Thoughtful Thursday - Hurting

Hey, we've all been hurt. Many times. Sometimes brutally. Sometimes subtly. Maybe by a stranger. Maybe by our closest friend. It never feels good.

But here's the truth. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for our sins--yours, mine, and that person's who hurt you--is enough. It's bigger, stronger, more powerful than the hurt we experienced. It's enough to help you heal and move forward into a positive future.

And if I'm being honest, sometimes I've been the one who hurt someone. I was that person. What Jesus did by dying for me is so undeserved, but I accept the gift of His forgiveness. It reminds me how frail I am, how utterly hopeless some days. But Jesus covers it all. He gives me worth.

If Jesus can extend a hand of grace, forgiveness, and love to the very ones who hung him naked on that cross, surely I can do the same in my own small way to those who hurt me.

I refuse to let the sin I've done, or the sin that's been done to me, dictate who I am or how I behave. Instead, I choose to release it into the hands of the One who can mold my sin and hurt into something beautiful, and in turn, make my life beautiful through it.

Don't allow what has been done to you to become bigger than what Jesus did for you. Choose to live in grace, not wallow in grudges.

Linda

Grace

Having just written a post for Me Monday about being late on publishing yesterday's post, I thought this might be a good follow-up for Timeless Tuesday. What's more timeless than grace? What is grace? Undeserved favor. It's kindness when we deserve condemnation. Our mistakes are never wasted in the hands of our awesome God. They serve a purpose, rather than shaming us. Maybe they spur us on in a new direction or make us regret a decision we made so we can make better choices in the future. Maybe they make us realize how very much we need to rely on God because we're so dreadfully inadequate on our own. Whatever. Just remember that because of God, even our mistakes have a purpose. And that is huge. Have a great, grace-filled Tuesday.

I Am Late With This Post

Happy Me Monday, where I share a little bit about myself. What you need to know about me this week is that I'm late with posting this because I didn't have time to write anything prior to right now. Mind you, it's three o'clock in the afternoon here in sunny Arizona and I usually schedule my posts to come out at five in the morning. But I just didn't have time.

Well, that's not entirely true. I just didn't have the functioning brain cells needed to write when I actually had the time. I only had enough to troll Facebook and watch mindless TV. So that's what I did.

Over the weekend my husband turned 61 and my former youth leaders turned 80. We celebrated both as much as we could. We also saw a couple movies, laid some new flooring in my daughter's room, went to church, taught a Sunday school class, and sang on the worship team. Then we went to a meeting after church about how our church can reach out to our community better and be more visitor friendly. We had lunch with church friends after the meeting and went home to take a nap. Got up in time to watch the lunar supermoon eclipse with friends, then played cards afterwards.

It was a busy weekend and I loved every minute of it. But there was no writing time. And the previous week was about as hectic.

So there's my story and I'm sticking to it. No apology though, because I never want this writing gig to get in the way of actually living. I spent time with those I love and celebrated their lives. I took care of myself by getting some much needed rest. Isn't that what the Sabbath is all about?

So that's a little bit about me today. I'm late. Who cares? I'm choosing not to go crazy over it.

I hope you'll grant yourself a little grace, too, when things get hectic and you don't accomplish all you set out to do. It's OK. Breathe. Let it go. The world is still turning and God is in control. Isn't that a relief?

Linda

Get Off My Unicorn

It's Wacky Wednesday and it doesn't get much wackier than this. We're all a little crazy in our own way, aren't we? So let's extend grace to each other. And just smile and nod at each other's special kind of charming crazy. Life would be way too boring if we were all alike. :)

Linda