Rainy Autumn Mondays Unto the Lord

We were thankful for the rain Monday morning. The dry ground was thirsty! I was glad the girls got their pumpkins carved the evening before, just in time. We don’t celebrate Halloween as its roots are not even close to God-honoring, and in my conviction, I cannot celebrate it, but I did wait for the pumpkins to go on sale for the girls to do their own little decor since God himself made pumpkins.

I started the day off early by cooking my husband a power bowl style breakfast with turkey bacon and blueberries. Tossed some black beans in the eggs for extra energy.

My youngest got off to school, and of course not too far into the morning once the sun came up all the way, the dogs were ready to go back out.

Back to the couch for some study in the Word. My friend loves to nestle up to me. He has these bouts a few times a day. It’s not all calm, trust me. This is round one, haha.

Since finding out I have gallbladder issues, I am only supposed to eat turkey, fish or chicken. I bought some ground turkey, cooked it thoroughly, boiled my green beans in a couple teaspoons of chicken broth, then combined the two and set on a low simmer. Once the pasta was finished, I combined all three. It doesn’t look the most appealing, but it tasted amazing. *Edited to add, this dish is actually from Tuesday evening I believe. I’ve been cooking so much I lost track.*

About midday while the littles I watch were napping, I went out to snap more photos because the beauty of fall is a gift to me, and since my birthday happens to be on its first day, I felt the Lord who created me, couldn’t have chosen a better time.

The evening came and I wanted to catch the coziness of our quaint space which I thank God for. We are merely travelers passing through this world, but I am thankful He allowed us to move here into this little pocket in the woods which reminds me much of our Kentucky house but with the four rooms we had always desired. This is the first time the kids have ever had their own bedroom.

Bye sun.

When I think of the beauty of autumn it only gives me one more reason to add to the countless others to be thankful to Jesus. He thought to make such things which blows my mind; I was glad to capture. The detail of creation is just another reason I can’t see how people might think there is no God.

He is obviously an on-purpose Creator…an on-purpose all mighty God!

“Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
4 They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’
5 One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
And name himself by the name of Israel.

There Is No Other God

6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.
7 And who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
Since I appointed the ancient people.
And the things that are coming and shall come,
Let them show these to them.
8 Do not fear, nor be afraid;
Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock;
I know not one.’ ”

Isaiah 44:1-8 NKJV

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#MondayManifesto :: Thank you for baring your soul, bloggers.

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In the weeks to come throughout the rest of this year I will be writing about “writing” on Mondays.  

People and Prose is a #MondayManifesto sharing and celebrating writers and writing, bloggers and blogging, and other resourceful places I come across along the way.

You can find the previous posts above under #writer.

Since this week is Thanksgiving I wanted to give you something artsy for the holiday, as if words sprinkled in a Mason jar, painted in ivory and adorned with a cinnamon stick and bow.

I wanted not to over think this, or even pull from my blog topics I have been working on lately.

Instead, I wanted to free-write a thank you note tonight (Saturday right now) and say that you are on my mind and I am praying for you.

I love you ladies and gents, plain and simple. With a big love. The Jesus kind. I had to go back and create this graphic for laughs due to a typo earlier.  Don’t you just love it when it when you hit publish only to discover a simple oopsy?  

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A Thanksgiving Letter to You & God

I want to thank you for showing up, through the doubts and the storms of life.  I know you don’t share near everything that goes on in the background, well how could you? How could we?

But I know things happen, and trials come our way. I know you have pains and sorrows as well as the joys and Graces from our Lord.

  • I want to thank you for being you and for keeping up the faith.
  • I want to thank you for lifting us up, those alongside this journey.
  • I want to thank you for being so open with the areas you felt God impressed upon your heart to share, so we could pray for you and also know we are not alone.
  • I want to thank God for you. That what I thought was just to be a mirroring of words from my soul, is turning out to be me falling in love with people. Which was a prayer of mine because I am so deeply introverted I was scared out of my wits for years to go many places!

So here you are, bright and beautiful. Shining like a star into my life, showing Jesus when I need it most. Because this mama is the struggle and balancing act of her life it feels like at times, and yes I have church and yes I have the Bible, and yes I even have my folks close by now..but there is no one who can fill your shoes like you do, as part of the Body of Christ too, you are in this world for a reason being a beacon of HOPE for HIS glory!

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As I leave, I want to share with you the scripture I read tonight:

Romans 12 in The Message

“3 I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”

I needed that word!

With Love in Christ,

Meghan

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Featured Writer

Bettie is a nurturing woman of God and writes about her journey of chronic illness and how God is teaching her things in this season of life.  Bettie is a huge encourager and bright light each week in my post feed, and I appreciate her honest words so much!

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Link-ups you can find me at:

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A Slice of Autumn Pie Latticed With Grace

For Worn Out Moms Who Need A Breath of Fresh Air

Small, Doable Steps Toward Lasting Growth

Though whilst your doing them they may not “feel” like much…

The proverbial door of autumn is cracked wide open and the chilly gust o’ wind whips by my tousled hair.  A kid screams bloody murder from a few yards away, because that is the choice of communication when you are kids.  Or is it just mine. Yes that is rhetorical – without a question mark. Because when you are a youngish mom, you sometimes feel like your kids are the only ones.

My husband is in the physical therapy part of the large hospital complex and I drive to the far back corner of the lot where I spot numerous pine trees and shade.  A chunk of area afar off the main buildings lay bare and lonely, calling for a family to come and play hither yon.

We unpack the trunk, full of our school books and art supplies.  I grab my coffee and a satchel and we hobble over to spread the blanket atop the crunchy fallen leaves.

True to form, my oldest submerses himself in the chapter book I brought for him, my middle child doesn’t last long sitting in one spot and quickly ventures across the grass traipsing like an elk on new territory. My youngest sits calmly, sketch book on her lap with colors of coloring things laid out before her and contentedly lets her imagination fly onto the pages.

Me. I do what I love and what comes naturally. I grab my camera and begin to document them. My surroundings. The nature around me which is God’s artwork ever changing. I love to think of His canvas as a live art show, happening before our very eyes.

You know those digital photo frames that tried to become popular a handful of years back?  Yeah, like that but better.  His world, the seasons -they are changing in front of me and I am learning to accept the change, just like the soul-work change He is doing in me.

Different seasons bare different fruit, but they can all be good, yummy and purposeful in their own way.

New seasons are a blessing. Not always easy but a blessing.  You say goodbye to one and welcome another, as is life.  I thank Him for fresh beginnings and new times. I thank Him for chances to make more memories that I wrap up in mental vintage lace and set on my shelf so I can go back later and enjoy them when I need reminders of the goodness.

I did the Happiness Dare almost 6 months ago now.  Oh, how human we are and need the reminders that it’s okay to smile and to laugh.  His Word says so, but like the fallible human I am I give way to the wrong voice here and there and have to stop and retrace my steps.

Self-Acceptance & Peace 

I am learning to receive Grace as we emerge from this lovely but unique month  where my hubby was able to be home due to the injury he incurred at work.  We spent more, much needed time together -so obviously my time spent elsewhere was cut way back.  Less blog posts to be exact.  Today I am choosing to forgive myself for dropping the ball in this area.  Enough, Meghan.  Being bitter at yourself and focusing on what you didn’t do will only ruin the great family time you have enjoyed.

I am learning to receive Grace when I would rather hold onto my kids and cuddle than be in front of a screen, solo. To let go of guilt for not being able to respond to all the chings, dings and beeps -so I uninstalled the Twitter app from my phone, as I did the Facebook one a year ago.  The snap-to-it pressure isn’t lingering over my shoulder now and I am feeling more free.  I believe this is what I needed to produce fresh fruit.  I am thankful I obeyed and glad to see what emerges from this soil.

I am learning to receive Grace when my sleep schedule is off because our toddler squeezes in between us in the middle of the night. The edge doesn’t suit me after bearing 3 kids, but I don’t have the heart to move her every time.

I am learning to receive Grace in all the little ways I can or I am so hard on myself that I can not even celebrate the victories I have been blessed with.

In her book, 40 Days to a Joyful Motherhood, Sarah Humphrey says, “…that is the ticket. Learning to accept where we are. If we never get to the acceptance part, we will always be trying to fix something. And if I am always trying to fix something I am not enjoying anything.

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So give me a steaming cup of coffee and a large slice of autumn pie latticed with Grace with a dollop of whipped topping, please and thank you!

(Join me for Tea & Word today by linking up below at 5pm central)

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Link up @ 5pm Central

Have you struggled with accepting where you are? Maybe you have made small, productive steps toward change that could help others?

Join the conversation and share your thoughts!

I will be featuring a writer on Mondays from the previous Tuesday #TeaAndWord linkup here at the blog starting in November because I want to say THANK YOU, sweet friends – for being willing vessels, agents of the Lord’s healing in my life this past year.  You each have made such a difference in my life!

I will share more next week about Nov. 7th’s debut.


This post is part of the #Write31Days event tucked away on my blog shelf in 31 Days of Art and is the fruit of a 40 day artsy devotional for moms which you can find HERE, and also the fruit of participating in an emotional freedom growth group led by a wonderful life coach and fellow blogger whom you can find HERE.

For a previous post including this book review visit my post about “identity” –HERE.

All glory be to God in the highest.

Linking up here:

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Bursting Blooms of Mercy

Ah.

I take a deep breath in and feel the mercy a new day brings.

As I drive back from dropping my preschooler off, I notice how large and bountiful the bright blooms and buds are on the trees as I drive home.

I want to see the good in the land.

I want to notice the beautiful gifts God has given us all around – even when life sometimes serves up distractions or undesired circumstances – even when there’s so much hurt in the world, I want to see Hope there.

I believe most of us do.

We shall find Hope there if we seek Him.

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I take extra notice of the fragrant bouquet that my friend brought me after my uncle passed away last week.

Moving the thermos I turned into a vase, I set it carefully next to the window.

I snap a couple photos to capture the memories and the thoughtfulness she carried out.

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I’ll leave them right here.

The light shining behind the flowers gives them a glow and rather extenuates their beauty.

The Light.

He is so lovely and true.

Today I will focus on His faithfulness and goodness instead of listening to the other voice that wants me to doubt myself.

The other voice that whispers, “You went too far yesterday by letting others in on your past personal battle.

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Ah.

I take a deep breath in and feel the mercy a new day brings.

Other voice,…you lose.

The Light who lives within me is brighter than you.

 

-M.E.Weyerbacher

 

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