Laced With Grace

The fireplace is glowing. The turkey is roasting. The pies are cooling. And the guests will soon be arriving.

This sets the scene for so many of us today, as we gather with our loved ones around a table of plenty and offer up our thanks for the blessings that we have all received. It is a wonderful day to celebrate the goodness of our Father and share in love and memories with our loved ones. It is a day to rejoice. To celebrate. And to remember.

The writing team here at LACED WITH GRACE will be sitting down to our own feast sometime today. Each of us live in a different town, even different states, but we all share a kindred spirit with one another and a special appreciation for each of you, our readers! We would like to take this time to just say THANK YOU to all of you who so faithfully tune in Monday thru Friday to share with us as we write from our hearts. We also give honor and praise to the One Who inspires us and spurs us on…Jesus Christ, Who is the reason we are able to give thanks.

So from our Thanksgiving table to yours, all of us here at LWG wish you and yours a very blessed THANKSGIVING!

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FROM NORTH CAROLINA… “This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for becoming keenly aware of God’s presence by searching for God in the moment. Sometimes the moments have full of joy. Sometimes the moments have difficult to accept. They’ve both come from His hand so I can experience the truth that He is enough.” -MARSHA

FROM SOUTH CAROLINA…‘This Thanksgiving,I am savoring the fact that my children are still all under one roof (only one more year probably). I’m thankful for that roof, the family God has made us, and that cooking and eating together carves an all-five-senses memory deep into our lives. Happy Thanksgiving, all.” - DAWN

FROM FLORIDA… “What a tremendous joy it is to be living in a day with such awesome opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ with the world! I used to have a Mary Englebreit t-shirt that read: ‘Life is just so daily’. I thought it was cute–but as I reflect on those words in a spiritual context, I change it up:  ‘His benefits and blessings are SO daily!’ (Psalms 68:19) Thank you faithful readers for joining us on this journey of daily benefits and discovery of the truths that God would have us know!” - ANGIE

“This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the sweet times God has graciously given my family and I to spend together on camping adventures. With the unexpected death of my mother in law earlier this year, we have learned to savor and cherish these moments away were we can simply relax, connect and have lots of fun.” - DANA

FROM IOWA… “I am thankful for a wonderful husband and 5 beautiful children. I am most thankful for a God who loves me, forgives me, encourages me, and challenges me to be more like Him everyday. I am thankful for a network of beautiful women on the internet who so honestly share their hearts and experiences all for the glory of God. Have a blessed and joyous thanksgiving.” Much love – TRACY

FROM ARIZONA… “Happy Thanksgiving to all! I am so thankful for God’s faithfulness. He has provided me with what I needed through a very challenging season in my life. I have a wonderful family, many blogging friends, a job that involves children, an opportunity to write and share Christ and His peace. He is sufficient for all my needs!” -DEBBIE

Do you ever feel like a nine year old at an amusement park? You want to ride with the big kids on the “Big” rides but you just don’t measure up.

Not tall enough.

I think everyone of us struggles with …. Not enough.

Not smart enough.

Not enough courage to say no to a demanding family member.

Not enough confidence to take a risk and trust God.

Not pretty or sexy enough for our spouse.

Not witty enough.

Not strong enough.

Not happy enough.

Not enough.

You know where I think that we feel the most insecurity in our “not enough?” I think right in our very own church family.

I have to tell you that some of the harshest criticism I received from my writing online hasn’t come from my unbelieving souse or another atheist debating my beliefs. No, some of the most painful and soul wrenching criticisms come from those who I hold in high esteem and who are Christian. Sometimes it’s believers who contribute most to our self-doubt.

That’s why it’s difficult to be truly authentic when writing or teaching in any area of effective service to the Kingdom. To bring real and lasting healing requires you to “get real” about issues and living life.

It’s a risk.

But, I have discovered a few of God’s promises which brought me freedom to teach with authenticity. And it’s authenticity that is what our Lord desires from our lives. It’s authentic living that compels others to see Jesus.

First.

“Not enough” is a lie from the pit of hell.

If you are a child of the Most High, you are enough. In fact, you are more than enough. And the more brokenness you have overcome through the power and love of Jesus, the more powerful and effective witness you are to the world.

Satan wants to keep you believing the lie that your past secrets and failures will keep you from serving the Lord. So right now say out loud, “I reject the lie of the enemy. I am more than enough.”

Second.

Your past is exactly what God will use to perfect your future. In fact, God brings about your healing and then in the most stunning of events, He will display you to the world as His trophy. You are that valued and that important to Him. He delights in your life surrendered to Him and it speaks louder than words to a broken and lost world.

Third.

You may not be enough “in the eyes of the world.” So pay the world no mind because in the eyes of God you are complete. Nothing is more beautiful or priceless to our Creator.

“Hear me now.”

“I am the Lord your God. I have chosen you from millions of people living on this earth. I adore you. I have fantastic plans for you. I will raise you to be my trophy that the world will know that there is a God of the universe and that I love my people of authenticity.

“You will always be enough for Me.”

Be blessed, Lynn

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As a little girl I would listen to Donnie Osmond and Shawn Cassidy for hours at a time, on my Holly Hobbie record player. Paper dolls and connecting the dots were lots of fun too. I was thrilled when I got my first pair of metal roller skates, overjoyed with my very own pogo stick, but hands down one of my favorite things of all were those magical paper books. You know the ones I’m talking about. When you picked up one of these books and flipped through its pages, they were blank. Not very impressive at all. But, when you moved the yellow felt tipped pen that came with the book, back and forth, back and forth, over the blank pages, beautiful pictures would be revealed!

While sharing a scripture from the Bible with my children and one of God’s many promises to us, I couldn’t help but think again of those fun little books, and the treasures that would be revealed after I’d move my pen over the crisp white paper. I went on to tell my four children that the Bible is filled with promises that have been made just for them from God, their loving Father, their creator. I went on to share that when they asked God into their hearts, they became His children. His promises were theirs now too. Every single one of them.

I reminded them of the fun little books that I loved as a child, that they too have now played with. I asked them to imagine God’s word as the blank paper and to take their imaginary yellow pen and move across His word and His promises, back and forth, back and forth, until they could clearly see their faces, and their own precious names written with God’s own hand, in each verse. They needed to know that it was each one of them, His children he was thinking of, when He made those promises.

Friends, your face and your name is there on each page and each promise too. God loves you so very much. His word and His promises are infallible, unbreakable and irrevocable. He longs to hold you close and whisper these life giving promises in your ear.

So what are you waiting for? Get out your yellow pen and start moving it back and forth across the pages of His word. Don’t waste another second, start revealing the treasures He has for you, today!

“God is not a man, that he should lie. He is not a human, that he should change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” Numbers 23:19 NLT

In His Love,

Joanne