Give Them More Grace

I made a bad judgement call and stayed up late with Rick to watch the very silly but funny movie "Hairspray". I wanted to see it just for the craziness of seeing John Travolta play a mom. It was riot and we laughed a lot but I'm so tired today! It was just the stupid/funny I needed last night though.

The Lord showed me yesterday that I need to remember that my brothers and sisters in Christ are all going through their own burdens. I need to focus more on praying for them. Or, they have gone through things that they still have to chew on in their lives, and I need to pray for healing for them. When we carry the burden, it feels heavy no matter what it is. To us, it's a lot just to carry it. I have surrounding me now: Pregnant w/ two VERY young boys and VERY sick all the time, Crying out to God for more children with a long wait right now, Hanging on for each penny that comes through and longing for a place to put down roots in a land where homes are so hard to afford, Loss of a love one to suicide w/o the acceptance of Christ, Grown child w/ hardened heart to the gospel, Aging mother w/ Alzheimer's, Desiring to return to church and Christ but husband has grown angry about church and Christians ....there are many more. (I used capitals on my own to differentiate peoples, I know it's not grammatically correct). He used it to open my eyes that my healing can be found in praying for my sisters. These are all big heavy spiritual burdens God knows have been given and I need to pray that His glory will be accomplished in them. For those going through them these words are encouraging and always have been:
"He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials he multiplies peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again"
Annie J. Flint

For years that hymn has meant a lot, the past two years it was one I could remind my dad of and he and my mom were encouraged by it. I can pray that hymn for my sisters.
Lord,
Give them more grace when their burdens grow greater,
Lord, give them more strength when their sorrows increase...... and so on.

The other burden we women all face on top of these big things are our hormonal reactions to the day. How we process it as it comes whether big or small. Some days we are sailing high for no reason, some days we feel like we are pulling balls and chains for no reason.
If you have not all ready taken my advice a long time ago and bought the Ayiesha Woods CD, then here once again is another song of hers that has ministered to me the past two days.
Ever had a day
When you're on such a spiritual high
When you're feeling strong cause you've got all of heaven on your side
Ever had a day
When your confidence is high
And you feel like nothing can make you fall or even compromise
But what about those days
When you're not feeling so strong
And you cry 'cause you don't know what to do feeling like you're all alone
What about those times when
When so much is on your mind
And everything you've tried to forget
You just can't seem to leave behind

Don't you wish that every day was an easy day
And there was nothing that you couldn't do
But if every day was an easy day
You'd never be able to say that
Jesus brought you through

Ever had a day
When tomorrow didn't count
And you were caught in the moment
On cloud nine without a doubt
Ever had a day
When you knew yesterday was gone
And there was nothing that even mattered 'cause you already knew you won
But what about those days
When you just don't understand
And just when you're getting up it seems you're falling down again
What about those times
When it's not so easy to believe
When doubt causes you to only go by what you see

Don't you wish that every day was an easy day
And there was nothing that you couldn't do
But if every day was an easy day
You'd never be able to say that Jesus brought you through

I hope you can hear it sometime too. I'm sure it's on some free play out there in cyberspace. I did see there was a YOUTUBE with it but the cartoon someone put with the music was too distracting to put here on the blog. Plus, I don't know what the cartoon had in the world to do with the song. It was strange. If you can't find any where else to hear the song, go here and just listen.
BTW: I will be returning to the subject of school as of tomorrow. However, I will not be going specifically through each subject to finish out the Charlotte Mason method because I think there were few readers who needed that info. (on that note, my meter tells me there are about 24 people here a day and that's amazing, but yall need to say hi more often so I know who is here! You can always go to the Guestbook to introduce yourself or say a hello unrelated to any post. If I don't know you, I'd love to meet you! Let me know what's interesting or helpful to you when you visit here if you like.) I don't feel the energy to therefore go through each one. If you want to know more, check out that website , or get the books I referred to from the library. They are VERY short and easy to read through.
I will however, be starting to lay out my plan as well as visit the subject of unit studies by hosting some thoughts from my friend Lisa who uses this pattern of homeschool for her kids. It should be fun!