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him."

I reminded the girls, like I try to remind myself, we should walk around smelling like Jesus - like grace...pure grace. It should season our speech:

"Let your conversation be always full of grace,
seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer everyone." Col. 4:6

It should keep us humble:

"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—
and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God..." Eph. 2:8

It is enough:

"He said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you..." 2 Cor. 12:9

And as a friend sang last night,

"Grace keeps giving me things I don't deserve;
mercy keeps withholding things I do..."
(Thanks, Wayne Watson!)

We've been given so much...grace has been lavishly poured out upon our lives. Can I extend it, lavishly, generously, to others?
I want to. I want to smell like grace.
Pure grace.