Teach Me

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! 

Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! - Psalm 143:10

It's always a struggle to wake up in the morning.  Always - well, since I started having babies.  I used to be able to literally JUMP out of bed to the smell of coffee in my kitchen.  What time?  5:30AM!!!  Yes, I was an early bird, ready for coffee and bible time, and it was as clockwork as the rest of my day.  No pain.  No struggle.  The beckoning of the coffee pot as it "puttered" the last of the drops into the carafe was much stronger than my desire to hit the snooze button one...more...time...

Not anymore.  

Recently, a 4th baby boy was born to us.  Victor.  He is a sweetheart!  However, no amount of sweetness, cuteness, or mild-temperedness makes being a new mom any easier; and when it comes to quiet time at 5:30 in the morning, no amount of coffee can bring the "dead to life."  Not for this mom.
So what do we do when mornings aren't working out for intense bible study like we'd originally hoped?  How do we get to that place where we can say, "Bring it on, Monday," and know we've equipped ourselves with the Armor of God?
Listen up: God knows we are weak, and He shows us grace in the mornings and throughout the day. He knows the rough and tough nighttime routines that drain the flesh, and the heart's desire to still seek him in the Spirit.  He shows grace just by allowing us to catch up on rest, without which, if you're a mom like me, would manifest itself as the "ugly." 
He shows grace when we can't get to that bible study first thing, and grace by giving us little snippets of Himself in other ways, like an end-table devotional, or the verse of the day or a quick mini sermon  on your phone.  These may not be in-depth, per se, but they are beneficial and can sometimes be exactly what you needed to make it through today. 
The verse above was such a grace.  I woke up late, one eye unwilling to open, the other unable to focus; and after a few minutes and some cold water, I glanced at the phone and saw it: EXACTLY what I needed!  It's exactly what I carried with me through the day, and it's something that I think all moms should have tacked somewhere.  

So I "tacked' it in my bible with the stamp of the month for March, "Texture Tiles 1," and this adorable alpha stamp called, "Outline Alpha." With a couple different colors, I brought a nice and soft background in behind this graphic of penguins.  Pretty easy peasy, and so fun. :D

I love this digi-stamp from the Sweet 'n' Sassy Stamps collection.  The longing look of baby penguin to mama penguin rang something tender when I saw it.  Now it's something to remind me of how I feel when I'm so incredibly weak and I look longingly - desperately - at my God for help and instruction.  'Cuz being a mom is hard!  I constantly need the Father's guidance and without Him, I'm the Momster that I try to avoid!
Oh... grace.  God's gracious Spirit.  Wonderful grace of Jesus...

x  x  x  x

Dear Lord, will you TEACH ME!  Lord, I want to do Your will, and Your will alone.  My will doesn't hack it, and it certainly has no place in this tired mind.  Lord, I need Your gracious Spirit again today, even now, and pray that You will plant my feet on level ground.  You are my God.  YOU are my God, and YOUR will is always best!
Y'all, Psalm 143:10 is precious and could potentially stir up the soul to do wonderful things you weren't aware you were capable of, because it's God-breathed.
God breathes life; God gives life; God IS life, and we can trust Him to do amazing things through His word, even if it's on your phone app. 
Much love,
_Deeds_
IG: @mrcfuldeeds2010

These are amazing!  Hope you're able to get your hands on them!

His Grace is sufficient.... and ALL that we need!

Hello everyone! I am so excited to share this page with you today! When I started it I really had no clue where I was going with it, but it's crazy what this page has turned into for me. A good friend of mine has been going through a particularly difficult season in her life and it's had it's ups and downs. She has handled everything so well, but recently has really struggled with the topic of grace! She felt like she wasn't giving herself enough grace and maybe others as well.

So one day I sat down to do something journaling and came across my "Choose Faith" stamp set and the word Grace jumped out at me. So I choose to journal one of my recent favorite bible verses.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. —2 Corinthians 12:9

So how awesome is that?! I mean just think about it! God basically told the apostle Paul,  I am the grace. All the grace you will ever need! So often we exhaust ourselves and try to fix everything on our own. Sometimes it's not until we have reached the end of our rope and we're weak and exhausted, that we seek His help, and His grace. 

The craziest thing about this page is I did all the flowers and the text and I thought it was finished. I thought yep I am loving it, this page is perfect, I'm done! Well, the very next day, I went to a women's conference with a couple friends titled "I am God's Masterpiece" and Nicole Unice was the speaker. And guys..... she talked sooooo much about grace. Like, smack you in the face, you can't possibly miss the points she made! And there was a particular phrase she said that jumped out at me. Nicole said, "Grace is the key to Courage". And I thought, ok God... I got it... my page isn't done yet. When I came home I immediately went upstairs to my craft room and made a sparkly gold key to attach to my page!

Honestly, I have struggled a little bit about what to write to go along with this page because after leaving that conference I felt like I had so much information to share I was a little overwhelmed about where exactly to start. While at the conference I also picked up one of Nicole's new books titled "Brave Enough", which is where she pulled a lot of her material for the conference. So I wanted to share a few excerpts from her book that really spoke to me on the topic of grace, since she can word it so much better than I can, lets me honest! 😄

"Acknowledging that we need grace is admitting that we have weaknesses that we can't fix. It's admitting that there are broken parts in us that are beyond our repair."

"Brave-enough women acknowledge that they've tried to fix themselves and yet that hasn't led to the change they seek. They understand that they need something outside of themselves to tell them who they really are, to actually set them free...... Grace was the key, and grace still is the key."

"God draws us to our failures and then seems to serve the ball into our court, giving us the opportunity to get brave enough to change. And sometimes when all we feel is broken, small, and powerless, God arrives right on time with the strength we need to believe in his powerful love and kindness. Sometimes we need courage to accept grace."

Ok... last quote.. promise 😉

"The difference between people who live free and those who just survive is their understanding of their daily need for God's grace."      - excerpts from "Brave Enough" by Nicole Unice

God said "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." That moment when we feel so overwhelmed and hopeless is the moment you are ready to hear God say, I'm all the grace you need! We need to stop being so hard on ourselves. Trying to be perfect, or trying to create the perfect picture of what we think our life should be. We can't do it all on our own. And it's ok that we aren't perfect! God didn't create us to be perfect or without flaws. His power is made perfect, and complete in our weaknesses!

I used 3 difference stamp sets to complete this page and I have linked them below.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and I really hope it has touched your heart and helped remind you that His power is made perfect in our weaknesses. We just have to remember to rest in Him!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

  

Whimsy Bouquet

Choose Faith

Mini Grunge Type Alpha