thankful thursday--blessed by those around me

Every day is a day full of blessings, but I am in awe of the new ways God constantly finds to heap his gifts on me. This week has been no different.

I am so incredibly thankful that I and my wonderful co-authors were able to release this book-- a labor of love, the physical representation of what we have learned so far in our marriages about cooking and feeding our families, the book that enables us to call ourselves authors.

Becoming a published author has been a dream of mine for years, and it is absolutely surreal that I can say that dream has come true, much sooner than I would have expected. God is so good. I am also SO thankful for the wonderful people who have already bought this book!

I'm also incredibly thankful for my two cookbook co-writers, including this beautiful woman, who you might recognize as Elsie from Richly Rooted. Yes, we got to meet in person! I'll tell you more about that soon, but I am so blessed to have been able to meet her face-to-face. Without Jami and Elsie, this book never would have happened. I am so grateful to be able to call them friends!

Words do not express how grateful I am for this man-- my best friend, my partner and teammate, my husband. He has supported me though every step of this writing process and I know he'll be by my side for whatever comes next. He has put up with me being on the computer for hours, trying out recipes on him, geeking out over food, and bombarding him with confusing chatter about book- and blog-related things. This man is my greatest gift.

None of these blessings are things I deserve, but thanks to the loving kindness of my heavenly Father, they are gifts he has delighted to give me. He is so very good.


What people have been a blessing to you this week? What ways has he provided for you to be a blessing to those around you?
Also, is it just me, or do other people geek out over food, too?!?

The Antidote to Worry, the Source of Peace

I struggle with worry.

If you have read my scribblings around here for long enough, you know that.  God's constantly trying to teach me how to trust, despite my circumstances.

I had another lesson in trust yesterday, partially due to my mother.  My mother, who has been blessed by this woman, dear Ann, and who in turn has been able to bless others.  My mother, who said once,

Thankfulness is the antidote to worry--

the source of peace.

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Yesterday I was reading Ann's words in her amazing book, One Thousand Gifts.  
I realized, once again, how my fear of the future can be conquered.  How my worry about the unknown can be vanquished.

Thankfulness.

How does this work?  Well, like everything, it starts with God.

God, who loves us so much that He has given us everything-- from the food in our refrigerators to the incredible forgiveness won for us by His Son on the cross.

God blesses us.  He promises in His Word that He will always bless us.  He will always make sure we have everything we need (see Matthew 6).

We look around us, and see those blessings, and count them.  (I sporadically keep a gratitude journal... working on making this a daily habit, and I highly recommend it.)  When we recognize those blessings, and thank God for them, we are reminded of His faithfulness.

We are reminded that He ALWAYS keeps His promises.

That means He will continue to bless us.  When we look toward the future, we can know, with absolute certainty, that God will provide for us there as He has in the past.

Then we can kick that fear out of our hearts.  That worry about the future?  It has no place in my life.  God's got the future in His hands.  That fear of the unknown?  God knows everything.  He has seen what I needed in the past and provided for it.  He knows what I need for the future.

How does thankfulness become the source of peace?
When we realize that as God has blessed us, so He will continue to bless us.  We can count on Him.

We can trust Him entirely.  He has fulfilled the promises He made in the past-- we KNOW he will fulfill the promises He's made for the future.  We can have absolute faith in that fact.

This kind of faith brings joy, joy that isn't dependent on circumstances.
It brings peace--peace that passes understanding, because it is a peace that comes from the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  Not a peace the world can understand.  Peace that God alone gives.

Just like He gives everything else.

God's blessings lead to our thankfulness for those blessings.  Our thankfulness leads to the strengthening of our trust in Him, because we can count on Him to continue to bless us.  Our trust leads to peace and joy, because we have nothing to fear in this life.  Nothing at all.

Blessings.
Thankfulness.
Trust.
Peace.
Joy.

All gifts from God... all starting with the amazing love He has for us.


Linking today with: The Fontenot Four, black tag diaries, Loved and Lovely, lovely little whimsy, There's Just One Mommy, Our Simple Country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows

The Lavish Grace of God

One of the Scripture readings in church on Sunday was Ephesians 1:3-14.  A professor from our university (which is right across the street from church) had the message.  Pastor Groth is one of Joshua's and my favorite professors, and this sermon was almost like a class session...I was even taking notes!

This passage in Ephesians is one I have read before, but I gained so much insight into it on Sunday, and it connected with other things God has been teaching me (see this post on God's purpose, this post on faith, and this post on God's promises that I've written in the last week).

This is the first part of the Ephesians passage:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us..." (Ephesians 1:3-8)

There is SO much in this passage!

1) God "has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."  EVERY spiritual blessing!  God's grace is abundant.

2) Nothing that God does happens except in and through Christ.  God has blessed us in Christ.  He has chosen us in Christ.  He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ.  He has blessed us with "his glorious grace" in "the Beloved," Jesus.  In Jesus we have redemption.  God set forth his purpose in Christ (that's in verse 9, not quoted above).  In Christ "we have obtained an inheritance," that is, eternal life.

3) We did not choose God.  He chose us!  How can a child choose to be born?  God chose us before the foundation of the world.  That's thousands of years before we were born--or even thought of by our parents!  God knew us from that time on, and he chose us to be his.

4) Faith is pure gift.  We didn't ask for it.  God chose us to know him--we didn't ask to know him.  He chose us to be redeemed and forgiven.  It's all by "the riches of his grace," not by our own doing, or by anything we deserve.

5) The reason we are God's children is to serve him.  He chose us "according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace."  God has done millions of amazing things.  He deserves for his glory and grace to be praised!  That's what our lives are all about.

6) Our relationship with God is not up to us.  We can stop worrying about our relationship with God, Pastor Groth said, because it doesn't depend on us.  God has what it takes to keep us believing in him.  He has us in his hands now, and he's not going to let us go.  Also, we should stop trying to take credit for anything in our spiritual lives.  If it wasn't for God, we wouldn't be able to do anything that pleases him.  As it is, all we can do is thank him for the faith he has placed in our hearts, and thank him for helping us live a life that pleases him.

The rest of the passage from Sunday includes so many more wonderful things.  It also includes tricky things like predestination, which I'm not going to try to explain today because I know not all of my readers share my Missouri Synod Lutheran theology (and that's absolutely fine!!).  Also, once I actually complete my theology and English degrees, I'll be much better equipped to write about such things. :)  For now, just read the Scripture passage yourself!

I do hope you take this from what I have been learning:  God blesses us lavishly.  He does everything through his Son Jesus Christ.  God chose us,  we did not choose him, and he did it before the creation of the world.  Our faith is not dependent upon us.  God has called us as his children to serve, praise and glorify him.  And finally, we don't need to worry about our faith:  it's in God's hands.

Linking up today:
New Life Steward; The Fontenot Four; Raising Homemakers; A Wise Woman Builds Her Home; Deep Roots at Home; Women Living Well; Live Called

Joy Dare Days 19 and 20

Day 19:  a grace in the kitchen, a grace in the weather, a grace that might have never been.
In the kitchen: oh, so many!  A friend over for chicken pot pie yesterday.  Doing dishes with my hubby.  Baking bread.
In the weather: well, there's been no snow, just lots of cold...but that makes walking to school easier.
That might have never been:  a conversation with a beloved friend that was so very needed, but would have never happened if we hadn't sat at the same table in a class last year.

Day 20:  3 gifts you saw only when you got close-up.
Hmm.  That's a harder one!  One, pasta in the pantry that I forgot was there until I was digging around on the shelf.  Such a lovely surprise!
Two, an adorable little squirrel outside the library, who, when I paused to watch him in his antics, rose up on his hind legs and twitched his cute little nose.
Three, quite a bit of spare change in a purse that I haven't used in a while, found while looking for something else in said purse.

Not so hard after all. :)
It's amazing how many blessings I can realize when I think about and look for them!

The Habit of Joy

I'm trying some new things this year.

One of them is starting a gratitude journal: I'm going to write out my One Thousand Gifts this year.  And I started today, in a beautiful new journal from a friend.

Something else I'm doing in relation to that is the Joy Dare from Ann Voskamp, writer of One Thousand Gifts.  As an encouragement, a challenge, Ann has a list (the Joy Dare link above) of blessings to look for each day.  I'm going to challenge myself to do this and to blog every day about that day's blessings, as well as recording at least five blessings a day in my gratitude journal.  I'm also going to start reading Ann's book.

Today, January 6, Epiphany: "One thing in your bag, your fridge, your heart."

I haven't been using a purse or a backpack much in the last couple of weeks.  But starting Monday I'll be hoisting my red backpack again, full of books, notebooks, a sack lunch.  Those notebooks: places to record what I'm learning.  What I'm being taught.  What God is showing me.

My fridge: is full, thanks to a recent grocery shopping.  One thing in there that I especially love is those little clementine oranges, the "Cuties."  They're so sweet, so juicy, so fun to eat!  And I get them all to myself because Hubby doesn't like oranges. ;)

My heart: is convicted.  Is reassured.  Convicted that I need to trust.  Reassured that I don't have to do it alone.  Reassured that I will be taken care of, provided for, blessed--by the One who loves me more than I can imagine, and by my husband, who also relies on the Creator for all things.


I'm excited to develop these habits of thankfulness and joyfulness--and writing. :)

Home for Christmas

I've been both looking forward to and dreading this Christmas.  I've been looking forward to it because it's Joshua's and my first Christmas as a married couple.  It's our first Christmas in our new, own home.  I get to decorate my home, bake goodies for us, celebrate with family here.  And my parents will be coming down to visit between Christmas and New Year's.

But this will be my first Christmas not at my parents' house.  It will be my first Christmas Eve and Day not with my parents and siblings.  And honestly, I'm having a hard time with that.  I'm going to miss them a lot.

They'll be here in spirit, though.  Joshua and I assembled our tree (yes, it's fake) and decorated it tonight.  Here in Nebraska pine trees aren't as readily available as they are in Wisconsin, and thus they're quite expensive.  So we found one at Walmart that will do just fine.  However, the box claimed that the tree is six feet tall.  It isn't.  It's about five and a half feet tall.  So it's a baby tree, but I'm okay with that. :)

My mom sent a box of Christmas things when we moved after the wedding.  I knew I had about twenty ornaments that I've been given each year.  But what I didn't know was that my mom had included even more ornaments: ones that I made in Sunday school when I was little, favorite ornaments that had always been on our family tree, and most precious, an ornament of two little bears in stockings with our names written on the back.

We'll be getting a few of Joshua's childhood Christmas ornaments from his family soon.  And then we'll have our tree.  Ours.  Joshua's and mine. :)

This is home now.  My family is spread out over several states, but this is where we live, my husband and I, and so this is home.  I'll be home for Christmas.

I'm Glad to Be Me

I'm thankful for the person I am and for the body God put me in, but I tend to put myself down a lot and have been discontent with myself--my hair, my maturity and responsibility or lack thereof, my skills or lack of them.

My husband is good at encouraging me and making me feel better about myself.  That helps.

I've also realized that putting myself down and not being content with myself, the way I am, is really putting God down and not being content with the way he made me to be.

David wrote in the Psalms that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made."

My Sunday school teacher used to say that "God don't make junk."

Two of our best friends, Ruth and Joe (they're married) told me yesterday that they think my hair is beautiful when it's down in all its wavy, sometimes-frizzy (I think) glory, something Joshua says all the time.  And today Joe, who has known me for two years now, said he's enjoyed watching me grow up and mature in that time.

It's one thing for my parents to say I'm beautiful and they're proud of me.  I know they mean it, and I take them at their word.  But they're a little biased. :)

It's nice to be reminded of my own worth: which comes not from my own self and accomplishments but comes from the single fact that I am a created child of God.

GOD MADE ME.

He also lived, died, rose and lives again for me.  For me.  Me, Jaimie, with all my failures and mistakes and sorrows and flaws and sins.  With all my successes and joys and talents: all gifts from God.

The God who made me.
I'm glad I'm me.

Gratefulness this Week

I'm thankful for my hubby, and for the time we'll get to spend together this weekend!!  (This was a date night a couple weeks ago, and that is sparkling grape juice in our glasses. :) )

Thankful for this beautiful woman and the fact that she's coming to visit this weekend!!!!  (This picture is from a "Prom Alternative" event with her church, our senior year in high school. :) )

Thankful for God's power, majesty and artistry.  (This is the sky after a storm a few days ago.)

Thankful for beauty, living things, and the kindness of an elderly flower-growing friend at church.  (These flowers have graced our house all week!)

Thankful for the Lord's providence--such good food!!  (Homemade bread and white cranberry-cheddar cheese, YUM)

(One almost-bad banana into half a dozen AMAZING banana muffins!)

Oh, the Lord is good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me
The things I need
The sun and the rain and the appleseed.
The Lord is good to me!
(-the "Johnny Appleseed Song")



Linking up to black tag diaries for Thankful Thursdays

Living Intentionally

I've been thinking about something, and I'm just going to type and see what happens.

I know that God places at times and places in our lives for a reason, or at the very least, he works in our lives to accomplish his purposes even if/when things we do are contrary to his will for us.

I don't have a (paying) job yet--I've been keeping busy at home, and I have plenty of things to do to fill my days.  But it's been frustrating, not being able to make money.  I've applied at a couple places, and I know I need to apply elsewhere as well.

But it's been making me wonder, am I using my time well, even though I don't have a job?  Am I using my time to serve others and by doing so serve the Lord?  Am I using extra free time to be in fellowship with him?  Am I living my life intentionally, for a purpose, or am I just 'winging it' and kind of flying by the seat of my pants?

It feels like that sometimes, although the days are settling into a routine of sorts.  I cook.  I clean.  I go shopping for groceries.  I do laundry every week.  I keep the house in order.  But that list looks so pathetic when I actually see it written out.

We had friends over last night.  We're having some young people from our church here tonight, going to a movie and having them here for games and cookies, one other thing I need to do this afternoon (bake).
I try to have the house in order and myself looking nice when my husband comes home from work.
I don't have many friends in town right now, but I'm trying to keep in touch with the ones that are.  We see hubby's family at least once every couple weeks.

So, I'm trying, to have a purpose in life right now, and to glorify God in what I'm doing.  My vocation at this moment is to be a wife and homemaker, and although that might seem like a short list of responsibilities, I'm trying to do my very best at them to be a blessing to my husband first and foremost, and everyone else we come in contact with as well.

I feel like I'm defending myself...to myself.  Which I shouldn't have to.  Maybe I'm just trying to figure out what it is I'm doing and why.  But I know that even the in simplest things that I do to serve others, I'm serving God.  By loving my husband I'm loving our God who made him and who gave us to each other.  Feeding friends is like having Christ at my table.  What a blessing, what an honor it is, to serve God in these vocations he's given me!!!  Thank you Jesus :)

Giving Good Gifts

I started Christmas shopping today.  I always get excited about this task every year, because I love selecting or making things for loved ones that I know they will really enjoy.  However, it's hard because no tangible thing can possibly express my love and appreciation for my family and close friends.  Especially now that I have a man in my life whom I love more than I can express, it is impossible to find a gift that adequately expresses my love.

(One of my favorite Christmastime stories expresses this dilemma very beautifully and poignantly.  If you've never read O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi, click on this link and read the short story. :) )

This evening, I realized, that God's gift to us on Christmas was the ultimate expression of ultimate love.  As much as I love my family and adore my fiancée, God loves his children even more, with a love that is beyond human expressing.  It is not, however, beyond God-expressing, and he expressed this love by sending his only, beloved, Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to be its Savior.  Thirty years later, God allowed his Son to take the punishment for the sins of the whole world, so that that world might be saved.

If anyone has fully expressed his love in a gift, it was God in the gift of that tiny baby lying in a manger.  I wonder if Mary and Joseph realized just how much it meant for their eternal lives that little Jesus was born that night.  Did Mary know that her baby was her Savior and her God?  I think she probably did.  Maybe it wasn't so real then, with the exhaustion from the birth, the brand-new infant lying in the hay.  Maybe she wondered what God was thinking, sending his Son to such a poor place.  But then, that's what God's all about: coming to us in our most humble state, and raising us up.  His name, after all, is Emmanuel: God with us.

The Bible talks about how God loves to give good gifts to his children.  His Son was the ultimate gift.  But he blesses us every day in countless ways: through our homes that protect us, through our clothes that cover and warm us, through our food that sustains us, through our jobs through which we support our families, through our loved ones who bless us as we bless them.

God gives us so much.  And I think it's that spirit of giving that we try to express, in some small way, at Christmas, by giving gifts to each other.  They represent the love we have for each other, just as that baby in the manger is the personification of God's love for us.

I am looking forward to giving gifts to my loved ones this Christmas.  But I think, more than ever before, I am going to realize just how much God gives me good gifts.  Besides the gifts of Jesus and forgiveness, my most precious gifts are my fiancée, my family, and my friends.  Thank you, God, for all you have given me!