lessons in grace

Thanks to everyone for their messages of love and sympathy.  They truly meant so much to me.  I've saved them and printed them off to go with all the sweet sentiments that came our way over the last couple of weeks.  The service that we had for Baba (that's what we all called my grandmother) was just wonderful.  It truly was a celebration of her life.  We laughed and cried our way through it all.  This is the first significant death in my life and I have learned so much.

Lesson one:
Cards really do mean so much!
Every card we received really meant so much to me....I will never under estimate the power of lovingly sent sympathy card again.  (and I'll be much better at sending them to others when I hear of their loss)

Lesson two:
Grief makes you tired.
Getting a good night's sleep in the midst of our planning was so important.  I had no idea how tiring grief really is.

Lesson three:
The scriptures really are a balm of healing.
Reading over God's word and reflecting on His promises has proven very powerful over the last couple of weeks.  Some of my favorite scriptures have been:  Psalm 30:4-5, Revelation 14:13, Psalm 62:1-2
and Lamentations 3:22-25

Lesson four:
Death is hard...it doesn't matter the age at which someone passes.
My Baba was 93 and while we knew she wouldn't be with us forever, when she passed it was still hard.  I think we were all expecting to be able to gather and hold her hand and be with her as she passed.

Lesson five:
Everyone needs to grieve in their own way.
Each one of us handled/is handling the loss of Baba differently.  No one way is the right way or the wrong way.  My little guy cried hard the first couple of nights...he didn't cry during the service because he told me "I got it all out in the beginning, Mom"

Lesson six:
Being supportive is powerful and it really does make a difference.
We had friends that came to the viewing just because they loved us...I wasn't expecting this and it was so wonderful.  We also had friends calling and checking in on us throughout the week....that made a world of difference.

I've been thinking about all of these things and more over the last couple of weeks and I realize in addition to these lesson that I've learned more about grace as well.  I've been shown such amazing grace in the form of friends and family who have loved and prayed and cared for us.  God has been so gracious to us during this time.  I've also learned to extend grace to those who haven't lost anyone significant in their lives and therefore don't understand the sadness that was so tangible to us.  (I'm sure I've been one of those people to someone else at some time in the past.)  These past couple of weeks have been hard...but good.

 All the photos were taken on our vacation...We were on our last day of vacation when we learned of Baba's passing.  That night we went down to the beach and flew kites "up to heaven" as a special way to remember her.   It was an amazing night. Kite flying will always be special to us from now on.

I'll be back very soon with some happier things to share....just needed to get these thoughts out of my head and onto "paper".

whatcha thinkin about?

I had a hard time sleeping last night.  I just couldn't shut my mind off.  It's easy to get caught thinking about things that just don't do me any good.  Anyone got some worry?  fear?  uncertainty?  indecision?  If so, you know what I'm talking about.  Later  I was reminded that what I think about can change my day. or my week, or my life.  "Will I meditate on His Word or my worries?"   Ann Voskamp from Holy Experience posted about the importance of memorizing scripture.  She has a yearly memorization plan set up for memorizing the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew in 2012.  (Matthew 5, 6 & 7 - 2-3 verses a week)

Last year I committed the book of Colossians to memory by following her dated plan.  I carried my little memorization booklet with me just about everywhere I went.  Some weeks I doubled up, some weeks I played catch up.  As my memory book became stained, so did my heart....God used His word to do some amazing things.

* Colossians became my book....whenever I would hear a reference from Colossians or read a verse from Colossians, I was like..."hey that's my verse, I know that verse!" When you wrestle with something long enough, it becomes yours.

* I  grasped those committed verses in a more meaningful way because I had to learn them...and remember them, so I tied them into previous verses and thought about what they meant and somewhere along the way they got deep into my heart and anchored themselves there.

*I found myself less focused on my stuff and more focused on the Word.  Heck, I had to be in order to get it memorized.  And that was good, because God's word is so much better than my stuff...my worries...my off target wanderings.

* Scriptures from other passages seemed more familiar and tied together more easily after I'd connect them with something I'd learned in Colossians.  God's word really is amazingly intertwined and affirming.

...so I'm really excited to be committing another year to learning another section of scripture.  I know it's going to be hard....the good things always are.  But I know the beauty that comes from having the Word hidden in my heart and I'm ready to get some new thinking embroidered into this heart of mine....

...just a couple of weeks without memory detail has shown me how easily I can get caught thinking about things that do me no good at all.  So, whatcha thinking about?  Feel free to join me (and many others) as we commit God's Word to our thoughts, our hearts and our lives....you won't regret it!

to read more about the plan and the making of the booklet click here.

*** don't feel like it's too late to start...join in any time.  I'm starting a couple of weeks behind, but that's OK...you're never behind when you're committing His word to your heart.