The Day After Easter

Today is the day after Easter. It is a much more somber day. The celebrating is over. The family has gone home, Steve has gone back to work. The house is filled with empty plastic eggs, candy wrappers and kids with chocolate faces.


It is also a day where I am thinking about what it means to be forgiven. It means that I can start over and try again as many times as it takes to get it right. It means that God is not keeping track of my wrongs to hold them against me at a later time. It means that I am loved for who I am. Christ unconditional forgiveness is something I am so thankful for.


Colosians 3:13

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you"

His forgiveness requires that I forgive others too. In the same way that he forgave me. Unconditionally, without keeping a record of wrongs, as many times as needed.

So, today the day after Easter, I want to remember that I am forgiven and that I am to forgive.

Lord,

help me to freely forgive, especially my husband. It is so easy to begin holding grudges and making a list of wrongs. It is so easy to say I will forgive if he offers an acceptable apology. It is not easy to freely forgive without wanting something back for it. No matter how much effort I might put into my "Projects" if I don't freely forgive it is all for nothing. Thank you for forgiving me again and again and again.

A New Day

For past couple of days my husband and I have been in a little "tiff" needless to say I haven't yet completed my last project which I thought would be so easy and fun. I am waiting to post another project until I am ready to move on myself.

Funny when Kathi talked about having to post pone your project for a day or two because of scheduling conflicts, or not feeling well she never once mentions because your in the middle of a disagreement. So, that is where I am right now trying to move past our disagreement. It can be so hard to get over the little things can't it?

Yesterday in my Bible reading I read Proverbs 12:18

"Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing."

And what do you think I did last night? Yep, make some stupid cutting remarks. I woke up this morning realizing what a fool I had been. I said them to hopefully expose to him that I was hurt but instead all I did was hurt him, which made him want to hurt me. A vicious cycle.

I also read in Philippians 2:3-4

"Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing."

You would think after reading all of this I could see where and what I needed to do to bring peace, but instead I was blind by my own self centered needs of wanting him to make that first move. It was as if I was a bound to making sure I got what I wanted to the point that I actually pushed it farther away.

It's so disappointing to think you could actually take part in reading the Bible but yet do completely the opposite of what it says. Reading the Bible and actually living the Bible are two different things are they not?

Today, I will put away my own needs. Today I will follow the advice of the proverbs and stop making cutting remarks and use my words instead to bring healing. I may also even visit e-flirt.com. Thank goodness for a new chance to make the right choices.

Lord,
Thank you that you are patient with me and that I have today to make a new start at actually doing what your word says. Help me to give up my own needs so that I can meet Steve's needs. Your words are wonderful and they bring life. Thank you Lord.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

The Contents of My Purse

I had to laugh the other day when I emptied out my purse. I found a half package of Ritz crackers, a half bottle of Diet Pepsi, a lime, a pair of shorts, color crayons, a spelling test, band aids, and so much more. How do we manage to accumulate so much stuff?

It's that mom thing in us. We make certain we are prepared for every need our children might have while we are out and about. We take care of them by anticipating what they will need, taking along things that will make them happy in a pinch, make them smile instead of cry, and tide them over. We want them to know they are loved and cared for and the things we pack are meant to show that in a small way.

So, what are the small things that I do during my day to let my husband know that I am thinking of him, anticipating his needs, keeping something on hand that will bring a smile to his face after a long day, and letting him feel loved and cared for.

As I thought of the project for this week "Heart vs. Stomach" a couple of things came to mind. First off "finally, something that might be a little easier to accomplish", then I thought about how the idea is not just to bring it home from the store and plop it in front of him, but to wait and bring it out at just the right time when it will meet the purpose that it was intended for. Just like all of those things in my purse. They are there for just the right time. Only then do they really show how much I truly love and care for my precious children.

Okay, maybe not everything in my purse has a purpose. I'm not even sure how some of those things even got there. A lime?